Quote:
Originally posted by Tickled Pink 2
They did this in Charlotte w/o a natural disaster. Downtown Charlotte used to look verrrry different than it does today. It started years ago with plans of building a new Coliseum. First, they started to semi clean up the Biddleville area (near JCSU), then they built a new transportation center so that there would be one main place dwntwn to catch & xfer buses (stopping a certain "element" from being strewn all over the city), then they systematically started closing some of the surrounding projects and forced them to move elsewhere. Then up came a new parking deck, condominiums, a Johnson & Wales University, a YMCA, a Harris Teeter, etc. Instead of the "element" you see a different element jogging, walking dogs, walking to restaurants... Now I cannot lie and say that it definately doesn't look better downtown and there used to be alot of crime there, but at what cost? The poor was forced out of their homes, they certainly couldn't afford the condos, and those committing crimes were just forced into different areas - like East Charlotte, which was actually nice when I first moved here, but is now crime infested.
ET correct: there to their
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I left Charlotte in October 1994. I remember that they were just beginning "downtown renovation," as it were. I haven't been back since. Thanks for the update.
I'm of mixed mind about these types of things. Yes, it's nice to have amenities, restaurants, shops (and I'm glad that I have a job and some disposable income to take advantage). But people should have housing and not be homeless. It's a catch-22.