Give Me the Low Down on Charlotte, NC

[Chimera]

Charlotte is extremely different from the way it was 20 years ago.

Some things are good about that, some are bad.

Good include the city growing, becoming more nationally known, and downtown/uptown is ACTUALLY a place to go now.

Unlike 15 years ago, when no one....NO ONE lived downtown, and if you said let's go downtown and go out, people wondered what you were smoking (here's a hint, it was probably crack, bc that was the place to find it then, and to be more honest, who the fug goes out downtown now....oh wait, all the transplants)

But we have waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many Northerners who come down here and complain like its the fuging Complaint Convention 2014

wahhh there's too much traffic- why do you think there is so much? b/c all you guys came down and our city couldn't structurally handle this influx

wahhhh its too hot- bitch you moved to the South, what the fug do you expect at 12pm in the afternoon? YEAH ITS HOT. WELCOME.

wahhhhh people can't drive in the snow- I'll put money on that the only ones driving in the snow are the ones that think they can- the northerners. Us southerners? Oh hell no- bread, milk, see you in 3 days when its melted.

BIGGEST problem I have are the Steelers fans. They come from everywhere......its like the bandwaggoner mecca or something here for Steelers fans.

If I read correctly and your wife is a Steelers fan, I will welcome you with open arms and you are already on the right track being a Panthers fan.

But......listen bro. I know a good divorce lawyer.....and lots of cute single female Panthers fans.

Its the only way my friend, the only way.

it was more like 25 years ago when downtown was bad. and was mostly relegated to east trade/cpcc areas

[Niner National]

The reason we don't have a "historic downtown" is because downtown is really like 20 years old. But there are a crapload of museums and such now.

 

Wells Fargo History Museum, mint museum, Harvey Gantt thingy (you can use their wifi when tailgating), some modern art museum

The reason we don't have a downtown is because in the 60's the decided to tear everything down. The streets of Uptown used to be lined with buildings. Charlestonian architecture was very common here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the size the city was, Charlotte has always had a pretty impressive core. We were one of the first cities in the south (maybe first) to have electricity, which gave rise to the electric streetcars than served Dilworth, Myers Park, Wesley Heights, Plaza Midwood, and Elizabeth. 

 

Gold was a driving force in Charlotte's rise as a financial center, it didn't just start with the rise of Nations Bank and First Union.

[Niner National]

Next time you're in town for a Panthers game or some other reason you should consider checking out the Common Market in Plaza Midwood or Alexander Michael's in historic 4th ward.

 

What makes Charlotte unique, imo, is the variety of neighborhoods that have their own distinct character and feel.  Dozens of neighborhoods seem like they have their own 'mini downtown' with bars, restaurants, shopping, etc.  

Man I love Charlotte more than most, but dozens of neighborohods with their own mini downtowns?

 

I disagree. You basically have NoDa, SouthEnd, Plaza Midwood, and Uptown. Elizabeth sorta has one, but there isn't much night life there and the main strip in Elizabeth is sorta in a sea of parking lots and CPCC buildings right now. It'll change when the street car finishes and Grubb finally develops those parcels, but it is pretty dead right now. Morehead street just west of Uptown has some potential, but it's still not quite there yet. There are a lot of projects planned for that area though, so maybe things will change.

 

Montford is fun, but it is basically just a collection of small strip malls and buildings with a lot of bars.

 

There aren't any others unless you are including nearby towns with downtown areas like Belmont, Matthews, Mooresville,etc.

[Happy Panther]

LA is very much a sprawling city with a small distinct downtown "urban area" in relation to the whole city... very much like charlotte.

Is that what you meant by "urban area" or are we going back to metro population again?

Metro and urban area are the same

[Arroz con Panther]

I'm in Boston right now for work.  Well, actually I'm in Brighton on BC's campus.  It sure does feel like I'm still in Boston though...

 

The point I'm trying to make is that pretty much anywhere inside of the 95 loop here, you feel like you're in Boston.  Yes, technically you are in different neighborhoods, but you all of the Boston and the surrounding suburbs have grown together and you can pretty much get anywhere inside the 95 loop by taking back roads.  In Charlotte, you can't do that.

 

So, yes, Charlotte may have the same population as Boston, but you cannot compare on that figure.  I think anyone who visits the two would be able to understand that.

 

 

[Niner National]

 

 

 

Going back and looking at these again made me realize where this picture was taken.

 

The Ivey's building in the photo above is one of the old buildings that still exists in Uptown today.  It is on the corner of Tryon and 5th street. It is the building with Qdoba, 5Church, and a handful of other restaurants. Crazy how much different the rest of that street is today.

[Chimera]

Metro and urban area are the same

no

metro is the city and suburbs

urban is the central/ commercial part of the city.

Uptown, south park, university = urban. hidden valley = not urban

Belmont is part of the charlotte metro. Belmont is also very NOT urban.

[Chimera]

Going back and looking at these again made me realize where this picture was taken.

The Ivey's building in the photo above is one of the old buildings that still exists in Uptown today. It is on the corner of Tryon and 5th street. It is the building with Qdoba, 5Church, and a handful of other restaurants. Crazy how much different the rest of that street is today.

so the building in the foreground is where independence tower now stands? It was the tallest building in charlotte for decades.

I remember going to the discovery place on a field trip in second or third grade. There was a demolition crew tearing down some old buildings up the street. They were clearing out room for what would become BofA corporate center.

Also in your original pictures, take note of the existing tracks in the streets...

We are currently forking out hundreds of millions to put them back

tldr: uptown is much older than 20 years. try more like 250 years.

[Happy Panther]

no

metro is the city and suburbs

urban is the central/ commercial part of the city.

Uptown, south park, university = urban. hidden valley = not urban

Belmont is part of the charlotte metro. Belmont is also very NOT urban.

The largest urban area in the United States is the New York City metropolitan area. The population of the core city exceeds 8 million people, its metropolitan statistical area has a population that is over 19 million, and its combined statistical area population is over 22 million. The next five largest urban areas in the U.S. are Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Philadelphia, and Dallas.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_area#United_States

[Chimera]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_area#United_States

Unlike an urban area, a metropolitan area includes not only the urban area, but alsosatellite cities plus intervening rural land that is socio-economically connected to the urban core city, typically by employment ties through commuting , with the urban core city being the primary labor market.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_area

eta:

The U.S. Census Bureau defines an urban area as: "Core census block groups orblocks  that have a population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile (386 per square kilometer) and surrounding census blocks that have an overall density of at least 500 people per square mile (193 per square kilometer)."

[Happy Panther]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_area

eta:

No idea what you are trying to debate here. 

[boo7382]

No idea what you are trying to debate here. 

 

 

I think he thought that by us saying uptown has only been hopping for 20 years meant that it wasn't built until 20 years ago....

 

that's not at all what we are saying....

[Chimera]

No idea what you are trying to debate here.

metro and urban are not the same thing... like the quoted text says

[Happy Panther]

metro and urban are not the same thing... like the quoted text says

The quoted text says they are but also relates urban area according to the census bureau which is a separate definition? 

 

Whatever definition you want to use, what point are you trying to make regarding Charlotte and LA?