Tuesday, February 10, 2009

'Great State of Mecklenburg' – Not dead yet

Don't ever let people tell you the idea of the Great State of Mecklenburg is dead. If it was, it was just raised from the dead by Anita Brown-Graham of the Institute for Emerging Issues at N.C. State. In introducing state Sen. Dan Clodfelter, D-Mecklenburg, who's moderating a panel, she (of course!) said:

"He is from the Great State of Mecklenburg, then he moved to the Great State of North Carolina."

I spent the first 20 years of living in Charlotte just chuckling at the term. After all, Charlotteans do tend to be a bit more self-absorbed. But 20 years is enough. Now I think it's demeaning.

I mean, is any part of North Carolina more self-absorbed than the Triangle? In Charlotte, not being the state government center or higher education center, you ALWAYS have to think about what's happening in Raleigh. In Raleigh, unless you're thinking about finance, you may well never have a need to think about Charlotte.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Raleigh vs Charlotte has got to end

Anonymous said...

North Carolina government has been fleecing Charlotte and the rest of the Western part of the state and using it to fund boondoggles in Eastern NC for at least 100 years. That's the nature of government in this state.

Jumper said...

Perhaps Charlotte should run some promotional television spots in the Raleigh area. Snicker.

Here's some interesting reading about the sustainability of growth.
http://www.feasta.org/documents/feastareview/daly.htm

Anonymous said...

Did the good senator mention his attempts to push another 1/2 cent transit tax on the citizens of Mecklenburg County, but only at the expense of the towns?

http://www.charmeck.org/NR/
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gAuthorization.pdf

Pathmaker said...

I'm pretty sure Raleigh thinks about Charlotte when balancing the state's budget since 20% or so of the state's income taxes are generated in Mecklenburg County.

Anonymous said...

Below is a tourism idea Charlotte could borrow. It would definitely put us on the map. “Show Me Yours!” could be a city slogan to challenge Raleigh to outclass us in this category:


AMSTERDAM (AP) - The municipal pornography archive in the Dutch city of Leeuwarden is missing and officials fear it may be gone for good. Spokesman Erik Krikke of the city's historical center said the archive - which contained photos, drawings and erotic texts with a connection to the city - may have been taken home "accidentally" by an employee or visitor. Asked whether he thought it was unusual for the town to have a pornography collection, Krikke said "yes" - and that made the loss greater.

Anonymous said...

>> I mean, is any part of
>> North Carolina more
>> self-absorbed than the Triangle?

Uh, the editorial boardroom at 600 S. Tryon?