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Some people may not move here expecting a large city but the problem is as the population increases by the thousands, bigger city issues come along with it: more noticeable crime, heavier traffic, and the fact you can see so many people and cars around highlights the relative small size of the center of Raleigh, downtown. The infrastructure is trailing the growth, which obviously isn't a problem unique to Rgh, but it's rather glaring...
Raleigh can't "be what it always has been" if 75% of Wake are transplants and the population here has ballooned by 75% in the last 20 years. You do get that, right? Especially being you're highlighting that the overwhelming majority of us aren't native Raleighites...
All of those factors of Rgh's reputation that you mentioned are true and things I like of here as well. My point was never that Rgh has to keep up with Clt...
And you may not like my point about the segregation divide in the city but that just probably means segregation is neither important nor has it affected you. Your dislike of my point about the segregation and lacking integration doesn't make the point any less true. There is a very clear racial gradient in the city east-to-west, and actually I'd be interested in knowing the historical background of that settlement. Whiter the further west you go, blacker the further east you go, with most Asian-Americans and Middle Easterners on the western half of the city, and most Latinos on the eastern half...
The evidence is throughout the general income levels by population group, in the neighborhoods on both sides of town, and education institutions. Rgh's social life is very much impacted by this, if you're a people reader. A handful of areas surrounding State and Downtown you'll see mixed social groups, but even nights at Sola's or Morgan Street Food Hall, you see mostly homogeneous social groups. Obviously there isn't a lot of racial animosity here, but this is very interesting to watch around the city and there is some "silent" discrimination here...
You can't extrapolate that because Raleigh is 60% white that there is silent discrimination at work keeping people confined to certain areas. Maybe in the 1950s, but not today.
Look at Durham, which is a nationally known mecca for Black Americans. Would you say there is less discrimination going on there?
Of course there is tons of discrimination all over NC, like everywhere else, but I've said this many times, I don't know if it's the small-town behavior inherent to NC, but I see more true integration of blacks and whites asking about each other's family members as true equals....
than I witness here in Atlanta, where we merely share the same city. I don't see interactions like that here.
I think you may view Charlotte as more integrated from its racial makeup and that's fine.
Raleigh has always had a large white population, possibly the highest percentage of any NC city.
But I feel that Blacks and Whites have always had an equal voice there, and television representation.
Churches unfortunately remain quite segregated everywhere, and maybe minority groups like to live around people like them, that's certainly true for us Gay Americans, and I hear that the Indian community in the Triangle stays close together.
Perhaps Durham's majority Black population is the reason Raleigh seems too homogenous. The Triangle might have the two largest towns looking better to one group versus the other.
I went to public school in Franklin County where whites constituted only 30% of the students and we all lived in harmony. Maybe that's why it's hard for me to believe that a nefarious undercurrent is present.
All the NYers that have come probably are white for the most part, though many latinos and other minorities in NY want to move to NC because they want an easier life at less cost.
Durham isn't majority black. And regarding racial discrimination there, I once worked in Durham and used to hang out there, never encountered any profiling or uncomfortable stares or anything of the sort, but I no longer hang around Durham and can't speak as certainly of racial politics there....so I won't. All I'll say is that maybe because Durham has more minorities and minority groups, you may not get the same racial distancing there...
Atlanta definitely isn't a beacon of racial harmony, I agree with you there. I used to live in Gwinnett, which is much more integrated than the actual city itself...
I view Charlotte as more integrated than Raleigh because I lived there and you could see this integration neighborhood over neighborhood to a greater and more noticeable degree than you see in Raleigh. But I also never said there wasn't a level of segregation in Charlotte, because there is...
I spoke on several things about Raleigh, why does this one point about the segregation/integration gradient in Raleigh bother you so much?
Durham isn't majority black. And regarding racial discrimination there, I once worked in Durham and used to hang out there, never encountered any profiling or uncomfortable stares or anything of the sort, but I no longer hang around Durham and can't speak as certainly of racial politics there....so I won't. All I'll say is that maybe because Durham has more minorities and minority groups, you may not get the same racial distancing there...
Atlanta definitely isn't a beacon of racial harmony, I agree with you there. I used to live in Gwinnett, which is much more integrated than the actual city itself...
I view Charlotte as more integrated than Raleigh because I lived there and you could see this integration neighborhood over neighborhood to a greater and more noticeable degree than you see in Raleigh. But I also never said there wasn't a level of segregation in Charlotte, because there is...
I spoke on several things about Raleigh, why does this one point about the segregation/integration gradient in Raleigh bother you so much?
Because he thinks everyone is super chill about race here, and anyone questioning that simply doesn't know better. His view on race is pretty simplistic. For example, in the above reply he says that "Churches unfortunately remain quite segregated everywhere, and maybe minority groups like to live around people like them, that's certainly true for us Gay Americans, and I hear that the Indian community in the Triangle stays close together."
As if redlining had/has nothing to do with blacks living in certain parts of the city/state, and going to the same church. Nah, it's just minorities like to hang out with each other -- that's the reason for segregation.
On topic: What are your thought on Charlotte's public transportation? Have you used it often to get around? Do people actually use it, or is it "just there"?
You can't extrapolate that because Raleigh is 60% white that there is silent discrimination at work keeping people confined to certain areas. Maybe in the 1950s, but not today.
Look at Durham, which is a nationally known mecca for Black Americans. Would you say there is less discrimination going on there?
Of course there is tons of discrimination all over NC, like everywhere else, but I've said this many times, I don't know if it's the small-town behavior inherent to NC, but I see more true integration of blacks and whites asking about each other's family members as true equals....
than I witness here in Atlanta, where we merely share the same city. I don't see interactions like that here.
I think you may view Charlotte as more integrated from its racial makeup and that's fine.
Raleigh has always had a large white population, possibly the highest percentage of any NC city.
But I feel that Blacks and Whites have always had an equal voice there, and television representation.
Churches unfortunately remain quite segregated everywhere, and maybe minority groups like to live around people like them, that's certainly true for us Gay Americans, and I hear that the Indian community in the Triangle stays close together.
Perhaps Durham's majority Black population is the reason Raleigh seems too homogenous. The Triangle might have the two largest towns looking better to one group versus the other.
I went to public school in Franklin County where whites constituted only 30% of the students and we all lived in harmony. Maybe that's why it's hard for me to believe that a nefarious undercurrent is present.
All the NYers that have come probably are white for the most part, though many latinos and other minorities in NY want to move to NC because they want an easier life at less cost.
I really don't understand your passion for Raleigh but disdain for North Carolinians. Raleigh is quite North Carolinian dominated, I'm not sure one would hardly notice a huge California/New England influence. Maybe some Red Sox bumper stickers and Yankees flags but. Pretty sure most of the growth in Wake is from other NC counties + people who move from New York to NC probably aren't all that different than the people already in Raleigh. I highly doubt people moving in droves are Manhattan socialites or the AOC's of the world.
The best thing about NC is the North Carolinians themselves... Not really sure people from Syracuse suburbs are adding that much higher quality of life or enlightenment. There are a lot of North Carolinians in DC that are proud. Maybe you should embrace you're a North Carolinian and stop with the "Oh, but everyone in Raleigh is from CA and NY, so, we're not dumb rednecks". Well, yeah, people from Wilmington, Winston, Charlotte, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, etc. aren't dumb rednecks either.
Because he thinks everyone is super chill about race here, and anyone questioning that simply doesn't know better. His view on race is pretty simplistic. For example, in the above reply he says that "Churches unfortunately remain quite segregated everywhere, and maybe minority groups like to live around people like them, that's certainly true for us Gay Americans, and I hear that the Indian community in the Triangle stays close together."
As if redlining had/has nothing to do with blacks living in certain parts of the city/state, and going to the same church. Nah, it's just minorities like to hang out with each other -- that's the reason for segregation.
On topic: What are your thought on Charlotte's public transportation? Have you used it often to get around? Do people actually use it, or is it "just there"?
Yeah he's not the only Triangle poster like that, we have at least one more (Heel82) who was completely bothered in the past that I even so much as suggested there may be some racial uncomfortability here...
I love Clt's transit! Never used the bus, but I used the train several times, and plenty of others do too. I was limited in how often I used it, because it's not like it goes everywhere; otherwise, if coverage was extensive, I would have used it much more often...
It is amazingly useful if you live within walking proximity of its route. Plenty of people come from further out to use the park and rides, but I lived off Tyvola, in walking distance to Tyvola station. It was easy to get to and fun, especially going Uptown when there was something going on. Most people probably forget it's there if they aren't in peripheral hoods along the route in North and South Charlotte...
I've spent an equal amount of time living in the Triad, then Charlotte, and now the Triangle. As far as any major differences between Charlotte and Raleigh, it's too close to call. Raleigh has the better road infrastructure by far, so it's easier to get around. Charlotte has the Lynx, but I've never used it, the need just never presented itself. If I was a younger person and lived along South Boulevard and worked uptown or at the University, I'd probably use Lynx all the time. Charlotte used to have more music festivals, but those seem to have moved more to the Triangle instead.
One big thing I miss is that development is allowed along Lake Norman, so there are things do to there that we can't do here with the restrictions on Jordan and Falls lakes.
Overall though, for me personally, the Triangle just suits me a bit better.
This is completely subjective, but I find the women of Raleigh (and eastern NC as a whole) to be more approachable and more attractive. By "more attractive" it seems as though every girl in Charlotte has a body full of tattoos and piercings. I'm not saying that body art is a bad thing, but it would be nice to see more ladies who are comfortable with their natural beauty. Raleigh seems to have a decent mix of body art lovers and natural lovers.
As for my big deal breaker (religion) Charlotte definitely has a larger percentage of religious women. Back when I was dating (I'm in a relationship now) somehow the conversation would turn towards "So Urban, when did you get saved"................
After a long awkward silence, I knew then it was time to ask for separate checks. So in my opinion, Raleigh wins when it comes to dating, higher education, and less religious. Outside of those 3 things, I agree with the OP.
Our experiences are personal and not debatable, but the data isn't. Though it's now ten years old, here's a link to to a racial dot map. You can zoom into and scroll around the state to see the distribution of black/white/hispanic/asian residents. https://demographics.virginia.edu/DotMap/
Our experiences are personal and not debatable, but the data isn't. Though it's now ten years old, here's a link to to a racial dot map. You can zoom into and scroll around the state to see the distribution of black/white/hispanic/asian residents. https://demographics.virginia.edu/DotMap/
Lol that's validating everything I already said...
NE Rgh is the most integrated part of Raleigh, followed by far/outer East Raleigh areas. Rest of the city, there are clear lines of demarcation...
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