OT: Tell me about Charlotte

[superjohn]

This might have something to do with it? Really fast growing and much has changed since my first trip to the area in the early 90's.

I was thinking it was like 8 or so years ago, he was living there only 4 years ago. He's a Chicago boy, poor guy is stuck living in Arkansas now.

 

[Peacefrog]

I bet he’d kill to get back to Charlotte now

 

[LIuconn]

Any stated reasons why he hated it?

 

[MattMang23]

Charlotte is awesome. I considered moving there but it never happened. Two of my best friends live there. One is the head of the CLT UConn Alumni Chapter. He needs more people to show out to his events, y’all, so go!

 

[HuskyFich]

Charlotte is awesome. I considered moving there but it never happened. Two of my best friends live there. One is the head of the CLT UConn Alumni Chapter. He needs more people to show out to his events, y’all, so go!

We seriously need to get watch parties together for the games this year.

 

[MattMang23]

We seriously need to get watch parties together for the games this year.

I’ll work on that for you.

Edit: Just texted him and asked about setting some up. His answer:

“Sure. Tell them to come to the VBGB event (it’s the Welcome to the Neighborhood party at VBGB Beer Hall and Garden) event at 3pm this Saturday and we can chat as a group about picking a central location.”

 

[Steelerone]

I've got a job interview in Charlotte (Gastonia) on Monday and I understand a few of you are in that area...Do I want to leave CT for Charlotte (convince me with an argument other than taxes)? Tell me about the area and what makes it great? Where should I look to live if they offer?

Just remember that when you visit North Carolina while on vacation that you are their income and butter will melt in their mouth. When you move there you are a Yankee and for the next twenty or thirty years will be treated as such.

 

[superjohn]

Any stated reasons why he hated it?

He basically said it's a bad mix of the gods and guns crowd, pissed off liberals, and NY transplant bankers. It's trying to get a new identity but the stars and bars culture still lingers. He also says it lacks soul. He says you can find some good spots but he just doesn't like the feel of the town overall.

 

[Guapo]

He basically said it's a bad mix of the gods and guns crowd, pissed off liberals, and NY transplant bankers. It's trying to get a new identity but the stars and bars culture still lingers. He also says it lacks soul. He says you can find some good spots but he just doesn't like the feel of the town overall.

It’s Atlanta with an MBA

 

[superjohn]

I bet he’d kill to get back to Charlotte now

He's a low key musician that's now surrounded by executives in Walmart land. He lives in a gated golf community and hates golf.

 

[HuskyHawk]

He basically said it's a bad mix of the gods and guns crowd, pissed off liberals, and NY transplant bankers. It's trying to get a new identity but the stars and bars culture still lingers. He also says it lacks soul. He says you can find some good spots but he just doesn't like the feel of the town overall.

Politics aside, I think every area that has grown rapidly over the last 20-30 years lacks soul. New growth comes almost entirely in one form. Cookie cutter Toll Brothers style houses on small clear-cut lots, three story framed apartment complexes, chain restaurants and stores in generic roadside plazas.

This is not to say that there isn't soul in parts of Atlanta, Charlotte or Austin. But it exists in the older parts of those cities, which is a smaller and smaller part of what the growing population experiences. Recently developed suburbia is comfortable and convenient, but utterly soulless and generic. It looks and feels identical in Columbus, Austin, KC, Charlotte, Seattle, Denver and Sacramento.

New England suburbs have managed to maintain more history, more uniqueness and an identity. That's very very rare outside the NY/NE region, especially in the places that grew more recently.

 

[Peacefrog]

Just remember that when you visit North Carolina while on vacation that you are their income and butter will melt in their mouth. When you move there you are a Yankee and for the next twenty or thirty years will be treated as such.

Nah, completely not that way any longer and hasn't been for a while at least if you are near any decent-sized towns. My subdivision is more than half transplants from up north like myself. The Yankees are the majority in many of the new growth areas.

I agree with the lack of character statement and Charlotte isn't alone in that regard. Having lived in places like Chicago, CT, Italy..... it does seem more sterile here. Its very nice and all but cookie-cutter is an apt descriptor. I miss all the one-off restaurants up north. Even most of the high-end restaurants here feel a bit like a chain. But its really quite nice in the end.

 

[whosurdaddy2720]

He basically said it's a bad mix of the gods and guns crowd, pissed off liberals, and NY transplant bankers. It's trying to get a new identity but the stars and bars culture still lingers. He also says it lacks soul. He says you can find some good spots but he just doesn't like the feel of the town overall.

The first part of your post could literally apply to any fast-growing major southern city with lots of northern transplants (Atlanta, Nashville, etc.) so I'd take that with a grain of salt.

The second part is absolutely true though. As I said before, I moved here three years ago and I love it overall but if there is one major downside its this. While other southern cities seem to have a flavor and a distinct "thing" they're known for, Charlotte seems to sorely lack an identity which is odd considering its size and long history. I guess some people would say that it's NASCAR considering a major racetrack is here along with the Hall of Fame but you'd be hard-pressed to find many people who actually live in Charlotte talking NASCAR with any regularity. I, for one, love the growth and all the new shiny buildings, restaurants and neighborhoods but I will admit that it has come at a cost.