Give Me the Low Down on Charlotte, NC

[Niner National]

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.

I believe that is correct.

 

And yes, I noticed the tracks. Some of those tracks are actually still in place. When they ground the surface off of Davidson Street for resurfacing, tracks were exposed below that were previously used for the street car line to NoDa.

 

Same thing when they reconfigured East Blvd a few years back.

 

I heard they also found tracks under trade street when they were ripping it up to install the current street car tracks.

 

It's a shame the street cars were ever killed off here, but that was the way society was going back then. Now young people (and empty nesters) are reversing the trend and moving back into the city.

[Chimera]

I believe that is correct.

And yes, I noticed the tracks. Some of those tracks are actually still in place. When they ground the surface off of Davidson Street for resurfacing, tracks were exposed below that were previously used for the street car line to NoDa.

Same thing when they reconfigured East Blvd a few years back.

I heard they also found tracks under trade street when they were ripping it up to install the current street car tracks.

It's a shame the street cars were ever killed off here, but that was the way society was going back then. Now young people (and empty nesters) are reversing the trend and moving back into the city.

yep there's a big hump on west 5th where streetcar tracks used to cross. they just paved right over the old tracks

eta: I believe the thought process in the past was "the streetcar only goes where the tracks are. we need buses"

[Chimera]

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?

Unlike new york, boston, philadelphia, and other cities where most of the city is urbanized / built up, charlotte and LA have smaller downtown/uptown areas and most of each city is more suburban than urban

example: if charlotte city limits had the same density as boston city limits, charlotte's city proper population would be almost 4 million.

If the city of los angeles (not the entire metro area) had boston's density, its population would more than double.

Charlotte and LA are more sprawling suburban than centralized urban.

[Happy Panther]

Unlike new york, boston, philadelphia, and other cities where most of the city is urbanized / built up, charlotte and LA have smaller downtown/uptown areas and most of each city is more suburban than urban

 

You must not have been to LA.

 

Still not seeing any point.

[Brooklyn Bully]

Charlotte and Jacksonville have grass, LA and Boston don't. That's all you need to know. Meanwhile, San Fran is only 7 miles by 7 miles big. Manhattan is only 2.3 miles wide. What does all this mean? Nothing. Have a nice day, I'm eating a donut.

[Chimera]

Charlotte and Jacksonville have grass, LA and Boston don't. That's all you need to know. Meanwhile, San Fran is only 7 miles by 7 miles big. Manhattan is only 2.3 miles wide. What does all this mean? Nothing. Have a nice day, I'm eating a donut.

Actually that perfectly illustrates my point.

Charlotte and LA are sprawl. The northeastern cities are quite the opposite.

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[Brooklyn Bully]

Actually that perfectly illustrates my point.

Charlotte and LA are sprawl. The northeastern cities are quite the opposite.

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LA is all cement, man. Sans the parks and beaches. Yes you'll have little front yards like in Boyz N Da Hood, but it's nothing but city as far as the eye can see. I remember the first time I flew in. Opened the shade on the plane window. We were about 10 min from landing. Nothing but city.

 

I think you're confusing architecture here. Charlotte's city sections are what all of LA looks like. But Charlotte, like Jacksonville also has suburbs. Charlotte has city sections, then forest and woods, then more city, then woods, then suburbs, then woods, then suburbs, then woods. Trust me, LA is unlike anywhere. It's quite insane.

 

 I do agree with you that metro is much different than urban though. 

[Happy Panther]

 

 I do agree with you that metro is much different than urban though. 

 

 

LA urbanized area is area is around 11.8M residents while the metro area is 12.8M. The only difference is that one is defined by the census based on population density while the other is slightly more arbitrary. 

[Chimera]

LA is all cement, man. Sans the parks and beaches. Yes you'll have little front yards like in Boyz N Da Hood, but it's nothing but city as far as the eye can see. I remember the first time I flew in. Opened the shade on the plane window. We were about 10 min from landing. Nothing but city.

I think you're confusing architecture here. Charlotte's city sections are what all of LA looks like. But Charlotte, like Jacksonville also has suburbs. Charlotte has city sections, then forest and woods, then more city, then woods, then suburbs, then woods, then suburbs, then woods. Trust me, LA is unlike anywhere. It's quite insane.

I do agree with you that metro is much different than urban though.

Yes I realize that. Maybe I wasn't explaining it as clearly as I could have. LA is definitely much more dense than Charlotte.

But I was talking mostly about the size of downtown areas vs. The size of the overall city.

If LA were built like northeastern cities, the entire city would be just the high rise district and the immediate neighborhoods surrounding it. It's size would be more like 60 square miles rather than over 500 square miles. Charlotte obviously would be even smaller than that.

Like Charlotte and unlike northeastern cities, LA's downtown area (high rise district) isn't the bulk of its population.

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[RoaringRiot]

I thought the original comparison was SF and Boston's downtown population vs Charlotte's entire population. That is not an apples-to-apples comparison.

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