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As all you know Charlotte or Raleigh was not built in a day. Charlotte has been working on its downtown-uptown plan since the 1960s.` Every 10 years a new plan is presented and the old plan is review. It has taken nearly 50 years of planning and building to get where we are today. We are near the end of the 2020 plan and a review will that place and see how much happen in 10 year What you see today just did not happen, it came from a plan and from demand
One thing people in Atlanta says is they had a plan a long time ago but did not follow it.
That is one thing they say about Charlotte is they stay with their plans.
I see Raleigh has come up with plans for downtown. Lets see how Raleigh can stay with their plan. For a plan to work, you must have local gov. backing the plan. Do they?
I am a native of Charlotte and read these forums for entertainment when I have some idle time. The Raleigh VS Charlotte thread and the comments about Charlotte not making the finalist list of Amazon has me wondering, how did Charlotte ever become NC's largest City? Most of the boom towns of the south are state capitals, Nashville, Atlanta Raleigh and Austin are Capital cities of their respective states, and all are Amazon finalist. Nashville and Atlanta are also the largest cities of their state. The NC state Universities, the NC state museum, the NC Research Triangle Park are all located in the Triangle I would view all of these as advantages for growth of Raleigh. Charlotte did not get a branch of the state university system until 1965. It has No State supported or non state supported law school or medical school that I am aware of. I am aware of its recent rise as a financial center but Charlotte was the largest city in NC in 1940 and as a city it continues to sprint ahead of the other NC cities when it comes to growth .A lot of first time visitors to Charlotte are surprise to fine a city that is so different (I did not say better) than Raleigh. I have been to Raleigh countless times. Its a nice city, I have nothing bad to say about it. The main difference between them that I have noticed over the years is that Charlotte has always been larger and more urban than Raleigh. Raleigh because of the Universities and being the capital of the state has had more name recognition with people outside of NC. Before the Hornets came to Charlotte I remember that a lot of people outside of NC were not aware of Charlotte or what state it was located in but had no problem identifying Raleigh as the Capital of NC and assumed Raleigh was also the largest city in NC. You could say Charlotte has been under the shadow of Raleigh for many years but it is finally casting its own shadow now and some in Raleigh are upset about it.
I am a native of Charlotte and read these forums for entertainment when I have some idle time. The Raleigh VS Charlotte thread and the comments about Charlotte not making the finalist list of Amazon has me wondering, how did Charlotte ever become NC's largest City? Most of the boom towns of the south are state capitals, Nashville, Atlanta Raleigh and Austin are Capital cities of their respective states, and all are Amazon finalist. Nashville and Atlanta are also the largest cities of their state. The NC state Universities, the NC state museum, the NC Research Triangle Park are all located in the Triangle I would view all of these as advantages for growth of Raleigh. Charlotte did not get a branch of the state university system until 1965. It has No State supported or non state supported law school or medical school that I am aware of. I am aware of its recent rise as a financial center but Charlotte was the largest city in NC in 1940 and as a city it continues to sprint ahead of the other NC cities when it comes to growth .A lot of first time visitors to Charlotte are surprise to fine a city that is so different (I did not say better) than Raleigh. I have been to Raleigh countless times. Its a nice city, I have nothing bad to say about it. The main difference between them that I have noticed over the years is that Charlotte has always been larger and more urban than Raleigh. Raleigh because of the Universities and being the capital of the state has had more name recognition with people outside of NC. Before the Hornets came to Charlotte I remember that a lot of people outside of NC were not aware of Charlotte or what state it was located in but had no problem identifying Raleigh as the Capital of NC and assumed Raleigh was also the largest city in NC. You could say Charlotte has been under the shadow of Raleigh for many years but it is finally casting its own shadow now and some in Raleigh are upset about it.
That's a very warped view of history and hearsay. Charlotte area was one of the most traversed Indian trading routes in North Carolina before there was a North Carolina--a trend the colonists carried. Also the location of the US's first gold rush with the discovery of gold here. Then Charlotte became a popular cotton processing location as there was a train hub in Charlotte. Then a financial hub late 1900's. Even the tobacco money other NC cities made eventually funneled into Charlotte.
Charlotte folks needs to go to downtown Raleigh which is on fire! Not even including Glenwood South, there are too many lively, cool restaurants all along Raleigh's few, tiny low-scale streets surrounding the main drag (albeigt tiny)Fayetteville St.
The college-aged dominance and the Eastern NC country-wild partiers combine to impress this LA/NYC veteran, that's for sure.
And most impressive, is how the gay clubs and restaurants are interspersed among the straight establishments, and everyone is friendly and giving directions to the gay clubs and restaurants, music blaring from both types of clubs right next door to one another.
Yes, Raleigh's DT is mostly small-town looking streets, and no, Raleigh is not similar to Charlotte in height, company headquarters, nothing. And Raleigh has not ever acknowledged.. any characteristics emblematic of a big city...at all, much less aspiring for Raleigh's future.
I can't stress enough that the metrics that Charlotte built its identity on and is highly-valued (and rightly so) by its citizens....
aren't even worthy of anything more than a passing thought for Raleigh's populace. Maybe it's because Raleigh's local feel and small scale makes such conversation sound foolish.
But, trust Raleigh's citizens and it's leaders are not actively striving for Raleigh to become bigger, or look bigger, or become "world class anything".
Yes some proud natives, like me, would love for Raleigh to acquire some big-city symbols, but most Raleighites would laugh in your face for suggesting any importance in what's mostly esoteric qualities & perceptions of what makes a city.
North Hills has one tower I consider quite elegant, the others ho-hum. finally Raleigh has at least a few urban-looking buildings poking above the trees. //www.city-data.com/forum/ralei...uction-nh.html
Raleigh is currently winning with being understated in every way. I hope it forever continues with low-slung buildings to distinguish itself, and resemble its closest major city 3.5 hours away: Washington D.C.
Don't forget the scores of military guys that come to Raleigh from the military bases for the weekend. They keep things energetic downtown.
That's a very warped view of history and hearsay. Charlotte area was one of the most traversed Indian trading routes in North Carolina before there was a North Carolina--a trend the colonists carried. Also the location of the US's first gold rush with the discovery of gold here. Then Charlotte became a popular cotton processing location as there was a train hub in Charlotte. Then a financial hub late 1900's. Even the tobacco money other NC cities made eventually funneled into Charlotte.
I wasn't trying to give history I was asking for it. So thanks. And I
take my hearsay and warp sense of history as a compliment! Is that warped enough for you?
I think Charlotte should not fall into the trap the Triad fell into becoming complacent. Before RTP and the banks, the Triad was the driving force behind North Carolina's economy. At one time Winston-Salem was the state's largest city and during the 1960s Greensboro was the state's second largest city. The region became complacent as traditional manufacturing started to fade away. Charlotte needs to look beyond banking. There was a recent news article stating that Charlotte only has one bank headquartered in the city now. The city could easily lose its ranking as second largest banking hub. If im not mistaken thats already happened. But if Bank of America ever leaves Charlotte it would hurt. Charlotte would still have Duke Energy. The Triangle's economy is pretty firm. Research and innovation is a growing sector.
I think Charlotte should not fall into the trap the Triad fell into becoming complacent. Before RTP and the banks, the Triad was the driving force behind North Carolina's economy. At one time Winston-Salem was the state's largest city and during the 1960s Greensboro was the state's second largest city. The region became complacent as traditional manufacturing started to fade away. Charlotte needs to look beyond banking. There was a recent news article stating that Charlotte only has one bank headquartered in the city now. The city could easily lose its ranking as second largest banking hub. If im not mistaken thats already happened. But if Bank of America ever leaves Charlotte it would hurt. Charlotte would still have Duke Energy. The Triangle's economy is pretty firm. Research and innovation is a growing sector.
CLT's (and the Triangle) economy is on fire.
Look at Wells Fargo. They are bigger in CLT than Wachovia ever was. Look at everyone going nuts over HQ2. We have Wells Fargo HQ2 which is bigger than their primary HQ.
Ally Financial: Growing massive here. The top leadership has moved from HQ in Detroit to CLT and local CLT execs have moved to the top.
etc.
CLT is currently the fastest growing economy in NC if you count the Triangle as a single region. Raleigh is growing slightly faster percentage wise than CLT economically (flip-flopping the past few years). CLT/Raleigh are among the fastest growing economies in the nation.
Last edited by Charlotte485; 01-29-2018 at 10:50 AM..
Charlotte just missed out on the top three spots for fastest job growth among large metropolitan areas last year, according to a new study from Headlight Data, but it tied with Salt Lake City for No. 4.
The rapid growth in jobs offers some explanation for why so many apartments, office buildings and other developments are under construction around the city. Charlotte’s job growth rate was more than double the U.S. average in 2016, with the number of jobs going up 3.7 percent vs. 1.7 percent nationally.
Raleigh came in just under Charlotte, with 3.5 percent employment growth in 2016
Here are the top 10 metropolitan areas, ranked by 2016 job growth, using U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics data. Headlight Data produces job and employment studies and data aggregation for workforce development groups.
1. Grand Rapids, Mich.: 4.4 percent
2. Orlando: 4.2 percent
3. Nashville: 4 percent
4. Charlotte: 3.7 percent
4. (tie) Salt Lake City: 3.7 percent
6. Riverside, Calif.: 3.5 percent
6. (tie) Raleigh: 3.5 percent
8. Jacksonville: 3.4 percent
9. San Francisco: 3.3 percent
9. (tie) Austin: 3.3 percent
Finance has grown by 18% in the last couple years in CLT.
Over the past decade, a total of 888,000 people have moved to the Charlotte metro – a decade-long growth rate of 59.6%, which officially made Charlotte the fastest growing city in the country between 2004-2014.
As its been said many times. Both Raleigh & Charlotte are growing incredibly fast. And are both newcomers. Not sure any other state has 2 new kids on the block. And theyre growing differently: structurally, economically, culturally.
I think Charlotte should not fall into the trap the Triad fell into becoming complacent. Before RTP and the banks, the Triad was the driving force behind North Carolina's economy. At one time Winston-Salem was the state's largest city and during the 1960s Greensboro was the state's second largest city. The region became complacent as traditional manufacturing started to fade away. Charlotte needs to look beyond banking. There was a recent news article stating that Charlotte only has one bank headquartered in the city now. The city could easily lose its ranking as second largest banking hub. If im not mistaken thats already happened. But if Bank of America ever leaves Charlotte it would hurt. Charlotte would still have Duke Energy. The Triangle's economy is pretty firm. Research and innovation is a growing sector.
Charlotte doesn't depend on financial services alone, it just happens to be the largest sector. Charlotte is putting things in place to attract more enteprenuers & tech talent with investments in mass transit & urban centric living near Center City. But the next biggest thing that goes mostly under the radar is the transformation of the land surrounding the airport into a logistics focused area that could one day have up to 12 million sq ft of commercial space
Carolinas Health Care is Charlotte's largest employer. Wells Fargo (an HQ that Charlotte lost) is #2. Wal Mart (LOL) is #3. The 4th and 5th spots go to Bank of America and Novant Health. Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools has high employment figures too.
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