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I know I am late responding to this but you do have a valid point about Charlotte being more populated due to land. Point taken. But what about Wake vs Mecklenburg? Mecklenburg has less land than Wake but is still more populated. Eventually though Wake will overtake Mecklenburg and I expect this by next census although I thought this would have happened by now. The point I'm really getting is that the land issue is brought up when it is Charlotte vs Raleigh but not so much when it is Wake vs Mecklenburg.
Truth be told Metrolina and the Triangle are not that far apart. But due to the sheer size of Charlotte (size and economic impact) it is the premier city of NC and the Carolina's for that matter. But the Triangle plays a very significant role as well. I would say the majority of North Carolininas realize this and are perfectly happy on whatever city they leave in. NC is certainly lucky and happy to have both and it is to NC advantage that both economies compliment rather than compete with each other.
I think Mecklenburg has been growing by more people for a while now, but if I'm not mistaken is growing by percentage ahead of Wake now.
Mecklenburg was the 2nd fastest (by percent) growing county in NC behind Brunswick and the #1 fastest growing by people at 23,006. Wake 22,146. Durham county grew by 6,052. Union County grew By 4,258. So wake & Mecklenburg are only seperated by a little over 1,000.
Not bad for Mecklenburg considering Meck is 546 Sq Miles. Wake is 857 Sq. Miles. Durham County is 298 Sq. Miles.
Density:
Mecklenburg - 1884 per sq. mile
Wake - 1171 per sq. mile
Durham County - 964 per sq. mile
Charlotte Metro - 2,335,358
Triangle CSA - 2,037,430
Raleigh Metro - 1,214,516
Durham Metro - 534,578
Raleigh Metro + Durham Metro = 1,749,094
Raleigh CSA (AKA "The Triangle") Sq. Miles = 5,627 sq. miles
Charlotte Metro Sq. Miles = 3,198 Sq. Miles
For reference, Triangle is Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan area, Raleigh-Cary Metropolitan area, Dunn Micropolitan area, Henderson Micropolitan area, Oxford Micropolitan area and Sanford Micropolitan area.
Even with the Triangle having Around 2,400 sq. miles more than Metrolina, more commonly known as "Charlotte," It still lags around 300,000 people behind Metrolina. Durham interestingly enough has a population below 250,000
So, yes, 500 college sports almost equal our professional teams
Yes, 500 towns, cities, quadrilaterals, triangles almost equal our city
Yes, 2 Metropolitan Areas & 3 Micropolitan areas almost equal our 1 metropolitan area.
Yes, Raleigh & Durhams & Carys population combined are around the same size as Charlottes
Yes, a county nearly 40% larger (totally guessing on how much bigger it is) is almost as big as Mecklenburg
Bigger is not always better or we'd all be packing our bags to Beijing & Mexico City. But Charlotte, the city, it's county & it's region is just bigger than Raleigh's. Period. Atlanta is bigger in everyway than Charlotte also. Philly bigger than Everyway than Atlanta. Chicago bigger in everyway than Philly. And NYC bigger than everyway in Chicago.
What we do take in account in Charlotte is all the office parks & warehouses that take up a lot of land in Mecklenburg county. Southwestern part of Charlotte is covered with large warehouses & offices, plus the airport.
Even with the Triangle having Around 2,400 sq. miles more than Metrolina, more commonly known as "Charlotte," It still lags around 300,000 people behind Metrolina. Durham interestingly enough has a population below 250,000
So, yes, 500 college sports almost equal our professional teams
Yes, 500 towns, cities, quadrilaterals, triangles almost equal our city
Yes, 2 Metropolitan Areas & 3 Micropolitan areas almost equal our 1 metropolitan area.
Yes, Raleigh & Durhams & Carys population combined are around the same size as Charlottes
Yes, a county nearly 40% larger (totally guessing on how much bigger it is) is almost as big as Mecklenburg
Bigger is not always better or we'd all be packing our bags to Beijing & Mexico City. But Charlotte, the city, it's county & it's region is just bigger than Raleigh's. Period. Atlanta is bigger in everyway than Charlotte also. Philly bigger than Everyway than Atlanta. Chicago bigger in everyway than Philly. And NYC bigger than everyway in Chicago.
But it is bigger so...
Charlotte is bigger and better it has to be. Because I think so Raleigh just can't be in our class I don't care about college basketball so nobody else should It doesn't matter that Raleigh is growing faster, has better schools,roads,traffic,crime rate,higher education,hospitals,lower unemployment, and offers nearly the same amenitiesWe still have to be better!!
Pulled park is nice. I would also say Freedom Park is just as nice. I don't know if the Triangle has anything similar to Ramare Bearden and Marshall Park. I'm not denying your claim just saying perhaps you should take a closer look.
I have been to both. I think Pullen is better. Aquatic Center, Pullen Arts Center, also the 114 year old carousel, actually a U.S. Landmark. The mini train built in the 1950's my favorite. And the pedal boats always fun. Almost forgot kiddie boats. Lastly Andy and Opie! How fitting it seems like some people on here think Raleigh is Mayberry anyway lol.
As for Ramare Bearden. The plans are to turn Moore Square park into something VERY similar. Got to bet the homeless people out first! Real problem!
As for Marshall Park. Only seen pics so I will say nothing like that. At least with the water.
Downtown has two other parks(squares) Capital Square,and Nash Square. No water but lots of old oak trees. Very nice.
Next time you are up this way. You should try one of these parks. Not DT but very nice.
Anderson Point Park. On the Neuse River
Yates Mill Pond Park. Small but nice
N.C. Art Museum Park. Kinda big bring a bike or some good shoes.
I think Ramare Bearden is by the new ball park. I passed by there this past weekend. Didn't know the name but was impressed! I hope Moore Square looks like that when finished. Very nice!
Charlotte is bigger and better it has to be. Because I think so Raleigh just can't be in our class I don't care about college basketball so nobody else should It doesn't matter that Raleigh is growing faster, has better schools,roads,traffic,crime rate,higher education,hospitals,lower unemployment, and offers nearly the same amenitiesWe still have to be better!!
I didn't say which one is better. I just said which one is bigger because some, including yourself, seem to believe its a myth that Charlotte is larger because it's city limits are larger.
The Triangle (Which consist Of Metro Durham & Metro Raleigh) has 586,000 less than metro Charlotte. Thats More than the population of Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, Wake Forest & Apex combined with around 50,000 to spare.
The triangle region Which consist of metro Durham, metro Raleigh & 3 Micropolitan areas has 298,000 less than metro Charlotte. That's more than the population of Durham.
Triangle region (CSA) vs. Charlotte region (CSA) Puts Charlotte region more populated by over 456,000 people. More than Durham, Cary & Chapel Hill combined.
Charlotte is bigger and Charlotte centric. And that doesn't make it better, as you said. And the suburbs are pretty much the same. And suburbs make huge, majority chunk of both regions.
Even looking at our interstates & mass transit it's easy to see how Charlotte centric Metrolina is.
I'm amazed at how this thread talks so much about universities, but mentions very little about community colleges (by FAR the most attended form of post-high school education in this state). It's a known fact that Raleigh has a major urban university thanks to NCSU's centralized location. On the other hand, UNC Charlotte will become (in 2017) the first university in this state to have light rail service on campus. This is all good and great, but how well are the community colleges' main campuses integrated within each city's urban fabric?
^^^For the record, the streetcar tracks in the Charlotte link aren't in service yet. Service begins sometime next year. My point in bringing this up is to show how both cities can sometimes out-do the other. In the case of major university locations, Raleigh wins hands down (even with Charlotte's light rail connection to a suburban campus). However, Charlotte's community college's main campus location is very centralized. To be honest, CPCC is more centralized than NCSU. CPCC certainly has better mass transit connections as well.
I don't have the link at the moment (someone feel free to find the link and post it), but I read some where that central Charlotte has nearly 25,000 or so post-high school students. Though central Charlotte lacks a major university, it certainly does not lack higher learning opportunities for adults young and old.
The following link doesn't give the number of central Charlotte students, but it does summarize quite well Charlotte's growing focus on the "urban campus".
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Charlotte is bigger and better it has to be.
