krazeeboi

Several of them ARE getting off the ground. Even the Beltline project, the one project that has the most potential to redefine Atlanta, is making progress.

As an actual Charlottean, allow me to respond here. Firstly, it should be realized that Wachovia's suburban campus in University City has the largest base of Wachovia employees. Any effect in terms of job losses will be felt in that location primarily. Secondly, Charlotte already has the tightest downtown market among major U.S. cities this year according to CB Richard Ellis, so any significant loss of workers in uptown will put us on par with other cities in terms of office vacancy rates in the CBD. Right now, we can only speculate in terms of job losses, but it appears as though Wells was the better deal in terms of preserving jobs. As far as the sidewalks uptown "rolling up at 6 pm," I find that interesting. Uptown is well populated after working hours into the night, particularly as the week goes on. The activity is centered along Tryon and College mostly, but trust me, there's much life on the sidewalks in the evenings.

The local economy wouldn't exactly collapse, but I do believe that growth (population and economic) would significantly slow down if something were to happen with the banks. At this point, all I can really see happening is one of them being bought out (it would be Wachovia before Bank of America) with Charlotte remaining a regional HQ's. But who knows, the feds might actually step in--which would at least make the effects less drastic.

In regards to "downtown" being demolished in the 70's and 80's to be replaced by "uptown," you could say that in a manner of speaking. Bank of America's then CEO, Hugh McColl, pretty much lit the match that started the revitalization of Center City. He wanted to create a world class downtown for an agressively growing, high profile financial institution, and it's well on its way. Hts44121, I can tell you that I myself am a bit concerned about any potential hit the banks will take. Sure there are other sectors here to the local economy (US Airways, Duke Energy, healthcare, etc.), but the banks are so integral to the local economy that anything that affects the bank creates ripples throughout the local economy.

Dfly, you took some awesome shots of Columbia, in this thread and the first one. I'm a native SC'er, having grown up in an area roughly halfway between Columbia and Charleston. We went to do our "big city" stuff in Columbia, so I have an affinity for the city. It's too bad that you didn't get to check out the hotspots of the city where most of the activity is: the Vista, the revitalized warehouse district downtown, just west of the CBD (and where the city's revitalization efforts have largely been concentrated for the past 20 years until farily recently), and Five Points, the urban village adjacent to USC. Hope you don't mind if I share some of my own photos of those two areas in particular, as well as some shots of some areas you didn't get to cover (and some that you did, from my own perspective): SC State Museum Steeple of St. Peter's Catholic Church, with the Strom Thurmond Federal Building behind it The Apollo's Cascade sculpture fountain in the plaza between the Columbia Museum of Art and the Carolina First Bank building. It was under construction at the time dfly's photos were taken Palmetto Candy & Tobacco Store in the Vista EdVenture Children's Museum (largest children's museum in the Southeast), right next to the state museum Hilton Columbia Center Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center (Adluh Flour Mill tower, a local landmark, to the right) (terrace behind the convention center) Pendleton Street parking garage, directly across from the convention center Cool planted medians along Bull Street Random shots in the Vista, mainly along Gervais and Lady Streets (five story office/retail infill development coming to the site between these two buildings, and will incorporate the structure to the right) (old Confederate Printing Plant, now houses a downtown Publix grocery store) (supposedly the most-booked Hampton Inn in the chain) (SC Bank and Trust HQ building) Along Sumter Street Memorial Park Justice Square Townhomes directly across from Memorial Park The Big Apple, former Jewish synagogue, now a small venue for events (receptions, etc.) Looking south on Main towards the Statehouse A few shots from Five Points (The recently constructed linear fountain in Five Points in a median along Saluda Street; pics not mine. Fountain dyed green in first picture for the St. Pat's Day festival that was coming up) Another local landmark, the "Busted Plug" sculpture fountain Trustus Theatre, an independent professional theatre group Trio of towers from Boyd Plaza in front of the Columbia Museum of Art From the Statehouse steps From the Statehouse grounds, with statue of Gov. Ben Tillman in the foreground Same shot at night First Citizens Bank HQ tower at night Small park/plaza beside First Citizens Bank HQ tower The Colonial Center, largest arena in SC (18K seats), home of the USC Gamecocks basketball programs Skyline from the West Columbia Riverwalk, just across the Congaree River in West Columbia Congaree River Bridge Shots from Finlay Park, the city's signature urban park Richland County Public Library I'll end with some shots of historic structures downtown: Palmetto Building (undergoing conversion to become a boutique Sheraton Hotel) Robert Mills House Hampton-Preston Mansion DeBruhl-Marshall House Seibels House Other historic houses Washington Street Methodist Church Historic First Baptist Church, where the SC Secession Convention was held (the event that started it all) First Presbyterian Church Parting shot: the full skyline, as seen from the junctions of I-77 and I-26 (not my pic)

That's an interesting thought. I think it's due to a variety of reasons, including the fact that most Northern/Midwestern states don't have very flexible annexation laws, so the growth occurring at the fringes couldn't be brought into the city. It would still constitute the core losing people, but at least they could still contribute to the tax base. The only cities that Atlanta is negatively affecting due to its large appeal are the smaller cities of the South. The larger cities are really beginning to hold their own. I live in the Charlotte metropolitan area, and more and more people are choosing to settle down here as opposed to Atlanta. I'm forever seeing New York, New Jersey, and Ohio license plates down here. The days of Atlanta being the sole dominant city in the Southeast are coming to a close. Of course it will still be big as hell, but there are other up and coming cities that are starting to hold their own. You could also throw in cities like Raleigh, Nashville, and Jacksonville that are posting very high domestic migration figures.

I meant relative to their size. If you pair up Richmond with Rochester or Charleston with Toledo, cities that are comparable in terms of their urbanized areas, you will find they compare favorably. Furthermore, Katrina left many of the dense, historic portions of New Orleans' urban core intact. At any rate, there aren't going to be many comparisons with Rustbelt cities in this regard, since Rustbelt cities grew up during a different time than Sunbelt cities, for the most part. There are historical reasons as to why the cities of this nation grew up as they did. You act as though suburban sprawl doesn't exist in the Rustbelt (and it does; I've seen it for myself), or that there have been absolutely no genuine efforts to urbanize by Sunbelt cities, which is patently false. This is about as disingenuous as it gets, really. The walkable areas aren't going to compare with what you'd find in Baltimore or Milwaukee, but those areas most certainly DO exist.

Yay! Cities with no growth boundaries are cheap! So is building a house in the middle of nowhere! We can all sit in our cars for two hours on the way to the BMV!! Pass the Kool-aid!! What in the world do you mean by "no growth boundaries"? If that means that Atlanta is some annexation-hungry municipality, then I suggest you do your research. As a matter of fact, within the past week, an area in south Fulton County voted for incorporation and another is seriously considering it. Atlanta hasn't done any substantial annexations for decades now. The ones that have occurred mostly came about because neighborhoods requested to be annexed. And what's a BMV? I don't think we have those in the South. So is job growth, income growth, housing affordability, etc.--all areas in which Atlanta excels. And let's not even talk about the plethora of opportunities that Atlanta has afforded for minorities, particularly Blacks, to succeed, both historically and presently. And you may be surprised to know that several Rustbelt metropolitan areas, including Ohio's two largest, have higher percentages of household expenditures going towards transportation than sprawl-plagued Atlanta (see here). So I would advise you to not be selective with your morals, and I certainly would say that you hardly speak for all Midwesterners or even Ohioans when you authoritatively proclaim that the lives of each person in that geographical region revolve around those issues (and even if so, that number appears to be rapidly dwindling across large swaths of your region). At any rate, what I am suggesting is that life is more than a bunch of categories of indicators, and if that's what someone ultimately and solely bases his/her worldview and sense of place upon, then that's sad indeed. We already made Louisville an honorary northern city, too late. Who is this "we"? I do suggest that y'all tell them, because apparently they didn't get the email. And neither did these people. At any rate, the point is that there are dense, urban cores in the South reminiscent of those found in the Rustbelt. So remove Louisville and insert Birmingham or Savannah or Memphis. The point yet remains, which you obviously missed. Moral of the story? Again, know that of which you speak.

Newbie here from South Carolina. I thought this thread was pretty representative of Atlantic Station, as I've been there several times. I think it should also be kept in mind that it is not fully built out yet, and I believe it will be better incorporated into the urban fabric of Atlanta as the city grows up around it. Secondly, I have to say that I'm not surprised that some see certain pictorial representations on an Internet message board as being 100% representative of everything Atlanta, which couldn't be further from the truth. Atlanta didn't grow up in the age that cities like Cleveland and other Rustbelt cities did (many of which have seen their best days come and go), so it won't have an extensive mature urban fabric like those cities, but it does have areas and neighborhoods worth mentioning in this regard, such as Virginia-Highland, Fairlie-Poplar, Five Points, etc. There are also a lot of truly urban developments happening in the city, and not just highrises either (here is a good example). Atlanta is a city that has recognized the mistakes it has made in the past and is working vigorously to try and correct those mistakes. Another point I think we fail to overlook on forums such as these is that while the built environment is important, a city is much, much more than that. For one, a city represents and embodies the ideals of economic prosperity and advancement, and Atlanta has done one of the best jobs of this in recent years. Job growth and housing affordability are two of the area's strengths, and this has resulted in a large influx of college graduates among others. For all it's done wrong, the city has also done and is doing a lot of things right, but this will never be recognized by the "damned be the South/Sunbelt" crowd. Speaking of that crowd, it's funny to me that someone can be so dismissive of an entire region that encompasses distinct subcultures and even built environments. I'm glad my life doesn't revolve around principles of urbanism, transportation policy, etc. The South is a culturally distinct region with just about any type of vibe you can imagine. From New Orleans to Charlotte to Charleston to Louisville, it has much to offer across the board, and I'm glad to call the region home. But hey, what can you expect when people speak of what they know not of?