Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think what people really mean when they say Charlotte is bigger is specifically the center city areas. Charlotte is a noticeable step above and as years go on the gap grows even further. But that's a few sq. miles. Outside of it, they're the same.
Saying Raleigh is not a peer of Charlotte is like saying Nashville isn't a peer of Charlotte. Raleigh is bigger than Nashville. I can't see anyone saying Nashville isn't our peer. I think Austin, Orlando, Tampa, Charlotte, New Orleans, Raleigh are regional peers. Houston, Dallas, Miami & Atlanta being each other's regional peers..
If you could put the best of Charlotte and combine it with the best of Raleigh, I think it would mirror Austin.
Me stating the fact Charlotte is larger than Raleigh and the Triangle by all methods of population does not correlate with thinking Charlotte is the size of Atlanta, which it will be before Raleigh is the size of Charlotte.
Lol! By the time Charlotte is the size of Atlanta, Raleigh's Metro alone will be bigger than Charlotte's metro now. Charlotte is growing fast, but not that fast. Charlotte doesn't and will never dominate the state the way Atlanta dominates GA. It's not big enough.
So much hate for Raleigh in this thread. It's as much of a big city as Charlotte is.
It sure is, and the Charlotte crew have a hard time understanding that. Saying Raleigh is a bigger Greensboro is ludicrous. Then again I don't expect much more from them at this point. Haters gon hate lol.
In the lifetime of a person in their mid 60s, Charlotte's metro went from the size of Sumter, SC to being larger than metro Pittsburgh. Also, metro Charlotte now has at least 500,000 more people than the Triad, Triangle, and Nashville (all 3 were once larger than Charlotte).
I have no clue what will happen in the future. All we can do is look at the past trends and examine present-day infrastruture improvements. Right now, Charlotte's urban infrastruture in terms of roads, mass transit, and high rise developments are expanding faster than anywhere else in NC. Only time will tell how that influences population growth over the next 50 years.
Lol! By the time Charlotte is the size of Atlanta, Raleigh's Metro alone will be bigger than Charlotte's metro now. Charlotte is growing fast, but not that fast. Charlotte doesn't and will never dominate the state the way Atlanta dominates GA. It's not big enough.
Care to share the math of how you're drawing that conclusion? There's no growth rate percentage or current trend to where one can conclude the Raleigh metro will ever catch the Charlotte metro in any of our lifetimes. That's as asinine as someone thinking Charlotte's metro is going to somehow catch Atlanta's. It's nice to dream though, you seem to be quite irritated that Raleigh's metro isn't the largest population center in the state. It's easy to move if it bothers you that much to not be first. You should probably be comparing Raleigh to Greensboro since their metros are closer in population. That way you can come out on top.
I think what people really mean when they say Charlotte is bigger is specifically the center city areas. Charlotte is a noticeable step above and as years go on the gap grows even further. But that's a few sq. miles. Outside of it, they're the same.
Saying Raleigh is not a peer of Charlotte is like saying Nashville isn't a peer of Charlotte. Raleigh is bigger than Nashville. I can't see anyone saying Nashville isn't our peer. I think Austin, Orlando, Tampa, Charlotte, New Orleans, Raleigh are regional peers. Houston, Dallas, Miami & Atlanta being each other's regional peers..
If you could put the best of Charlotte and combine it with the best of Raleigh, I think it would mirror Austin.
Have you ever been to Nashville? The downtown is noticeably larger than Raleigh and has a better grid than Charlotte. Charlotte definitely has the skyscraper height of a big city but doesn't have that older section or historic streetscape that can be found in parts of Nashville and Raleigh.
Peer cities: Nashville, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Columbus, Austin, etc. Sizeable central core mid-size cities but no doubt Charlotte carries the big stick with respect to skyscrapers, albeit Austin and Nashville are are erecting quite a few structures. Raleigh is a peer metro of the aforementioned when combining Durham/Chapel Hill which btw is ridiculous that they aren't in the same MSA.
Raleigh's downtown has the old building stock but hasn't quite picked up the pace with respect to the energy happening in downtown Charlotte, Austin and Nashville with respect to urban growth. This isn't a slight against the overall metro as a whole because it probably offers as much and in some cases more than its peers. The Triangle doesn't have a central core city on fire like Charlotte, Nashville or Austin since the wealth is spread amongst competing cities.
Have you ever been to Nashville? The downtown is noticeably larger than Raleigh and has a better grid than Charlotte. Charlotte definitely has the skyscraper height of a big city but doesn't have that older section or historic streetscape that can be found in parts of Nashville and Raleigh.
Peer cities: Nashville, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Columbus, Austin, etc. Sizeable central core mid-size cities but no doubt Charlotte carries the big stick with respect to skyscrapers, albeit Austin and Nashville are are erecting quite a few structures. Raleigh is a peer metro of the aforementioned when combining Durham/Chapel Hill which btw is ridiculous that they aren't in the same MSA.
Raleigh's downtown has the old building stock but hasn't quite picked up the pace with respect to the energy happening in downtown Charlotte, Austin and Nashville with respect to urban growth. This isn't a slight against the overall metro as a whole because it probably offers as much and in some cases more than its peers. The Triangle doesn't have a central core city on fire like Charlotte, Nashville or Austin since the wealth is spread amongst competing cities.
Yeah. I agree with that. I addressed that in a post I made prior to this one stating that the metro sizes are compartive but people always probably say Charlotte is a lot larger based on their center cities and that Charlotte is definitely a step above. Of course Nashville's downtown is a step above Raleigh's too. But as far as just pure size as a whole, it's more of a wash.
I would say overall, Raleigh is bigger than Nashville. Obviously talking about their center cities, there is a huge gap.
Also, Charlotte in NC will never be what Atlanta is in GA. The Triangle is growing to fast for that to happen in our lifetimes lol.
I think you mean Charlotte won't ever be what Atlanta is to Georgia. Clearly Charlotte can come to have practically all of the amenities of Atlanta when it gets to be that size; it just won't be the only major metro in NC.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
