Oh no, did I create a monster? Guess we will find out.
Great idea! Letâs keep all that trash talk in this thread and keep it out of the others!
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I actually have some nice ideas the could make us better but you have to listen.
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I mean pretty much every city has multiple neighborhoods that are important for developmentâŚ
South End is literally off the charts, basically outside the scope of this thread at this point as active/planned development rivals all of downtown Raleigh combined.
NoDa is completely nuts and is starting to resemble South End from the mid-2010s. Currently about 2,000 apartments actively under construction with another 2,500ish well into the planning process. Well over 750,000 sq ft of commercial either planned or under construction. Bars/restaurants everywhere. 37 acre park just announced. Lots of other things but just too much to keep with.
Plaza-Midwood, Montford, Seversville, Dilworth/Morehead, too many other neighborhoods to list, all booming with stupid amounts of residential and commercial/retail currently planned or under construction everywhere.
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YESSS now I have a trashy thread to say that I totally disagree while staying on topic.
I think Charlotteâs architecture sux. Uptown is outright awful. But to me, the âbeigeâ is more of a vibe of the culture than a literal description of its built environment. I canât think of many others in the country of its size that have so little culture. Look at the last couple yearsâ James Beard Award semifinalists for example:
2022 â Triangle: 6. Asheville: 6. Triad: 2. Charlotte: 1.
2020 â Triangle: 6. Asheville: 4. Charlotte: 2.
Despite Bida Manda/Brewery Bhavana getting canceled in recent years, I think they were great examples of the kind of concepts that thrived in the Triangle even a decade ago, when Charlotte barely had anything happening that warranted a second glance. Meanwhile we got one of the countryâs first Laotian restaurants, then a brewery/dim sum/flower shop/brewery; Charlotte would never.
Same for the music scene. Pitchfork ran an article on storied music venues throughout the country a few years back; The Orange Peel from Asheville and The Pinhook and Catâs Cradle from the Triangle made the list. Nothing from Charlotte.
The Triangle has a progressive design school with an amazing legacy and the third-largest concentration of modernist homes in the country. Charlotte⌠has an architecture school.
Now if youâre into sports or arena-touring acts, sure, Charlotteâs your place. If youâre after a bigger city vibe, or light rail, or a wider variety of vibrant walkable neighborhoods that are far more closely located than the Triangleâs scattered cores, then yes, Charlotte has us beat. I just couldnât see myself living there, personally, and I donât think itâs from a sense of insecurity about where I live. It just doesnât appeal to me.
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Theyâre still there and doing just fine tho
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Yeah definitely jealous of the speed of development in Charlotte, Nashville, and Austin: âThe Sunbelt Tigersââwhich Raleigh often gets compared to, and which it inevitably looks slow and small next to.
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Love this, except Iâm going to disagree with your last point. I wouldnât even give Charlotte a better sports scene.
Give me UNC/Duke/State and the Canes, even the Bulls over a NFL stadium filled with away fans and an empty NBA stadium.
And Iâm a panthers fan. But Charlotte is beginning to get a bad reputation as a sports city.
Perhaps thatâs why the culture is so beige feeling compared to the Triangle, because at its very worst at least the colleges and the rivalries are ingrained into our culture. Charlotte FC can try to bring a culture around sports to Charlotte but thatâll die off once theyâre bad again next year.
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This might be the first thread, I mute.
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As a college-first sports fan, totally agree. Pro sports just feel like Seinfeldâs âcheering for laundryâ concept.
Well, except the MLB - I grew up going to games and Iâd be taking a week off work if the Aâs made the World Series. But if they move from Oakland⌠there goes that.
We all know only real cities have Gucci stores.
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Yup, I know. Theyâve been canceled among a huge portion of their customer base though, and unlike other scandals, it didnât just blow over; it overwhelmed their reputation to the degree that I would be surprised if they win awards or get positive national press moving forward. You canât mention them on Reddit without being shamed, for example, and I definitely wouldnât mention Iâm going there to my friends out of caution for strong opinions on how the situation was handled.
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One other thing about Charlotte while weâre here that Iâve always found funny and on-brand - theyâre not even the only Queen City in the US who also has a tallest skyscraper with a âcrownâ on top. Cincinnati has the same nickname and building concept.
(Raleigh being the City of Oaks when thereâs a literal Oakland on the west coast isnât exactly a beacon of creativity either, admittedly)
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I donât use reddit, and I donât think most of my friends have even heard of the restaurants, much less some bad press several years ago from a few employees who wonât let it go. Internet outrage is overblown, since thereâs a small loud group mad about literally everything.
Their food and ambience is great, the staff is nice, and they have delicious beer. I wish them well and hope they continue to be successful.
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Since this thread is gettinâ wildâŚ
Thatâs too bad you feel that way. Sure, they messed up, but the restaurant is dope and the food (especially Bida Manda) is off the charts good and authentic SE Asian.
We all have smart phones, tools, food products, and clothes that were mass produced in sweat shops and indentured servitude farms with terrible working conditions and likely sex crimes, yet no one feels shameful about that. Why punish a local business for some heinous behavior when we refuse to punish corporate overlords who behave much worse?
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Also, Charlotte has cool neighborhoods and a lame downtown. Raleigh has cool neighborhoods and a cool downtown.
Durham has a cooler downtownâŚbut 147 kills some of the vibe
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I didnât say these were my opinions; I was commenting on how I think theyâve been perceived since the scandal. Iâve eaten at Bida Manda a couple of times since then; I just wouldnât make it known to others because a couple of people in my circle worked at and were personally harmed by Van and the culture there.
I think people are most upset at the promises from the owners to divest, while it seems they still have a stake in and are profiting from the businesses (hard to say if thatâs actually true). Again, this is not a reason for me personally to stop going there, but itâs definitely dampened the legacy of what were two of our most critically acclaimed local gems. I also think the comparison to mass-produced products like phones is a poor one, but thatâs even more off-topic!
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Thatâs some fair points.
This topic is for off topic stuff lol! Maybe not but thatâs the only reason I even commented about it. This seems almost like a bitchfest silly thread.
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Yep, that right itâs ashamed we have high paying tech jobs yet not one Gucci, Louie Vittion, or a Nieman Marcus here
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Itâs a city-data thread. Some people just need to get it out of their systems.
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