[hauntedheadnc]

...with a heat index of 105, thanks to the humidity. Perfect strolling conditions, in other words.

It's been a couple of years since I've been to Charlotte. I went back in July, 2009 to watch a performance of Phantom of the Opera and not go to the Cheesecake Factory. To be honest, I hated Charlotte on sight for myriad reasons, which I will try not to discuss so as not to upset anybody who calls it home or does happen to like it.

For those of you who have already stopped reading in order to get a jump on composing your angry responses, let me say that no city -- no matter which city it is -- is going to appeal to everybody. There are people out there who hate Paris with a roaring red passion. There are people who hate Russellville, Arkansas. And yet, these cities are the penultimate home sweet home for other people, and that's fine. If Charlotte is where your soul sings, good for you. As for myself, it is definitely not a place I would want to call home.

On the bright side, I did finally get to eat at the Cheesecake Factory this time -- and was not impressed. Feel free to tell me you told me so. Also, and this was the main reason for going to Charlotte, my boyfriend and I went to Ikea. There we jostled among the massed gay and lesbian couples and discovered that Ikea has craftily made it so that the furniture you want has nothing else to match it, comes only in the wrong color, or is out of stock. We'll fix them though... By moving our bed to the left by just an inch or so, we can fit a dresser in on either side, and spite their lack of nightstands that matched the other dresser we wanted. I daresay that once word about this filters back to Ikea corporate HQ, heads will roll -- because customers are supposed to buy non-matching nightstands and like it, by God.

Anyway, once we had planned our assault on Ikea, we went for a long and rambling walk around Uptown.

MHHLAHQrQBo

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_00.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_01.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_02.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_03.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_04.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_05.jpg

While it's awfully nice of the maps like this scattered around the downtown area to attempt to simplify the street plan for visitors, it's futile. The center city streets are actually canted at a 45-degree angle and beyond the core it just devolves into a hopeless tangle. One imagines the same thing occurred in Charlotte as in Asheville -- some developer on some long-ago 1920's afternoon giggling and burping scotch fumes while doodling on a map and the next day, behold! -- there's the map used to lay out the city's latest, greatest neighborhood. It also doesn't help that as they journey through the city, the streets just get in a mood and change names. Sometimes repeatedly. Just like Asheville.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_06.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_07.jpg

Here's a tree growing out of the corpse of the Carolina Theater, one of the tiny sprinkling of historic buildings Uptown that somehow managed to escape the bulldozer. I imagine that whenever it's discovered that an historic structure in Charlotte has not yet been torn down, alarms sound at City Hall and in developers' offices all over town, so they can all swoop in and take care of that little problem right away.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_08.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_09.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_10.jpg

Charlotte is, of course, a banking town and as such it tends toward the staid. Considering that my boyfriend and I are both long-haired ne'er-do-wells, it often appeared that we were the only men with long hair to be found for blocks around, and you can forget about tattoos. By contrast, in Asheville, the mayor herself is probably wearing ink. I realize this is a generalization and that long-haired men and people with tattoos are legion in Charlotte... but I'm coming from Asheville, dreadlock-and-tattoo capital of the free world, here so cut me some slack.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_11.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_12.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_13.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_14.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_15.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_16.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_17.jpg

By taking this picture, I caused a nearby bank security guard to go into some kind of arm-waving fit. Apparently, by forcing photographers to move a block away to take pictures of the big bank towers, the nation is much safer. After all, if a terrorist were going to scope out the logistics of blowing up Bank of America, they could only do so from the base of the building. They would never, for example, disguise themselves as an interested party and infiltrate the building itself, or use a much nicer camera than mine and zoom in on HVAC equipment from a nearby building, or use satellite photography... Rest easy, Charlotte. Your rent-a-cops are ever-vigilant.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_18.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_19.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_20.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_21.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_22.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_23.jpg

Before...

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_24.jpg

...After. This is what stands on the site now.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_25.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_26.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_27.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_28.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_29.jpg

This is Settlers Cemetery, Charlotte's favorite dog shit repository. Most of the tombstones had been either damaged or broken, or stolen completely.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_30.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_31.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_32.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_33.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_34.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_35.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_36.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_37.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_38.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_39.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_40.jpg

A birdhouse shaped like the bank tower behind it? Somewhere, a bank executive snarls and condemns frivolity.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_41.jpg

An historic department store building, decorated with statues, no less? All over the city, developers are bedridden with fevers borne of the knowledge that it exists. It still stands. Eventually members of the city planning and development boards have to be summoned to soothe the developers' brows with cold compresses. "There, there..." they say, "you'll get to tear it down one day."

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_42.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_43.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_44.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_45.jpg

Buildings like this and the other remaining historic buildings in Uptown show that Charlotte once had the potential to be lovely in a way both deep and sublime.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_46.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_47.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_48.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_49.jpg

But back to reality. Before...

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_50.jpg

...and after. This replaced the building described on the plaque.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_51.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_52.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_53.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_54.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_55.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_56.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_57.jpg

Charlotte, circa 1948. Probably 90% of this is gone now.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_58.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_59.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_60.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_61.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_62.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_63.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_64.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_65.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_66.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_67.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_68.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_69.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_70.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_71.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_72.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_73.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_74.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_75.jpg

Here is a dead junebug being eaten by ants.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_76.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_77.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_78.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_79.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_80.jpg

The message being sent here seems to be, "Hi there! I'm available for all your face-eating needs!"

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_81.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_82.jpg

"Skyscrapers bitten. Reasonable rates. Inquire within."

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_83.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_84.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_85.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_86.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_87.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_88.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_89.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_90.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_91.jpg

Ratcliffe on the Green: "Proudly freaking out little kids since... I dunno. Sometime earlier this year, probably."

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_92.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_93.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_94.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_95.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_96.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_97.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_98.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_99.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_100.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_101.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_102.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_103.jpg

The irony here is that if you actually were to attempt to play in this fountain, you'd send several bank rent-a-cops into arm-waving fits. Meanwhile nearby, some kind of fashion shoot was going on with your prerequisite miserable, pouting model in a dress that won't fit anybody but another model and her standard-issue gay black male photographer.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_104.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_105.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_106.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_107.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_108.jpg

Before...

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_109.jpg

...After. This stands on the site of the esteemed Mr. Weil's home.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_110.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_111.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_112.jpg

In a darkened bedroom in the Myers Park section of the city, a bedridden developer weeps to his wife, "It's still there, Bootsie! It's old, and it's still standing -- it's like it's mocking me! It's not fair! It's not fair at all! Why can't I tear it down? It's like no matter what I do, I just can't tear the damn thing down!" Bootsie smiles gamely -- as much as the botox will allow, at any rate -- and pats his hand.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_113.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_114.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_115.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_116.jpg

Note the hard features, the squinting eyes, the visage shaped by a life that began miserably, will end miserably, and will be miserable in between -- the life of a poor, Southern mill worker. This woman looks like half the women in my family that I remember as a child.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_117.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_118.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_119.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_120.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_121.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_122.jpg

Before...

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_123.jpg

...After. The good doctor's house was replaced decades ago by one of the blandest art deco buildings I've ever seen.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_124.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_125.jpg

Back in Myers Park, the developer considers these two buildings and dissolves into gales of helpless weeping. Bootsie has to leave the room. There is nothing she can do, although she would tear them down herself if only she could, to make her husband feel himself again. But in the meantime, her good friend Barbara waits in a Bentley outside, and the links at Carmel Country Club wait for no woman.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_126.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_127.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_128.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_129.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_130.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_131.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_132.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_133.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_134.jpg

Meanwhile, over in the First Ward section of Uptown...

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_135.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_136.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_137.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_138.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_139.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_140.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_141.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_142.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_143.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_144.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_145.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_146.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_147.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_148.jpg

This reminded me of Asheville.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_149.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_150.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_151.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_152.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_153.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_154.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_155.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_156.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_157.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_158.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_159.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_160.jpg

Were you aware that all of these houses were new? The condos and townhouses obviously were, but so are the houses. It all replaced whatw as, to my understanding, a bad neighborhood. However, despite that frenzied redevelopment, a couple of tiny scraps of the old neighborhood remain. A church and an ugly strip mall from the old hood still stand, as do these two shotgun shacks and another, much nicer church.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_161.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_162.jpg

Just as a reminder, that church and these two little houses, all alone on their lot, are surrounded by the likes of this.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_163.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_164.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_165.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_166.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_167.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_168.jpg

Sorry to take so many shots of these little houses but frankly, seeing that they and their neighboring church had survived even as they were engulfed by new urbanism... This was the first thing I have ever seen in downtown Charlotte that truly impressed me.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_169.jpg

I'm guessing it's an earring.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_170.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_171.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_172.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_173.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_174.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_175.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_176.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_177.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_178.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_179.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_180.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_181.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_182.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_183.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_184.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_185.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_186.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_187.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_188.jpg

Here is a deranged person. Nobody would sit anywhere near her, as she was having a very loud, very angry conversation -- which also involved quite a bit of arm waving -- with nobody. Either that, or she was wearing a BlueTooth. I really miss the days when you could tell at a glance who was crazy because of the way they talked to themselves. Nowadays, it's much harder to be sure. It's the curse of technology.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_189.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_190.jpg

I take some pleasure in knowing that if Queen Charlotte were to try walking around in this kind of heat in that kind of get-up, she would be on the ground with heat stroke in ten minutes, tops.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_191.jpg

Now, I truly meant to end the thread with that picture of the statue of Queen Charlotte, but on the way to get some lunch, we passed another deranged person -- this one leaving no room for doubt whatsoever -- and I just couldn't help myself.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_192.jpg

[OhioGuy]

I think I enjoyed the photos from the 1st Ward the most. The homes look reasonably pleasant.

[Centropolis]

Nice job. Charlotte "stole" the upcoming Democratic National Convention from us, we were the brooding redhead, she was the popular, flashy blonde. :)

[Thundertubs]

I enjoyed this. I'd really like to visit the 1948 version of Charlotte.

[BnaBreaker]

Great shots. Charlotte really is a pretty city, and I don't have anything bad to say about it. It's really just a preference thing I suppose, as you alluded to. I can definitely see why so many people like the place. It's just not for me though. To me it seems like a really pretty woman who is half robot and programed to be the "perfect wife", and/or had her tubes tied and is no longer motivated to be sexy or erotic. Yeah, I know...that was a weird analogy. But to me, it works. lol

[Centropolis]

I do find it impressive that Charlotte has managed to get a light rail line built, when there are so many metros approaching 2 million that can't seem to get it together enough to do that. I'd also love for some of those shiny highrises to be built in downtown St. Louis - for the good things that have happened with downtown, St. Louis could use some more shinyness. Hell, you can still find coal smoke soot if you know where to look (I have it in/on my house in places). I'll be in North Carolina in a couple of weeks, and am debating wether I should detour to Charlotte to flip the bird in person (I'm joking), but I do like humanizing cities that I should hate.

These pictures do show a city that looks better than I thought it would, with the exception of all the discombobulating streetlevel geometry in the new(er) construction.

[CanadianCentaur]

Interesting shots and narrating of Charlotte. I can't imagine walking around in this kind of heat, since I grew up in a cooler climate (it's only gone up to 27°C (80°F) this summer so far here in my city)!

[Travis007]

My first time seeing Charlotte in such depth, looks great!

[mhays]

Big trees are always a plus in my book. I don't know whether I'd like Charlotte, but based on this thread (great pics) and others, it sounds like it's moving in the right direction in terms of having some urbanity.

[tallboy66]

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_06.jpg

It seems a lot of the cities not along a coast or major river have a design like this where the boundaries are drawn by the freeways. Outside of the immediate downtown's there's no grid or sense to the layout.

Nice shots and I like the Acronyms for the transit system.

[mikoyan]

That's pretty cool. I guess I'll never complain about the old buildings in Detroit again. Not that I complained in the first place.

[fishrose]

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/hauntedheadnc/Charlotte%20July%202011/Charlotte_18.jpg

LOVE this one! Really nice shots :tup:

[Matthew]

The new Bank of America Building does look great.

It seems as if artists and people from "creative" cities hate Charlotte. None of my friends in Asheville like Charlotte. I always enjoy visiting and Charlotte has a beautiful skyline.

[photoLith]

Charlotte looks a hell of a lot nicer than what I saw of it almost 7 years ago, thank for the pics.

[pEte fiSt iN Ur fAce]

Very nice. I'd like to see a little more of Charlotte...it doesn't get much love here.

[hauntedheadnc]

Wow! Thanks for all the responses.

BnaBreaker hit the nail on the head with his summary of the "feel" of Charlotte. History and well-utilized grit give a city that "sexy" feel. They add passion. And because Charlotte has so little history and properly-utilized grit, there is next to no passion, and it's certainly not sexy. It's a Stepford city: it has all the amenities a big city should have, but only because a big city should have them, and none of them are all that impressive -- but they add up to project the perfect facade.

Speaking of the utilization of grit, I understand that neighborhoods outside of Uptown have some remaining grit, and they make good use of it, but the grit that I saw along North Tryon Street was of the just plain filthy, sad variety. Lots of homeless clustered in what shade they could find, lots of beaten-down strip malls, lots of grime.

It seems a lot of the cities not along a coast or major river have a design like this where the boundaries are drawn by the freeways. Outside of the immediate downtown's there's no grid or sense to the layout.

This is one of the things that irks me about Charlotte, actually. And Atlanta for that matter. There is no physical reason for a city that big to be there. No waterfront, no rivers, just a few small creeks. The only reason Charlotte is as big as it is, where it is, is because it had a very savvy Chamber of Commerce. That contributes to the contrived feeling of the city.

There are only three cities in North Carolina that have waterfronts, and those are Asheville on the French Broad River, and Fayetteville and Wilmington on the Cape Fear River. All the others are high and dry, but all the others, except for Charlotte, are about as big as you might expect a landlocked city to get, with populations in the quarter-million to 350,000 range. Charlotte, with just its dinky little creeks blows them all away with a population approaching 800,000.

[downtownpdx]

Love the commentary -- the 'Bootsie' scenarios cracked me up!

[Matthew]

My friends in Asheville never had a movie name for the city; however when I worked in independent film for two or three years, everyone called it the "Truman Show" city and yes, they seemed to hate Charlotte too. I would want to see the construction in Uptown and everyone else wanted to leave. Of course, I was the only person working with them who actually liked skyscrapers. They would describe it as a sound stage and joked that we shouldn't walk to the end of the street, because we would discover the city's secret: It is a painted wall and cardboard buildings on a sound stage. The city must hide this secret from the residents. :haha: A director from Wilmington on a short film I worked on would often comment on the fake suburban town called Birkdale Village. Reminding us, even the suburban towns are fake. People from Wilmington would laugh at the snobs near South Park. I've loved the beautiful new skyscrapers in Charlotte since I was a kid and still do.

[ColDayMan]

Great thread.

[Expat]

You have some great shots in here. And you are a smartass (in a good way):tup:.

[LSyd]

best charlotte thread evar!!!

CLT is corporate urbanism at its best. Disney's metropolis land.

now i want to go back to CLT, for better or worse. Carowinds, and Manifest Records and plastic new urbanism.

-

[hauntedheadnc]

Evar? It's really the best evar?

Oh, you... You're too kind!