The banks may be crashing but the Observer and home builders of the area want you to remember that there are still a lot of people here that are richer than you. To view QC excess at its best, check out the photo gallery from this years HomeArama below.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/galleries/gallery/230581.html
They also want you to know, apparentely, that Charlotte’s got a lot. Get it. A lot. Like the letters in Charlotte! OMG! I saw a link for the the new tourism campaign on the front page of the Observer online, and I have to say, it’s pretty sad. Seriously, we can’t come up with anything better than Charlotte’s got a lot? I guess Banktown doesn’t work anymore, but is this really the alternative?
The site does provide a handy PDF of 101 things to do in Charlotte. The list does have some good ideas and some things I definitely need to check out (Whitewater center, Spa at Ballyntyne). But some are just jokes. For instance, all three races at Lowes Motor Speedway are on there. Yes, we get it, Charlotte loves NASCAR. But are we lacking that much to do that we have to put every single race on the list. They might as well have put all the Panthers and Bobcats homegames on there. This is in addition to Speed Streets (yes), the motorsports hall of fame (maybe), and NASCAR speedpark (NOOOO). They also include a trip to DEI, numerous racing school and a tour of Lowes motor speedway. Diversification what?
Also, they mention Plaza/Midwood, Noda and the fourth ward as cool neighborhoods to check out. But no Dilworth, no Elizabeth, no Myers Park house gawking? Check out 49ers basketball, but not the campus. But oh, you must go to Northlake mall and ride the lynx when you are here. I know when my family comes to visit, I’m super excited to take them to get a starbucks at the mall and ride the train – because that’s a true Charlotte experience. Come to think of it…*sigh*.
http://www.charlottesgotalot.com/resources/pdfs/101-things-to-do-letter.pdf
Lick
I remember last year when the city began their quest to find a slogan that would describe Charlotte and entice people to visit. I also remember hearing the announcement of the new slogan, and wondering how in the world that cost $70,000.
It could maybe be described as “cute,” which might be part of what they were going for. Many of the items on the list appear to be aimed towards families. I’ll agree though that in trying to come up with a list of “a lot” of things to do in Charlotte, they ran into some struggles. The list definitely includes a ton of NASCAR-related items, but then again, so does this area. Being a NASCAR fan, I know several people who travel to this area every year to go each of the races and who enjoy visiting the various race shops while they’re here. While you can go to a race in cities (and middles-of-nowhere) throughout the country, this is the only place where you can see where the teams work.
And while I don’t take issue with the LYNX being on the list (I feel it serves a legitimate purpose for residents and visitors alike, and have taken friends from out of town on it), I don’t see the need for Northlake to be on there. I suppose that stems from putting SouthPark and Concord Mills on the list, even though each of those is more of a “destination” than Northlake. I think it’s unfair that Eastland wasn’t represented on there.
One of the biggest liberties they took though was simply defining “Charlotte.” Half of that list is outside of Charlotte, and while areas like Concord, Gastonia, and Rock Hill are perhaps close enough to count, the same can’t be said for either of the vineyards I saw listed (Childress and Shelton). Childress Vineyards is near Winston-Salem, and Shelton Vineyards is almost in Virginia.