Perception of Charlotte Nationwide

[CLT Development]

On 1/7/2024 at 3:17 PM, CLT2014 said:

And don't even get me going on Page 11.... where our first theater / arts sponsorship in our visitor guide is NarroWay Christian Community Dinner Theater with volunteer actors in a warehouse in Fort Mill... doesn't exactly scream metropolis. I honestly don't blame others for thinking what they think when we are presenting ourselves this way.  https://view.publitas.com/charlotte-regional-visitors-authority/2024-charlotte-city-guide/page/6-7

FYI, That ad is $7000, in a guide that is primarily distributed outside of Charlotte, thats why no other arts non-profit placed there. You buy it when you have a regional draw, but you have to have a big regional draw to justity, and Full Page Ads are always better than 1/2, so you go for the $12,000 option. The CRVA needs to be more cost-friendly to arts & culture, because I can guarantee a lot more eyeballs from my target demographics by leveraging print media outlets through partnership and by dumping the same money into Digital Marketing.

Edited January 9 by CLT Development

[CLT2014]

5 minutes ago, CLT Development said:

FYI, That ad is $7000, in a guide that is primarily distributed outside of Charlotte, thats why no other arts non-profit placed there.

Unfortunate because it is a very prominent placement in the first few pages and the reality is it does make us look like a small town. 

[CLT Development]

4 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

Unfortunate because it is a very prominent placement in the first few pages and the reality is it does make us look like a small town. 

Thank you for giving me an argument when CRVA comes'a'knockin' in a few months. Good news is, we've gotten placement in NYT x2, WSJ, Smithsonian, Garden & Gun, Hypebeast, CBS Sunday Morning and more for our arts scene in 2023.

Edited January 9 by CLT Development

[videtur quam contuor]

I know nothing about Narroway productions. Nonetheless if they consider their production and events worthy of the expense and they attract their audience, who can gainsay their efforts? Which cultural space is "better" than another? I see regularly that Concord Mills is the top visitor attraction for our area. Is that "worthy"? By the time a city reaches our size it is my opinion that our civic character is what it is. Civic character is as personal character. One can fudge and deflect but strangers will know the truth.

[kermit]

1 hour ago, videtur quam contuor said:

 I see regularly that Concord Mills is the top visitor attraction for our area. Is that "worthy"?

The visitor attraction is measured by the number of people who cross a county line to get there. If the mall moved 1000 ft south (into Mecklenburg) it would be just another run of the mill regional mall.

Edited January 9 by kermit

[kayman]

Sorry, but Charlotte has too much ethnic and racial diversity to appeal to the Austin and Nashville tourist crowd.  As a non-white people, if you comprehend with what I mean then you know why.  (Hint: I don't care to go to a place that barely recognizes the authentic originators of Country & Western music  (the origins of country music from Negro spirituals to Folk & Blues music also started by black folks) nor a place where black natives said they didn't even feel like they actually belong).  Something you all on here don't realize on average 50% of regional visitors to the region are not white, so their views on culture are not going to align with people who want to be Austin nor Nashville.

Charlotte is more in alignment with Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, and Washington these days in the Southeast quadrant of the US, meaning places with way more cultural diversity that appeals to something more than white people.  However, it has a beleaguer mentality when it comes to cultural tourism portion of the recruitment and advertisement, but that is intentional because the CRVA nor the CoC or Mecklenburg County isn't trying to build things like an aquarium or regional zoo, two things that identifies with the natural tourism. (FYI, nobody cares that the NC Zoo is Asheboro or Riverbanks Zoo exists in Columbia because they would rather visit something within the metro area). The regional zoo should be built on the existing Latta Plantation site (like the current Nashville  Zoo did with the Grassmere Plantation site) as an additional to the existing raptor center while the regional aquarium and ecological center should be built as an extension to the Discovery Place complex in Uptown. 

CRVA should advertise how Carowinds is the largest non-resort theme park in the South because it is bigger than all of the Six Flags theme parks including Six Flags Over Georgia, Six Flags Over Texas, and Six Flags Fiesta Texas and the most other Southern theme parks except Busch Gardens Williamsburg.  The funny thing with the merger of Six Flags and Cedar Fair, Carowinds will become the flagship park of the combined company.

Ironically, the NC Music Hall of Fame is in the metro area in Kannapolis, which is rich with our cultural diversity of music many of whom are major non-white contemporary major hip-hop, R&B, and soul music artists and there are a number of country music artists as well: https://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/inductee-gallery/ , but CRVA doesn't even try to advertise that which is to the region's detriment on cultural diversity.  

Also, the regional tourism draw needs to be more culturally diverse, musical and cultural festivals on the underutilized lots around in Uptown and in the larger parks that have borderline wasted active spaces like Renaissance Park, which has a golf course that would be better used as host site to cultural venues and large music festivals similar to what we see in Atlanta with Piedmont Park.  The unique neighborhoods thing will come with time as Charlotte is evolving and actually gaining more people than even Raleigh or Durham daily.  It might take some time, but it will come as this city will come up on its own cultural and regional tourism.

(ETA: The confused responses are proof positive of the 1st paragraph above information is very true about how & why non-white visitors like myself aren't checking for Austin or Nashville along with why Charlotte is way more ethnoculturally & racially diverse with a need for tourism that matches it.)

Edited January 11 by kayman

[Richhamleigh, DC]

50 minutes ago, kayman said:

Sorry, but Charlotte has too much ethnic and racial diversity to appeal to the Austin and Nashville tourist crowd.  As a non-white people, if you comprehend with what I mean then you know why.  (Hint: I don't care to go to a place that barely recognizes the authentic originators of Country Western musical  (the origins of country music to Negro spirituals and Blues music also started by black folks) nor a place where black natives said they didn't even feel like they actually belong).  Something you all on here don't realize is the 50% of average visitors to the region are not white, so their views on culture are not going to align with people who want to be Austin nor Nashville.

Charlotte is more in alignment with Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, and Washington these days in the Southeast quadrant of the US, meaning places with way more cultural diversity that appeals to something more than white people.  However, it has a beleaguer mentality when it comes to cultural tourism portion of the recruitment and advertisement, but that is intentional because the CRVA nor the CoC or Mecklenburg County isn't trying to build things like an aquarium or regional zoo, two things that identifies with the natural tourism.  (FYI, nobody cares that the NC Zoo is Asheboro or Riverbanks Zoo exists in Columbia because they would rather visit something within the metro area).  CRVA should advertise how Carowinds is the largest non-resort theme park in the South because it is bigger than all of the Six Flags theme parks including Six Flags Over Georgia, Six Flags Over Texas, and Six Flags Fiesta Texas and the most other Southern theme parks except Busch Gardens Williamsburg.  The funny thing with the merger of Six Flags and Cedar Fair, Carowinds will become the flagship park of the combined company.

Ironically, the NC Music Hall of Fame is in the metro area in Kannapolis, which is rich with our cultural diversity of music many of whom are major non-white contemporary major hip-hop, R&B, and soul music artists and there are a number of country music artists as well: https://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/inductee-gallery/ , but CRVA doesn't even try to advertise that which is to the region's detriment on cultural diversity.  

Also, the regional tourism draw needs to be more culturally diverse, musical and cultural festivals on the underutilized lots around in Uptown and in the larger parks that have borderline wasted active spaces like Renaissance Park, which has a golf course that would be better used as host site to cultural venues and large festival similar to what we see in Atlanta with Piedmont Park.  The unique neighborhoods thing will come with time as Charlotte is evolving and actually gaining more people than even Raleigh or Durham daily.  It might take some time, but it will come as this city will come up on its own cultural and regional tourism.

 

Wow.  

[CLT Development]

4 hours ago, kayman said:

Sorry, but Charlotte has too much ethnic and racial diversity to appeal to the Austin and Nashville tourist crowd.  As a non-white people, if you comprehend with what I mean then you know why.  (Hint: I don't care to go to a place that barely recognizes the authentic originators of Country & Western music  (the origins of country music from Negro spirituals to Folk & Blues music also started by black folks) nor a place where black natives said they didn't even feel like they actually belong).  Something you all on here don't realize on average 50% of regional visitors to the region are not white, so their views on culture are not going to align with people who want to be Austin nor Nashville.

Charlotte is more in alignment with Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, and Washington these days in the Southeast quadrant of the US, meaning places with way more cultural diversity that appeals to something more than white people.  However, it has a beleaguer mentality when it comes to cultural tourism portion of the recruitment and advertisement, but that is intentional because the CRVA nor the CoC or Mecklenburg County isn't trying to build things like an aquarium or regional zoo, two things that identifies with the natural tourism. (FYI, nobody cares that the NC Zoo is Asheboro or Riverbanks Zoo exists in Columbia because they would rather visit something within the metro area). The regional zoo should be built on the existing Latta Plantation site (like the current Nashville  Zoo did with the Grassmere Plantation site) as an additional to the existing raptor center while the regional aquarium and ecological center should be built as an extension to the Discovery Place complex in Uptown. 

CRVA should advertise how Carowinds is the largest non-resort theme park in the South because it is bigger than all of the Six Flags theme parks including Six Flags Over Georgia, Six Flags Over Texas, and Six Flags Fiesta Texas and the most other Southern theme parks except Busch Gardens Williamsburg.  The funny thing with the merger of Six Flags and Cedar Fair, Carowinds will become the flagship park of the combined company.

Ironically, the NC Music Hall of Fame is in the metro area in Kannapolis, which is rich with our cultural diversity of music many of whom are major non-white contemporary major hip-hop, R&B, and soul music artists and there are a number of country music artists as well: https://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/inductee-gallery/ , but CRVA doesn't even try to advertise that which is to the region's detriment on cultural diversity.  

Also, the regional tourism draw needs to be more culturally diverse, musical and cultural festivals on the underutilized lots around in Uptown and in the larger parks that have borderline wasted active spaces like Renaissance Park, which has a golf course that would be better used as host site to cultural venues and large festival similar to what we see in Atlanta with Piedmont Park.  The unique neighborhoods thing will come with time as Charlotte is evolving and actually gaining more people than even Raleigh or Durham daily.  It might take some time, but it will come as this city will come up on its own cultural and regional tourism.

 

Golly, there are a ton of fantastic nuggets of ideas in this thread, I'll add a few of these ideas to things I talk to CRVA about. Kudos. Only thing I push back on is the Zoo, I just don't think it's something people do in 2024. When is the last non-existing zoo was created, how does one even create one in today's world.

[RANYC]

4 hours ago, kayman said:

Sorry, but Charlotte has too much ethnic and racial diversity to appeal to the Austin and Nashville tourist crowd.  As a non-white people, if you comprehend with what I mean then you know why.  (Hint: I don't care to go to a place that barely recognizes the authentic originators of Country & Western music  (the origins of country music from Negro spirituals to Folk & Blues music also started by black folks) nor a place where black natives said they didn't even feel like they actually belong).  Something you all on here don't realize on average 50% of regional visitors to the region are not white, so their views on culture are not going to align with people who want to be Austin nor Nashville.

Charlotte is more in alignment with Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, and Washington these days in the Southeast quadrant of the US, meaning places with way more cultural diversity that appeals to something more than white people.  However, it has a beleaguer mentality when it comes to cultural tourism portion of the recruitment and advertisement, but that is intentional because the CRVA nor the CoC or Mecklenburg County isn't trying to build things like an aquarium or regional zoo, two things that identifies with the natural tourism. (FYI, nobody cares that the NC Zoo is Asheboro or Riverbanks Zoo exists in Columbia because they would rather visit something within the metro area). The regional zoo should be built on the existing Latta Plantation site (like the current Nashville  Zoo did with the Grassmere Plantation site) as an additional to the existing raptor center while the regional aquarium and ecological center should be built as an extension to the Discovery Place complex in Uptown. 

CRVA should advertise how Carowinds is the largest non-resort theme park in the South because it is bigger than all of the Six Flags theme parks including Six Flags Over Georgia, Six Flags Over Texas, and Six Flags Fiesta Texas and the most other Southern theme parks except Busch Gardens Williamsburg.  The funny thing with the merger of Six Flags and Cedar Fair, Carowinds will become the flagship park of the combined company.

Ironically, the NC Music Hall of Fame is in the metro area in Kannapolis, which is rich with our cultural diversity of music many of whom are major non-white contemporary major hip-hop, R&B, and soul music artists and there are a number of country music artists as well: https://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/inductee-gallery/ , but CRVA doesn't even try to advertise that which is to the region's detriment on cultural diversity.  

Also, the regional tourism draw needs to be more culturally diverse, musical and cultural festivals on the underutilized lots around in Uptown and in the larger parks that have borderline wasted active spaces like Renaissance Park, which has a golf course that would be better used as host site to cultural venues and large festival similar to what we see in Atlanta with Piedmont Park.  The unique neighborhoods thing will come with time as Charlotte is evolving and actually gaining more people than even Raleigh or Durham daily.  It might take some time, but it will come as this city will come up on its own cultural and regional tourism.

 

You just slayed with this post.  Is anyone listening?  

21 minutes ago, CLT Development said:

Golly, there are a ton of fantastic nuggets of ideas in this thread, I'll add a few of these ideas to things I talk to CRVA about. Kudos. Only thing I push back on is the Zoo, I just don't think it's something people do in 2024. When is the last non-existing zoo was created, how does one even create one in today's world.

Not necessarily new, but Montreal has a Biodome and that's always been great fun when I've visited and when Ive encountered others who've made trips to Montreal, the biodome has always received a great review.

[smeagolsfree]

15 hours ago, kayman said:

Sorry, but Charlotte has too much ethnic and racial diversity to appeal to the Austin and Nashville tourist crowd.  As a non-white people, if you comprehend with what I mean then you know why.  (Hint: I don't care to go to a place that barely recognizes the authentic originators of Country & Western music  (the origins of country music from Negro spirituals to Folk & Blues music also started by black folks) nor a place where black natives said they didn't even feel like they actually belong).  Something you all on here don't realize on average 50% of regional visitors to the region are not white, so their views on culture are not going to align with people who want to be Austin nor Nashville.

Charlotte is more in alignment with Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, and Washington these days in the Southeast quadrant of the US, meaning places with way more cultural diversity that appeals to something more than white people.  However, it has a beleaguer mentality when it comes to cultural tourism portion of the recruitment and advertisement, but that is intentional because the CRVA nor the CoC or Mecklenburg County isn't trying to build things like an aquarium or regional zoo, two things that identifies with the natural tourism. (FYI, nobody cares that the NC Zoo is Asheboro or Riverbanks Zoo exists in Columbia because they would rather visit something within the metro area). The regional zoo should be built on the existing Latta Plantation site (like the current Nashville  Zoo did with the Grassmere Plantation site) as an additional to the existing raptor center while the regional aquarium and ecological center should be built as an extension to the Discovery Place complex in Uptown. 

CRVA should advertise how Carowinds is the largest non-resort theme park in the South because it is bigger than all of the Six Flags theme parks including Six Flags Over Georgia, Six Flags Over Texas, and Six Flags Fiesta Texas and the most other Southern theme parks except Busch Gardens Williamsburg.  The funny thing with the merger of Six Flags and Cedar Fair, Carowinds will become the flagship park of the combined company.

Ironically, the NC Music Hall of Fame is in the metro area in Kannapolis, which is rich with our cultural diversity of music many of whom are major non-white contemporary major hip-hop, R&B, and soul music artists and there are a number of country music artists as well: https://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/inductee-gallery/ , but CRVA doesn't even try to advertise that which is to the region's detriment on cultural diversity.  

Also, the regional tourism draw needs to be more culturally diverse, musical and cultural festivals on the underutilized lots around in Uptown and in the larger parks that have borderline wasted active spaces like Renaissance Park, which has a golf course that would be better used as host site to cultural venues and large music festivals similar to what we see in Atlanta with Piedmont Park.  The unique neighborhoods thing will come with time as Charlotte is evolving and actually gaining more people than even Raleigh or Durham daily.  It might take some time, but it will come as this city will come up on its own cultural and regional tourism.

 

I was going to stay out of this mess, but some people just have a little too much to say sometimes.

Seems to me there is a little bit of frustration in this post. True there is more racial diversity in Charlotte, but I will challenge that racial history in Nashville has made it a stronger community with four HBCUs in Nashville with a rich African American history and why Nashville got the name Music City in the first place. That is because of the Fisk Jubilee singers performing in front of Queen Victoria. The National African American Music Museum is bringing people of color downtown as well.

As of 2018 Nashville had the 9th largest Laotian populations in the US and the largest Kurdish population in the US. There were 140 languages being spoken in Metro schools. The refugee population has only grown since then. There is a lot more diversity here than one would think. There is more diversity in Nashville proper than the suburbs for sure. The burbs are mostly lily white.

Nashville has capitalized off of the name music city for a long time and the phrase Music City USA was coined in the 1950's. The Chamber of Commerce and the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. have pushed really hard and spent millions to bring tourists to Nashville. IMO, the blame may not be with anyone or anything other than not having a brand. You can't put value on that. You either have it or you don't.

I am unsure what the point of the Zoo was, but it has been a success with zoo attendance rising to 1.2 million visitors a year. They are currently in the middle of a 500-million-dollar expansion over a multi-year plan. This will at some point be one of the premier zoos in the US, IMO as it covers 300 acres. Maybe Charlotte can gain success with building a new zoo. Nashville is gaining on the 4 million annual visitors of the San Diego Zoo. It is a huge investment however most of the visitors are local and not tourist.

As far as an amusement park goes, Nashville does not have one yet and I do not know when we will ever get one. There is a planned park but that is on shaky financial ground IMO. It will take a big theme park company coming to Nashville or Austin to solve that problem as neither city has one. Carowinds is a win for Charlotte, and you are fortunate to have it.

As far as other components you have to take into account music venues. There are over 180 live music venues in Nashville. There are over 200 live music venues in Austin. Music Festivals are another thing to take into account. The CMA Fest, Bonnaroo which is fairly new just outside of Nashville. There is another music fest in Franklin that is fairly new and successful, but these just do not happen. They are planned and take the work of citizens and city officials. The outlying communities such as Franklin have built their own amphitheater and Murfreesboro is doing their own as well. They are capitalizing on the success of Nashville and doing their own thing and so is Clarksville. The Nashville Predators are also building ice facilities in these communities to make them feel a part of the whole. The new MLS franchise is also doing the same as far as making the rest of the communities feel a part of the Metro.

Yes, Nashville has our big problems, but we have our branding which makes up for a host of mistakes. Not going to sugar coat that.  Country music also has its roots in Mountain music. Scotch/Irish so to speak from the hills of Appalachia. Music is a progression of sorts. As far as I am concerned you can have the Bro Country of today and take it back. I am not going to talk that much about Austin because as far as the music scene goes in Austin, if there were no music scene in Nashville there would be no music scene in Austin. It started in Nashville first then moved to Austin.

A small stat here for the Bridgestone arena for 2023: This is just one of venues downtown including the Ryman Auditorium, War Memorial, Ascend Amphitheater, Nissan Stadium, Municipal Auditorium, The Schermerhorn Symphony, TPAC, plus a host of others in the 1 to 8 hundred range capacity. Nashville is a concert destination city.

Bridgestone Arena closes out 2023 ranking in the top five U.S. arenas for ticket sales and attendance according to Pollstar and Billboard’s reports and earned a nomination for the Country Music Association (CMA) Touring Award in the Venue of the Year category. With 880,660 tickets sold and $78,515,989.80 in total gross revenue (inclusive solely of show and concert tickets), Bridgestone Arena ranks fourth in the U.S. for ticket sales in Pollstar’s Fourth Quarter Report. Bridgestone Arena ranks behind Madison Square Garden (New York, N.Y.), Kia Forum (Inglewood, Calif.) and Dickies Arena (Fort Worth, Texas) in ticket sales.

One thing money can't buy are TV episodes like this. This goes into some of the history of the brand of Music City Watch Cities of Success Episode: Nashville - NBC.com

 

 

[RANYC]

49 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

I was going to stay out of this mess, but some people just have a little too much to say sometimes.

Seems to me there is a little bit of frustration in this post. True there is more racial diversity in Charlotte, but I will challenge that racial history in Nashville has made it a stronger community with four HBCUs in Nashville with a rich African American history and why Nashville got the name Music City in the first place. That is because of the Fisk Jubilee singers performing in front of Queen Victoria. The National African American Music Museum is bringing people of color downtown as well.

As of 2018 Nashville had the 9th largest Laotian populations in the US and the largest Kurdish population in the US. There were 140 languages being spoken in Metro schools. The refugee population has only grown since then. There is a lot more diversity here than one would think. There is more diversity in Nashville proper than the suburbs for sure. The burbs are mostly lily white.

Nashville has capitalized off of the name music city for a long time and the phrase Music City USA was coined in the 1950's. The Chamber of Commerce and the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. have pushed really hard and spent millions to bring tourists to Nashville. IMO, the blame may not be with anyone or anything other than not having a brand. You can't put value on that. You either have it or you don't.

I am unsure what the point of the Zoo was, but it has been a success with zoo attendance rising to 1.2 million visitors a year. They are currently in the middle of a 500-million-dollar expansion over a multi-year plan. This will at some point be one of the premier zoos in the US, IMO as it covers 300 acres. Maybe Charlotte can gain success with building a new zoo. Nashville is gaining on the 4 million annual visitors of the San Diego Zoo. It is a huge investment however most of the visitors are local and not tourist.

As far as an amusement park goes, Nashville does not have one yet and I do not know when we will ever get one. There is a planned park but that is on shaky financial ground IMO. It will take a big theme park company coming to Nashville or Austin to solve that problem as neither city has one. Carowinds is a win for Charlotte, and you are fortunate to have it.

As far as other components you have to take into account music venues. There are over 180 live music venues in Nashville. There are over 200 live music venues in Austin. Music Festivals are another thing to take into account. The CMA Fest, Bonnaroo which is fairly new just outside of Nashville. There is another music fest in Franklin that is fairly new and successful, but these just do not happen. They are planned and take the work of citizens and city officials. The outlying communities such as Franklin have built their own amphitheater and Murfreesboro is doing their own as well. They are capitalizing on the success of Nashville and doing their own thing and so is Clarksville. The Nashville Predators are also building ice facilities in these communities to make them feel a part of the whole. The new MLS franchise is also doing the same as far as making the rest of the communities feel a part of the Metro.

Yes, Nashville has our big problems, but we have our branding which makes up for a host of mistakes. Not going to sugar coat that.  Country music also has its roots in Mountain music. Scotch/Irish so to speak from the hills of Appalachia. Music is a progression of sorts. As far as I am concerned you can have the Bro Country of today and take it back. I am not going to talk that much about Austin because as far as the music scene goes in Austin, if there were no music scene in Nashville there would be no music scene in Austin. It started in Nashville first then moved to Austin.

A small stat here for the Bridgestone arena for 2023: This is just one of venues downtown including the Ryman Auditorium, War Memorial, Ascend Amphitheater, Nissan Stadium, Municipal Auditorium, The Schermerhorn Symphony, TPAC, plus a host of others in the 1 to 8 hundred range capacity. Nashville is a concert destination city.

Bridgestone Arena closes out 2023 ranking in the top five U.S. arenas for ticket sales and attendance according to Pollstar and Billboard’s reports and earned a nomination for the Country Music Association (CMA) Touring Award in the Venue of the Year category. With 880,660 tickets sold and $78,515,989.80 in total gross revenue (inclusive solely of show and concert tickets), Bridgestone Arena ranks fourth in the U.S. for ticket sales in Pollstar’s Fourth Quarter Report. Bridgestone Arena ranks behind Madison Square Garden (New York, N.Y.), Kia Forum (Inglewood, Calif.) and Dickies Arena (Fort Worth, Texas) in ticket sales.

One thing money can't buy are TV episodes like this. This goes into some of the history of the brand of Music City Watch Cities of Success Episode: Nashville - NBC.com

 

 

Maybe noteworthy that both Nashville and Austin are state capital cities.  I feel that’s additive to successful brand identification and then really monetizing and leveraging that brand.  As a state capital, it’s a bit easier to draw the broader populace’s eyes and interest to what’s happening in the city, giving whatever brand has been determined even more currency.  

Edited January 10 by RANYC

[kayman]

5 hours ago, smeagolsfree said:

I was going to stay out of this mess, but some people just have a little too much to say sometimes.

Seems to me there is a little bit of frustration in this post. True there is more racial diversity in Charlotte, but I will challenge that racial history in Nashville has made it a stronger community with four HBCUs in Nashville with a rich African American history and why Nashville got the name Music City in the first place. That is because of the Fisk Jubilee singers performing in front of Queen Victoria. The National African American Music Museum is bringing people of color downtown as well.

As of 2018 Nashville had the 9th largest Laotian populations in the US and the largest Kurdish population in the US. There were 140 languages being spoken in Metro schools. The refugee population has only grown since then. There is a lot more diversity here than one would think. There is more diversity in Nashville proper than the suburbs for sure. The burbs are mostly lily white.

Nashville has capitalized off of the name music city for a long time and the phrase Music City USA was coined in the 1950's. The Chamber of Commerce and the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. have pushed really hard and spent millions to bring tourists to Nashville. IMO, the blame may not be with anyone or anything other than not having a brand. You can't put value on that. You either have it or you don't.

I am unsure what the point of the Zoo was, but it has been a success with zoo attendance rising to 1.2 million visitors a year. They are currently in the middle of a 500-million-dollar expansion over a multi-year plan. This will at some point be one of the premier zoos in the US, IMO as it covers 300 acres. Maybe Charlotte can gain success with building a new zoo. Nashville is gaining on the 4 million annual visitors of the San Diego Zoo. It is a huge investment however most of the visitors are local and not tourist.

As far as an amusement park goes, Nashville does not have one yet and I do not know when we will ever get one. There is a planned park but that is on shaky financial ground IMO. It will take a big theme park company coming to Nashville or Austin to solve that problem as neither city has one. Carowinds is a win for Charlotte, and you are fortunate to have it.

As far as other components you have to take into account music venues. There are over 180 live music venues in Nashville. There are over 200 live music venues in Austin. Music Festivals are another thing to take into account. The CMA Fest, Bonnaroo which is fairly new just outside of Nashville. There is another music fest in Franklin that is fairly new and successful, but these just do not happen. They are planned and take the work of citizens and city officials. The outlying communities such as Franklin have built their own amphitheater and Murfreesboro is doing their own as well. They are capitalizing on the success of Nashville and doing their own thing and so is Clarksville. The Nashville Predators are also building ice facilities in these communities to make them feel a part of the whole. The new MLS franchise is also doing the same as far as making the rest of the communities feel a part of the Metro.

Yes, Nashville has our big problems, but we have our branding which makes up for a host of mistakes. Not going to sugar coat that.  Country music also has its roots in Mountain music. Scotch/Irish so to speak from the hills of Appalachia. Music is a progression of sorts. As far as I am concerned you can have the Bro Country of today and take it back. I am not going to talk that much about Austin because as far as the music scene goes in Austin, if there were no music scene in Nashville there would be no music scene in Austin. It started in Nashville first then moved to Austin.

A small stat here for the Bridgestone arena for 2023: This is just one of venues downtown including the Ryman Auditorium, War Memorial, Ascend Amphitheater, Nissan Stadium, Municipal Auditorium, The Schermerhorn Symphony, TPAC, plus a host of others in the 1 to 8 hundred range capacity. Nashville is a concert destination city.

Bridgestone Arena closes out 2023 ranking in the top five U.S. arenas for ticket sales and attendance according to Pollstar and Billboard’s reports and earned a nomination for the Country Music Association (CMA) Touring Award in the Venue of the Year category. With 880,660 tickets sold and $78,515,989.80 in total gross revenue (inclusive solely of show and concert tickets), Bridgestone Arena ranks fourth in the U.S. for ticket sales in Pollstar’s Fourth Quarter Report. Bridgestone Arena ranks behind Madison Square Garden (New York, N.Y.), Kia Forum (Inglewood, Calif.) and Dickies Arena (Fort Worth, Texas) in ticket sales.

One thing money can't buy are TV episodes like this. This goes into some of the history of the brand of Music City Watch Cities of Success Episode: Nashville - NBC.com

 

 

Yeah, there are some frustrations. Culture should include the regional black as well as the rapidly growing Spanish-speaking black & brown cultures (from across the Caribbean, Central & South America), various Sub-Saharan African subcultures (from West, Central, East, & even South African nations), widespread Asian subcultures (from East, South, & Southeast Asian nations) to Indigenous persons from the Catawba to Lumbee persons in Charlotte now more than ever is what should be valued & recognized.  That's why I said that above. Charlotte shouldn't emulate Nashville nor Austin. Both are much more culturally homogeneous cities compared to Charlotte, thus shouldn't be the tourism litmus to measure towards.

My birth state of Alabama has the highest number of HCBUs in the nation (https://thehbcualum.com/pages/list-of-hbcus-by-state), and many of them are in the Birmingham metropolitan area, my home city. The downside is that doesn't translate much into the daily lives of Alabamians nor Birminghamians.  HBCUs are more like institutions of black culture but not direct reflections of the actual regional cultural diversity.  As a black person, having HBCUs are great community assets, but doesn't mean much to the average everyday black person nor show up in the overall cultural mosaic of those very communities. 

The facts speak for themselves on the history of country music and black folks. Ask any well versed black American elders or black historians, they'll provide personal antedotes on how black origins were mysteriously erased from its historical zeitgeist of that particular musical genre. The prior links provided is an entire PBS series on how black folks were left out of the country music genre, which they created and how modern day artists are trying to reintroduce their own experiences back into the genre.

I only brought up the Nashville Zoo because the zoo is on the grounds of the Grassmere Plantation.  The Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation Department-owned Latta Plantation already has an aviary raptor center that is open to the public. One of the things that Mecklenburg County Park & Rec wants to reopen the property with better and more equitable community asset value, so I recommend that it becomes site of a regional zoo like the Nashville Zoo. That was the only relevant thing to compare or reference in my prior response not how many visitors it has compared to the San Diego Zoo. 

 

Edited January 10 by kayman

[Take2]

12 hours ago, smeagolsfree said:

As far as I am concerned you can have the Bro Country of today and take it back. 

Um... There's a LOT of racism in this statement and it's super offensive to me. Your use of the words "you", "bro country", and "take it back" specifically aimed at Kayman just rub wrong. Do better next time or don't post.

Edited January 11 by Take2

[smeagolsfree]

13 hours ago, Take2 said:

Um... There's a LOT of racism in this statement and it's super offensive to me. Your use of the words "you", "bro country", and "take it back" specifically aimed at Kayman just rub wrong. Do better next time or don't post.

Not meant to be racist and sorry "you" took it that way, but a matter of personal opinion in the matter, as I hate Country Music and always have. My family comes from the foothills and Mountains of Appalachia, and I am and related to the Carter Family in a round-about manner. I can actually trace my family to some of the first settlers of NY, MASS, & Jamestown Settlements, but that does not mean I condone everything they may have stood for or not stood for. The last immigrants in my family were in the early 1700's. So, my roots go deep into this part of the country and Appalachia. My father went to school and church with Tennessee Ernie Ford and some of my family, were and are in the business. I am supposed to like country music based on where I am from and my family ties. I have always hated the genre. Not my cup of tea, and "the you" is the collective "you". The old country music if you like it, is better than the new country which still does not matter to me personally, but I do realize the impact it has had on Nashville.

You can take ever how you want to, but it was still not meant as racist. Bro Country is just that Bro country. IMO, it is just a money-making gimmick to appeal to the masses of weak-minded people that have too much money. It's the same as any other genre of music that sells. It is no better than Taylor Swift who has no talent or just another rhyming rap star that are a dime a dozen. We called Tayor Swift music Tini bopper music back in my day and that is what it is. Droves of little girls dragging their moms and dads to the concerts. When it comes right down to it, the one thing all this crap has in common is it all sounds the same. Break the music down and it is the same beat most of the time or the same theme. It is part of the tourist industry for Nashville and these guys are jumping on the proverbial band wagon to make a buck and it is not necessarily a good thing for the city.

That is all the music industry is anymore is money making and they really do not care if you have talent or not. Country song of the year...Fast Cars..... Give me a break. It was not even a good song when it came out in the 80's. Not because Tracy Chapmen was Black but because the song sucked in the 80s and still does. It just goes to show how few people have any taste in music left. When the song came on the radio I changed the station because I hated the song. (personal opinion) There are very few rock bands that are even any good now. The new groups are not for me. I like some nice progressive rock and some hard rock but so many people always want to sound like someone else these days.

This is my personal opinion. My likes and dislikes. I love Jimi Hendrix, I hate rap. Does that make me a racist? I love Rock, but you can have your Bro Country, because I hate it. Does that make me a racist or a leftist? I love Muse but hate Taylor Swift so you can have her, does that make me a sexist?

[East Side Urbanite]

15 hours ago, Take2 said:

Um... There's a LOT of racism in this statement and it's super offensive to me. Your use of the words "you", "bro country", and "take it back" specifically aimed at Kayman just rub wrong. Do better next time or don't post.

I don't think Smeags was targeting (or being negative toward) Kayman. He was simply saying that Nashville's tourism is, like Kayman correctly contended, disproportionately geared toward whites, and particularly those who like commercial country music.

[East Side Urbanite]

On 1/9/2024 at 5:40 PM, kayman said:

Sorry, but Charlotte has too much ethnic and racial diversity to appeal to the Austin and Nashville tourist crowd.  As a non-white people, if you comprehend with what I mean then you know why.  (Hint: I don't care to go to a place that barely recognizes the authentic originators of Country & Western music  (the origins of country music from Negro spirituals to Folk & Blues music also started by black folks) nor a place where black natives said they didn't even feel like they actually belong).  Something you all on here don't realize on average 50% of regional visitors to the region are not white, so their views on culture are not going to align with people who want to be Austin nor Nashville.

Charlotte is more in alignment with Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, and Washington these days in the Southeast quadrant of the US, meaning places with way more cultural diversity that appeals to something more than white people.  However, it has a beleaguer mentality when it comes to cultural tourism portion of the recruitment and advertisement, but that is intentional because the CRVA nor the CoC or Mecklenburg County isn't trying to build things like an aquarium or regional zoo, two things that identifies with the natural tourism. (FYI, nobody cares that the NC Zoo is Asheboro or Riverbanks Zoo exists in Columbia because they would rather visit something within the metro area). The regional zoo should be built on the existing Latta Plantation site (like the current Nashville  Zoo did with the Grassmere Plantation site) as an additional to the existing raptor center while the regional aquarium and ecological center should be built as an extension to the Discovery Place complex in Uptown. 

CRVA should advertise how Carowinds is the largest non-resort theme park in the South because it is bigger than all of the Six Flags theme parks including Six Flags Over Georgia, Six Flags Over Texas, and Six Flags Fiesta Texas and the most other Southern theme parks except Busch Gardens Williamsburg.  The funny thing with the merger of Six Flags and Cedar Fair, Carowinds will become the flagship park of the combined company.

Ironically, the NC Music Hall of Fame is in the metro area in Kannapolis, which is rich with our cultural diversity of music many of whom are major non-white contemporary major hip-hop, R&B, and soul music artists and there are a number of country music artists as well: https://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/inductee-gallery/ , but CRVA doesn't even try to advertise that which is to the region's detriment on cultural diversity.  

Also, the regional tourism draw needs to be more culturally diverse, musical and cultural festivals on the underutilized lots around in Uptown and in the larger parks that have borderline wasted active spaces like Renaissance Park, which has a golf course that would be better used as host site to cultural venues and large music festivals similar to what we see in Atlanta with Piedmont Park.  The unique neighborhoods thing will come with time as Charlotte is evolving and actually gaining more people than even Raleigh or Durham daily.  It might take some time, but it will come as this city will come up on its own cultural and regional tourism.

(ETA: The confused responses are proof positive of the 1st paragraph above information is very true about how & why non-white visitors like myself aren't checking for Austin or Nashville along with why Charlotte is way more ethnoculturally & racially diverse with a need for tourism that matches it.)

You make many valid and important points, Kayman.

As a 61-year-old white man who lives in downtown Nashville, I strongly recognize that Nashville has not done an effective job of marketing its tourism scene to people of color and international tourists. Our cultural/entertainment/pleasure tourism  is very much so targeted toward whites, and particularly mainstream whites from the suburbs and rural America (and, in particular, Middle America, as those visitors can drive to our city). On the other hand, our "business tourism" is much more diverse and international, which is exciting (though improvement is needed).

Though Nashville offers a strong HBCU scene (years ago, I both attended and part-time taught at Tennessee State University), a quality Civil Rights movement history and a fairly vibrant contemporary African-American community, there is no question that Black Nashvillians are, in general,  not as much a part of the "new Nashville" as they 1. should be and 2. deserve to be. Charlotte and Atlanta are much more epicenters of black achievement and culture than Nashville.

Maybe that will change one day. I'd like to see more Black Americans visit our city (if anything, to check out the National Museum of African-American Music, which has quickly become a Nashville treasure).

On the diversity theme, the Nashville Zoo (my brother is a member) draws a hugely diverse crowd, with lots of Blacks, Asians and Hispanics visiting. I visited the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro in 1994 and was hugely impressed.

I sometimes wonder if some non-Nashvillians fail to realize that Nashville is perhaps more cosmopolitan and cool than they think. For example, our city offers a live close-up magic venue, a restaurant with Frank Sinatra memorabilia (and blessed by The Chairman's daughters, no less), Jack White's Third Man Records (a must-see for any hipster visiting our town), an automobile museum highlighting cars from Central Europe and LOTS of high-end (even international) retailers. We are not as cosmopolitan as, say, Miami. But this is not the Nashville of the 1980s.

I always enjoy reading the Charlotte board. You folks have a strong and vibrant city, with lots of elements I envy.

 

 

[Guest]

16 hours ago, Take2 said:

Um... There's a LOT of racism in this statement and it's super offensive to me. Your use of the words "you", "bro country", and "take it back" specifically aimed at Kayman just rub wrong. Do better next time or don't post.

Yeah I’m having trouble reading whatever you’re reading into here. Plus Kayman responded to Smeagol already and I think can take care of himself. 

[nakers2]

Wow, a lot going on here since the last time I posted. 

I think Charlotte's population *does* matter to an extent. Charlotte is a transplant city, I'd compare it to a place like California or Texas or Florida in regards to the limited number of "natives", and an *especially* limited number of people with parents from the region. While identity can be a major driver to a city's positive perception and recognition on the national, and international stage, Charlotte is truly, as many have aptly pointed out, a city that most transplants move to because it has relatively cheap housing compared to up north, and to a lesser extent, out west. But someone who's from a more populous region typically isn't willing to give up everything they've left behind. As I've said before, Charlotte is quickly becoming a place that can't be ignored, it's a market that needs to be served. Population growth will continue to elevate Charlotte until it can stand on its own as a place with at least a regional draw. As far as people ragging on the city, take it on the chin, you go to a place like Cleveland or Detroit, you meet some proud and resilient people, Charlottians are too polite. We try to defend, overexplain, throw out stats to prove were a "real city" when we should take a page from most folks in the rust belt when someone craps on their town, and that's to say "go f yourself, I like it here"

[videtur quam contuor]

So for those who moved here voluntarily, why did you do so? Were you aware of the "image" of Charlotte prior to move? What did you know of the "character" of the city? Did you anticipate the move or fear it? Do you regret the move or feel otherwise? Were you willing or resistant? Is (was) it about what you thought or it  surprised you? How would you feel about moving to another city/region now? Real experiences, please.

[Temeteron]

48 minutes ago, videtur quam contuor said:

So for those who moved here voluntarily, why did you do so? Were you aware of the "image" of Charlotte prior to move? What did you know of the "character" of the city? Did you anticipate the move or fear it? Do you regret the move or feel otherwise? Were you willing or resistant? Is (was) it about what you thought or it  surprised you? How would you feel about moving to another city/region now? Real experiences, please.

I fell in love with Charlotte around 2002-2004.  I’m from Columbia (SC) and I would drive up quite often.  In 2005 I moved to Charlotte and it was the best decision ever.  Even back then it seemed like such a cool and metropolitan and international place compared to where I came from.  I miss the nightlife back then.  IMO it was so much better.  But it is what it is.  I was in Charlotte for 17 years and decided to move to Chicago for my job. Been there for two years now but I visit Charlotte at least once a month.   I miss the vibrant uptown we used to have 2007-2019 and hopefully it will come back soon.

[davidclt]

17 hours ago, videtur quam contuor said:

So for those who moved here voluntarily, why did you do so? Were you aware of the "image" of Charlotte prior to move? What did you know of the "character" of the city? Did you anticipate the move or fear it? Do you regret the move or feel otherwise? Were you willing or resistant? Is (was) it about what you thought or it  surprised you? How would you feel about moving to another city/region now? Real experiences, please.

I moved here in 1992 from Florida. Growing up, Charlotte was our "vacation" because I had three grandparents here. For a boy from "rural" Central Florida, Charlotte was bright lights and big city (since I had very limited exposure to Tampa and Orlando). Three years to the day of moving here, I moved to Seattle for five years. I loved Seattle, it was brighter and bigger. When I married and she wanted to move back to Charlotte, I felt like I was taking a step down and back. I hated my first five years back here . . . then something happened. Charlotte started to change, to grow up (not just grow). People here were proving their mettle that they weren't going to be shoehorned into being narrow-minded Southerners in spite of the Potter/Capacchione case - The Desegregation and Resegregation of Charlotte’s Schools | The New Yorker. 24 years on, Charlotte has grown and continues to grow into becoming a place. My wish is that we become notable for what we are . . . and being an American city of note (NYC, LA, Chicago, Miami) not an also ran (I won't list cities but I do have my vision of what passes as American cities that in my mind have no purpose or identity).

[KJHburg]

this is right on Broadway in the heart of downtown Nashville.

National Museum of African American Music | Nashville, TN (nmaam.org)

[KJHburg]

Well both Charlotte and Raleigh Durham are on US News and World Report top 10  best cities to live in.

150 Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2023-2024 | U.S. News (usnews.com)

[CLT2014]

Love is Blind Season 6 debuts in February and the contestants are from Charlotte. Love is Blind is usually a top 10 most streamed on Netflix the week a new season comes out and their signature romance reality show. Expect lots of B-roll footage of the Charlotte skyline, some visits to Charlotte restaurants / bars, and visiting families that live in the area. 

Does anybody know what apartment complex was used to host the couples when they move in together? 

And most of all, the cast will give viewers a little taste of Charlotte as people.... for better or worse. Felt relevant to Perception Nationwide because we don't have many TV broadcasts set in Charlotte outside of sports broadcasts... let alone from a show that is usually a Top 10 on Netflix. 

https://www.axios.com/local/charlotte/2024/01/18/love-is-blind-charlotte-cast-347892

Edited January 22 by CLT2014

[KJHburg]

3 hours ago, CLT2014 said:

Love is Blind Season 6 debuts in February and the contestants are from Charlotte. Love is Blind is usually a top 10 most streamed on Netflix the week a new season comes out and their signature romance reality show. Expect lots of B-roll footage of the Charlotte skyline, some visits to Charlotte restaurants / bars, and visiting families that live in the area. 

Does anybody know what apartment complex was used to host the couples when they move in together? 

And most of all, the cast will give viewers a little taste of Charlotte as people.... for better or worse. Felt relevant to Perception Nationwide because we don't have many TV broadcasts set in Charlotte outside of sports broadcasts... let alone from a show that is usually a Top 10 on Netflix. cu

https://www.axios.com/local/charlotte/2024/01/18/love-is-blind-charlotte-cast-347892

couple of years ago that show Married at First Sight was all filmed in Charlotte.