Does the Atlanta/Charlotte rivalry make sense?

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by KB0679

The city's business and civic leaders are certainly aware of Charlotte and have been ever since it stole most of Atlanta's banks in the 90's and early 2000's.

didn't charlotte steal everyones banks? boatmans bank, the oldest bank west of the mississippi and one of the most important in st. louis was swallowed by nations (charlotte) which was then swallowed by bank of america (charlotte).

fun fact: bank of america was originally called bank of italy.

[themaguffin]

I hear it here in Atlanta. I don't get it myself. Some here are a little sensitive to Charlotte for some reason. I really don't care. Every city has their merits and issues.

Most city rivalries are overblown though.

[UpstateSC07]

I think it comes largely based on some of the companies that are based or have a large presence in each city. Home Depot vs Lowe's, Chick-Fil-A vs Bojangles, Duke Energy vs Southern Company, Bank of America vs SunTrust (until the merger), SEC vs ACC.

As someone from South Carolina not from either city, I think we see it as a much bigger rivalry or more peer cities since they are the two large metros around us and both about the same distance away. That probably is the same for most people across Georgia, SC and NC. Similar to people comparing Miami and Orlando or Tampa in Florida.

[hauntedheadnc]

No, because they're basically the same place. Atlanta is an overgrown Charlotte, Charlotte is a wannabe Atlanta. Aside from their size there isn't a shit's worth of difference between the two.

[tdawg]

I slightly disagree with the statement above. Atlanta definitely has more of a college-town vibe than Charlotte given the number of large colleges and universities in the city.

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by tdawg

I slightly disagree with the statement above. Atlanta definitely has more of a college-town vibe than Charlotte given the number of large colleges and universities in the city.

I suppose I'd have to agree with that on reflection... Charlotte is lousy with schools too, but none of them have the cachet of anything in Atlanta. UNC-Charlotte is no Georgia Tech, and Johnson C. Smith University is no Morehouse College. Then again, that kind of goes to Charlotte's wannabe status and Atlanta basically being Charlotte, only more so.

[Crawford]

How are Atlanta and Charlotte "so different"? They're extremely similar.

Atlanta is basically Charlotte but 3x bigger/more important.

[cabasse]

atl has a lot more diversity and a good bit more developed culture - something that charlotte might have eventually. Atl is also a decent bit more well-known outside the US.

[cabasse]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

No, because they're basically the same place. Atlanta is an overgrown Charlotte, Charlotte is a wannabe Atlanta. Aside from their size there isn't a shit's worth of difference between the two.

ehhh... there's some clearly superficial similarities, but if you dig in, there are a ton of major differences.

[SIGSEGV]

While the cities are superficially similar, they have quite different roles within their states. Atlanta is the state capital and undisputed king of Georgia. Charlotte is a bit bigger than the Research Triangle, but not so clearly dominant.

[iheartthed]

Charlotte feels a bit more sleepy than Atlanta. They're regional cousins for sure, but they are not hard to tell apart. They have more of an Austin/Dallas dichotomy.

[craigs]

I suspect it's a one-way 'rivalry' in the way many smaller, less prominent cities often liken themselves to (or differentiate themselves from) larger, more prominent cities nearby.

[L41A]

Originally Posted by cabasse

ehhh... there's some clearly superficial similarities, but if you dig in, there are a ton of major differences.

Exactly!

[jd3189]

I can’t speak for Charlotte, but Atlanta has a definite culture that sets it aside. To say otherwise is being ignorant or heavily bias against it. Just sayin

[KB0679]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

No, because they're basically the same place. Atlanta is an overgrown Charlotte, Charlotte is a wannabe Atlanta. Aside from their size there isn't a shit's worth of difference between the two.

That's a bit of an oversimplification I'd say. In addition to higher ed, there are differences in other areas like demographics (the Black, LGBT, and Korean populations are definitely more prominent in Atlanta) and certain economic aspects (e.g., the prominence of the film/TV/music industry in Atlanta and the banking industry in Charlotte). And as the above poster stated, Atlanta definitely has more of a definitive local culture than Charlotte as well as a greater sense of place. Obviously there are several similarities but I always bristle at the "larger Charlotte"/"smaller Atlanta" characterizations.

[KB0679]

Originally Posted by craigs

I suspect it's a one-way 'rivalry' in the way many smaller, less prominent cities often liken themselves to (or differentiate themselves from) larger, more prominent cities nearby.

In a way, but certainly not economically. The two cities have come to be true economic competitors.

[austlar1]

It's a Charlotte wet dream. Atlanta couldn't be bothered.

[KB0679]

Originally Posted by austlar1

It's a Charlotte wet dream. Atlanta couldn't be bothered.

Perhaps that's how Charlotte swooped in and snagged Atlanta's last remaining major bank.

Gone are the days when Atlanta was the only real game in town in the Southeast.

[ATLMidcity]

Atlanta and Charlotte are like night and day, with the only similarities being they are both regional cities within the burgeoning Southeastern U.S.

I lived in Charlotte for 14 years and currently live in Atlanta going on 24 years.

Charlotte has a bright future, but it's no Atlanta.

Heavy rail vs light rail
134 sq miles vs 297 sq miles
Land-locked Atlanta vs Annexation-happy Charlotte
Downtown Atlanta vs shiny Uptown Charlotte
Urban Midtown Atlanta vs suburban midtown Charlotte
Semi-urban Buckhead vs small suburban South Park
Hip-hop and R&B music culture vs Country old south music
The Black Mecca vs an exclusionary White dominant culture
A trend-setter vs a follower

I would go on, but I don't wanna start a fight.

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by ATLMidcity

Atlanta and Charlotte are like night and day, with the only similarities being they are both regional cities within the burgeoning Southeastern U.S.

I lived in Charlotte for 14 years and currently live in Atlanta going on 24 years.

Charlotte has a bright future, but it's no Atlanta.

Heavy rail vs light rail
134 sq miles vs 297 sq miles
Land-locked Atlanta vs Annexation-happy Charlotte
Downtown Atlanta vs shiny Uptown Charlotte
Urban Midtown Atlanta vs suburban midtown Charlotte
Semi-urban Buckhead vs small suburban South Park
Hip-hop and R&B music culture vs Country old south music
The Black Mecca vs an exclusionary White dominant culture
A trend-setter vs a follower

I would go on, but I don't wanna start a fight.

Ignoring the rest, but it's illegal for cities to annex land in North Carolina now. This is to say that while Atlanta is surrounded by weensy little counties, each with a dozen or more municipalities which all hate Atlanta and each other, Charlotte is surrounded by larger counties with a dozen or more municipalities that all hate each other and Charlotte, and it's also home to vast tracts of suburbs that are part of the city of Charlotte, but still hate each other, hate Charlotte, and resent being part of it.

The dynamic is not all that different. It also bears pointing out that if you lived in Charlotte 24 years ago... Well, how different was Atlanta 24 years ago? How much does that translate into the way things are now?