Charlotte is Huge, can you say you've seen every corner of it?

[Guest]

So Lately one of my friends moved to hoskins mill, and after visiting him and Exploring the neighborhood I realized I had never really been in around 30-40% of charlotte. I was wondering if people stayed in their respective hoods, in my case South Charlotte, or whether they really ventured out of their respective areas. Please Explain where you have and haven't been, most importantly where you haven't.

[DigitalSky]

Great poll. I'd say I'm pretty proficient, I've been to most areas of town however there are some areas where I've got no clue or seem like "Is this even Charlotte" to me. I think that's one of the most brilliant things about Charlotte, how dynamic it is and it is that ever-confusing road system of ours that adds to the charm.

[MZT]

Charlotte took me longer to learn and feel comfortable with than other places I have lived (Greensboro, Raleigh, Fresno, Anaheim).

But I could find my way home from any point in Charlotte now. OK, I'd have to wander onto a major road first... but I could do it.

[Guest]

going to put up this map as a reminder that charlotte is huge. Not that I don't believe people know 100%, but Just don't overshoot, its entirely possible I have already had one message asking if they could vote again because they realized they were overshooting.

[1979Heel]

I've been to all areas of town-north, south, east and west. Of course, I'm a native and the church I grew up in had kids from all of Charlotte's public high schools; we went to each other's houses all the time.

I can navigate Queens Road from beginning to end with no problem and I know Queens Road West and East equally well. I know how to drive through town from Eastover through Elizabeth to Chantilly and can show you both parts of Chantilly. I know where Eastover begins and Myers Park ends. I can get you to West Charlotte, Garinger, Myers Park, East Meck, South Meck and Providence High Schools with no problem and I can show you where the James K. Polk birthplace is. I know where Morehead becomes Queens (no, not at Kings Drive, another Charlotte quirk) and I know where Independence Park is as well as Freedom Park. UNCC no problem. JCSU same, Queens University same. I know the difference between The Plaza and Plaza Road, Sharon Road and Sharon Lane. Gosh, what a fountain of old Charlotte knowledge.

The parts I don't know as well are the new far south and far north suburbs, since all that has happened while I've been away for the last 20-some years.

[Mobuchu]

I've only lived here for 6 years, but can honestly say that I've seen every corner of this city. I would say I've been within a half mile of every street this city has... My job, and the position I was in 3-6 years ago, sent me everywhere. From the richest neighborhoods to the poorest, N to S, E to W. Most of my day was spent driving around through neighborhoods going street to street, community to community. I kinda miss haveing that opportunity, but I dont miss all the driving and certainly not the work...

Now most of my work is between uptown and the close in neighborhoods south toward Rt 4, with much less diving. I no longer own a car so outside of work I only see where the bus will take me. 19 and 31 bus.... With most of my time being spent uptown.

[krazeeboi]

60-79% for me. Not too shabby for a Rock Hillian. I feel good when I'm walking around Uptown and someone asks me where to find something and I'm able to point them in the right direction. So far, the only exception is last Sunday when someone asked me about an Uptown tattoo parlor. I was clueless.

[Raintree21]

Charlotte is very compartmentalized. People have no need to really leave their section of town for anything because everything they need is within a 3-4 mile radius of htem in most cases, whether it be food, schools, shopping, entertainment, etc.

Trust me, unless you have some sort of job that requires you to travel all over the city, very few people have come even close to seeing all of Charlotte. I've been to areas with my job that most people have no clue that exist.

[monsoon]

Not only have I driven on almost every street in Charlotte, I have also lived all over the city from the days when I first moved to N. Tryon in 1978.

More fascinating than the endless streets in this city is the change that I have seen in the amost 3 decades that I have live here. Some of the neighborhoods that I once lived in have gone from lovely walkable places to dangerous nightmares that I won't even drive into now. Others have gone from middle class to places so expensive there is no way that I could afford to live there now. (nor would I really want to). I remember when Dilworth was full of boarded up houses where nobody wanted to live and when East Charlotte (around Eastland) was one of the most desirable places. I also lived here as a small kid in the 1960s in Plaza-Midwood before it went through its decline and then subsequent revival. Some of my earliest memories are walking with my mom & dad & sister get ice cream at the Dairy Queen on Central. My mom claims that she used to push the stroller with us down Ave into downtown from there. (Central was a neighborhood street then)

It's been interesting to see the change.

[atlrvr]

I put 80%-99%....I've probably seen every corner of it, but there are some sections that if I don't look at a map, I have to drive around for a couple of minutes to get my bearing....this would be the far northwest and southwest portions of the city.....for example, Rozzelles Ferry stops, and then starts again in a completely different place a half-mile a way or so, with not logical connection.....sometimes I forget which part connects with what. Also, I sometimes get confused around the Sandy Porter and Arrowood areas because I forget what side of 485 I'm on.....so, all in all, I feel that if I was dropped off on about 90% of the streets in Charlotte, I could take the most direct route to my destination.

[Charlotte_native]

For my work of the last 15 years or so I've travelled all over pretty much all of Charlotte. If I ever do end up, any more, on a street I've never been to it surprises me. Like the neighborhood I had to go to recently near Pineville off South Blvd that had a Confederate Flag in every other yard and one yard even had a memorial against a huge oak where someone had obviously had a wreck -- upon closer inspection the photo in the wreath was of a MOTORCYLCE!!! (this was Choyce Circle) I was more scared there than any 'hood in Charlotte -- course I grew up in the hood off Central.

There really are only a couple of places I'd be nervous to drive through during the day -- most of Charlotte isn't really as bad as it looks though some spots I'm happy to go to in the day I'd think twice about at night. I remember about 10 years ago taking a wrong turn leaving Fat City in NoDa and ended up in the heart of Belmont in the middle of a Saturday night. We ran every stop sign we encountered because every corner was packed with scary folks -- I figured the police stopping me would be a good thing!

Otherwise most parts of town I'd be happy to walk through -- just because people are hanging out and might look scary to you doesn't mean they would do anything.

In just the opposite vein, there are places I had to drive through years back that scared the hell out of me that are now quite nice.

The most confusing part of town for me, where I sometimes can't figure out where the roads are going to connect, is down between I-77 and the Catawba River...I can still get lost there.

[elvigy]

I put 60-79%. I've lived here for almost 20 years and I've lived uptown (in Fourth Ward) and on the east, west, and now north sides of town. Never lived on the south side so that's the area I'm most easily confused by. I can get where I need to go, but to paraphrase others, I'd have to stumble onto a fairly major road before I could find my way out if you dropped me in there blind.

[Vitamin_N]

There really are only a couple of places I'd be nervous to drive through during the day

[Charlotte_native]

I've been to some of the shady areas but the only time I've been worried while driving here was when I drove through Grier Heights, turned into a cul-de-sac by mistake, and some dude started running after my car. Fortunately, my car was faster than he was.

[monsoon]

....

There are some pretty random areas of town that if you've never had a reason to go would surprise most that they existed. There is a little riverfront community of older homes on the shores of the Catawba River between the lakes just barely south of 85 that is really cool. It almost feels like you are in the very deep south by the housing types and vegetation -- kinda Bayou-like. ......

[Charlotte_native]

Unfortunately that particular neighborhood is notorious for getting flooded every time that Duke has to release excess water from Norman. It last happened 3 years ago and was documented here on UrbanPlanet in this thread. (I notice the photo of the flooded house it is now gone). It's not a place you would want to live unless you don't mind having your house fill with water and mud every few years. I don't know why those people don't rebuild their homes on stilts like they do on the coast.

[New Name]

I recently was promoted to a regional manager at my job. Two things came of this: my wife and I decided to sell our house at the lake and move closer into town (the commute is already making me insane), and my new position has me going to touch bases with employees and clients in every single corner of the city (and also onward int Gaston and up to Hickory). So now at work I spend as much time with clients as I do exploring new neighborhoods to move into (we had thought Seversville, or Wilmore, but have since put an offer on a house in Noda). I have already seen an awful lot, and this forum is great for me because I can read about a project, and then usually drive by and see it the next day. So slowly, I will know every single corner of the area; I'd say I already know quite a bit. It's a great feeling too, because when I was employed with the company in Richmond, I got to know every area between Richmond and DC. Now, Charlotte is my new task!

[davidals]

Some of the neighborhoods that I once lived in have gone from lovely walkable places to dangerous nightmares that I won't even drive into now. Others have gone from middle class to places so expensive there is no way that I could afford to live there now. (nor would I really want to). I remember when Dilworth was full of boarded up houses where nobody wanted to live and when East Charlotte (around Eastland) was one of the most desirable places. I also lived here as a small kid in the 1960s in Plaza-Midwood before it went through its decline and then subsequent revival. Some of my earliest memories are walking with my mom & dad & sister get ice cream at the Dairy Queen on Central. My mom claims that she used to push the stroller with us down Ave into downtown from there. (Central was a neighborhood street then)

It's been interesting to see the change.

[Myrtle]

I'm a 7th-Generation Charlottean (family here since 1786...1st born son/1st Generation was 1801), and I take it for granted that I've almost got an innate compass built-in (kind of like birds' pineal glands). It has been an absolute pleasure watching this city & its diversity grow. I was in h.s. when 400 N. Church was built, so I'm not really that old, but I do remember when much of the city's suburbs were farmlands. I grew up going to Ivey's "downtown," to Woolworth's, Mayberry's, and the A&P @ Park Rd. shopping center, etc., and I remember when SouthPark consisted of 2 department stores. I ventured out of my sheltered tree-lined street neighborhood when I could drive, and I drove in places that my parents would have been horrified over--we would all duck when driving through what is now NoDa, Plaza-Midwood, Chantilly, & even Elizabeth! My Home neighborhood now, Dilworth, was sketchy at best, and SouthEnd was a scary, dirty place.

However much I have ventured out bc of my jobs and history with this city, I think people claiming to know EVERY square block of this city and its surrounding suburbs cannot possibly do so. For those that claim to know every part of Charlotte, why don't we start a list of "secret" spots just to see how much or little of a secret they are. We might surprise ourselves!!

[rockhilljames]

80 - 90% I'd say.

I still don't know as much about the north side of town as the rest of it.

...like most people i sometimes know the place, but not necessarily the road name.

[Charlotte_native]

However much I have ventured out bc of my jobs and history with this city, I think people claiming to know EVERY square block of this city and its surrounding suburbs cannot possibly do so. For those that claim to know every part of Charlotte, why don't we start a list of "secret" spots just to see how much or little of a secret they are. We might surprise ourselves!!

[Raintree21]

They wouldn't be much of a secret then would they?

Kinda like, do I really want to tell where my secret hiking trail or fishing hole is so others can enjoy it or do I want to keep it to myself... I sometimes cringe when BackPacker Magazine tells of underused and little known spots even though they have every right to use it as well.

[voyager12]

I have lived here almost three years and still have much to learn. I live in Dilworth and still get consistently lost in Uptown. I spend most of my days bouncing between Dilworth and PlazaMidwood. South Charlotte and UCity are totally foreign to me. I had to Mapquest my way to Trader Joe's in Piper Glen and I still missed the turn and ended up in Matthews before realizing I had to turn around One of the positives of not venturing out of your comfort zone is still being excited by unexpectedly discovering new and interesting parts of town!

[kewlaidkiddd]

I started young... when I first got my license 11 years ago at the age of 16 I left the house nightly and drove down a different street in charlotte. Granted I lived in Concord at the time as well. And everytime I go to work or out I always take a different route so that I know what is going up new in the city. I can practically give directions to just about anywhere in Charlotte or take you there. I may not be as up on my street names, but I have seen every point of this city. There are a few changes that happen consistently that I may not know about yet which is why I only put 80-99%, but I'm very confident with my knowledge of the area. I could even tell you the multiple names of most of the streets in town and when they change.

[Justadude]

Can't say I've explored all that much in the northwest/river area, but other than that I think I've seen pretty much the whole city (subdivision streets notwithstanding).