Elements of Urbanism: Charlotte

[ben says]

^ I completely agree...but it seems to me that we're focusing on leadership and implementation. I was merely expressing an opinion as to the city in general. (I felt that's what peestandingup was doing, as well.)

^I don't know, maybe because they've started doing some things right and it's paying off? Why else would be talking about this?

Paying off for who? They don't seem like they're interested in investing in people as much as they are "stuff", just plopping it down as fast as they can. And like I said, all built on two shaky, arguably unsustainable growth methods. A lot of that is really artificial, so "working" doesn't necessarily mean "smart" & is arguable.

Isn't Jacksonville the same thing, only WITHOUT the downtown eaterys/bars and light rail?

A lot of it. But I'd say our core neighborhoods are a hell of a lot more interesting & set up to work with each other better, on a pedestrian level. Although many of them aren't being utilized (or are being/have been torn apart) & are the product of city leaders who don't know WTF they're doing.

^That's what I was getting at.

[vicupstate]

I totally 'get' the Charlotte is sterile and plastic impression.  I felt that way in the 90's and it didn't impress me at all then.  But, there have been a lot of changes since then. 

First, there was a renewal of several outlying areas that have enhanced it greatly. South End, Dilworth, Wilmore on the Southern sides beyond Uptown.  To the North, NoDA is a funky, gritty, artsy mill village that is very much like what you might find in Nashville or Atlanta.

Also, an area West of Uptown, is evolving into an urban neighborhood, with a nice blend of old and new. The name escapes me at the moment.       

As for the core itself, it lacks the diversity and ecelectic nature that older building stock provides.  There no replacing that, IMO, which is a shame. That provides a very cautionary tale for JAX to learn from.   

That said, you do have to admire that Charlotte is forward-looking and always trying to push itself to the next level. There is not now, nor has ther ever been a dirth of leadership or willingness exert it. 

They moved from being a sleepy southern city no different than Greensboro, NC or Columbia, SC into the solid second-tier American city.     

[fsquid]

I'd say most that live in Charlotte don't care too much about historical stock anyways.  Can't say it came up in conversation ever in my 12 years there.  People want places to play, enjoy the climate, and be entertained.

[krazeeboi]

As was stated, Charlotte indeed destroyed too much of its historic urban fabric within the core over the decades, which is lamentable--even though it didn't have as much as Jax or Atlanta to begin with. This is a major reason why a crucial piece of the puzzle in downtown revitalization--retail, specifically street-level retail--hasn't quite taken off yet, as historic storefronts are more conducive to that. However, many of the textile mills which turned Charlotte into a booming manufacturing center post-Reconstruction are still standing; they are just located outside of the urban core. And while it's a relatively small area, there's a concentration of historic Victorian homes in Fourth Ward within Uptown that's worth mentioning:











Also, as was stated, Charlotte is really a city of neighborhoods. For the folks who complain about the sterility of Uptown, I encourage them to check out the historic nabes Southend, Dilworth, NoDa, Elizabeth, Plaza-Midwood, Wilmore, Wesley Heights, etc. where the true soul of the city is to be found. A couple of these neighborhoods also have their own commercial areas with restaurants, retail, nightlife, etc.

The light rail line has spurred a lot of TOD, which is significant. A second wave seems to have occurred within the past year or so, as more rental properties have come on the market in response to the depressed national housing market which is a little more exacerbated in Charlotte, but not as bad as other cities (e.g., Atlanta). It's a great start to a city largely characterized by suburban development that wants to shift to a more urban, transit-oriented paradigm.

As I've stated before, I find it incredible what Charlotte has accomplished with so little to work with compared to a city like Jacksonville. Jacksonville is structurally more urban (grid system), more historic, has a coastal location relatively shielded from hurricanes, has a downtown located along a grand river, has a milder climate, etc.  The difference simply comes down to leadership. Charlotte's revitalization in more recent decades can largely be attributed to the business leader Hugh McColl, who, in concert with orchestrating major bank mergers and acquisitions that helped turn Charlotte into the banking mecca it is today, also helped spearhead urban development in Uptown to give the city a more robust metropolitan image that would in turn help attract other businesses. Of course the approach taken is not without its faults, but the results can't be argued with. Once that revitalization took hold, civic leaders sustained the momentum with continued investment in infrastructure, housing, amenities, parks, etc. Jax might not have the business leadership in place, but there's no reason it can't take a page from the playbook of cities noted for their successful downtown revitalizations like Charleston, Chattanooga, and Greenville, or those in the process of continued revitalization like Knoxville and Columbia, which began with civic leadership.

Jax needs real leaders, period, point blank.

[simms3]

Charlotte is really a POPULAR place for young college grads and professionals to move to.  Having visited only a couple of times and preferring extremely large overcrowded cities on the coasts to boomtown sunbelt cities, I still don't think I would be kicking and screaming if I had to move there.  It's a networking city with A TON of young professionals and everyone seems intent on meeting new people and making new friends, and unlike Jacksonville there are really desirable urban environments for living.  Uptown is not surprisingly very appealing.

And while everyone seems hell bent on discussing the uncertainty with the banks there, out of the NINE F500 companies based in the area, only 1 is a bank.  Its economy seems pretty diversified to me and there are plenty of financial services, legal services, engineering services and real estate services firms there.

Sometimes the city does seem like it is trying too hard, what with public art and sculptures on every corner and near every building entrance, and there isn't much old at all, nor is there a grid outside of Uptown, but the city is very attractive and has a ton of big city amenities, a decent big city feel, and people there have big city mentalities and more substantial travel/educational backgrounds than people in Jacksonville.  The sterility that comes with those attributes above is worth the trade off for me.  Jacksonville has "history" relatively speaking, but look at the historic districts.  They are all shoddy looking and you can't build anything in them.  Jacksonville may have more "warehouses", but they are all rotting and forgotten whereas Charlotte's 5 or so are part of a really cool area served by light rail.  Jacksonville may have more old buildings downtown and a grid, but it's all deserted!  What good is all that history if you can't make anything of it anyway?

And do I even have to mention there is FOOT traffic?  Very rarely in the Sunbelt, especially in the South with these new cities that have developed almost entirely post-streetcar do you see foot traffic and a walking vibe/faster pace of life.  In Charlotte you have inklings of that.

[fsquid]

Charlotte is really a POPULAR place for young college grads and professionals to move to. 

one only has to be uptown on a college football Saturday to see everyone going to the bars to watch their alma mater.  Tons of people under the age of 30.

[Tacachale]

^Absolutely. One huge advantage Charlotte has is North Carolina's higher education system, which is leagues ahead of Florida's and attracts some of the best and brightest in the country (and the world). They didn't get where they are in a vacuum.

[krazeeboi]

^Absolutely. One huge advantage Charlotte has is North Carolina's higher education system, which is leagues ahead of Florida's and attracts some of the best and brightest in the country (and the world). They didn't get where they are in a vacuum.

You also have Charlotte's proximity to SC's two largest universities, USC and Clemson. You're just as apt to see alums from those schools packing out the bars in the fall as alums of Duke and UNC, sometimes even more so.

[fsquid]

^Absolutely. One huge advantage Charlotte has is North Carolina's higher education system, which is leagues ahead of Florida's and attracts some of the best and brightest in the country (and the world). They didn't get where they are in a vacuum.

You also have Charlotte's proximity to SC's two largest universities, USC and Clemson. You're just as apt to see alums from those schools packing out the bars in the fall as alums of Duke and UNC, sometimes even more so.

certainly more so as no one claims Duke football.  You pretty much see alumns from every ACC and SEC school packing the uptown bars.  Hell you even see the Southern Conference alums there watching their teams (App State, Furman, Wofford, etc.).

[Ocklawaha]

It's a networking city with A TON of young professionals and everyone seems intent on meeting new people and making new friends, and unlike Jacksonville there are really desirable urban environments for living.  Uptown is not surprisingly very appealing.

And do I even have to mention there is FOOT traffic?  Very rarely in the Sunbelt, especially in the South with these new cities that have developed almost entirely post-streetcar do you see foot traffic and a walking vibe/faster pace of life.  In Charlotte you have inklings of that.

While I no longer fit the profile as 'young,' I disagree that Jacksonville doesn't have desirable urban environments for living. I believe San Marco, Durkeeville, Riverside-Avondale (centered on 5 Points, and Park and King), parts of Springfield, Murray Hill, Saint Nicholas, and Fairfax... all have desirable places to live and a pretty cool urban vibe. True, it might not be as mature as some other cities, but it's quite a Bohemian, sometimes Indie Environment.

Your second paragraph hits the crux of the matter in reviving these old places with new uses and purpose... streetcar. By simply returning to what made these neighborhoods and suburbs happen, we'd refuel the stalled motors of our organic growth. Streetcars built Charlotte (even more then Jax).

Interurbans too! The Piedmont & Northern Railway was created in the 1914 consolidation of two physically separated 2-year-old Duke Power electric interurbans, Piedmont Traction Co. in North Carolina and Greenville, Spartanburg & Anderson in South Carolina. P&N replaced electric operation with diesel 1951-1958, and was acquired by Seaboard Coast Line (of Jacksonville, TODAY'S CSX), on July 1, 1969.

Served by both the large Interurban Cars of the P&N as well as the municipal system known as 'Southern Public Utilities' and later as 'Duke Power'. Charlotte developed streetcar suburbs such as Dilworth, Queens Road West, Elizabeth, Western Heights, Wilmore, Rosemont, Wesley Heights, Biddleville and Washington Heights (which Charlotte claims as the first black neighborhood in the south developed as a streetcar community... Jacksonville actually had them beat as we not only had black neighborhoods come in as streetcar suburbs, we had an entire development company, streetcar system AND neighborhood prior to 1906.)

Can you imagine how the old Ortega Line of the Jacksonville Traction Company would look today had we not been so ready to listen to the 'General Motors' sales pitch? Of course who knows the ends that the 'highway boys' would have gone to to wreck our trolley system, in Phoenix they burned out the cars in arson attacks by night leaving the city no other recourse but to use the buses readily provided by the arsonists themselves.