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Mr. Pat McCrory, mayor

Charlotte, N.C.

Dear Sir:

According to a published report you have visions of Charlotte surpassing Atlanta as “economic King of the South.” I take that as tacit recognition that you believe Atlanta already is King of the South.

A word of advice: Forget it. It’s not that you can’t overtake Atlanta in many ways, economically and culturally, but in one way you’re woefully outmatched: You’ll never top Atlanta’s slogan meisters, those old-fashioned civic boosters who are credited by some historians for making Atlanta what it is.

Haven’t you heard that Atlanta is “the City too busy to hate,” “the World’s next great city,” a “world class city,” “the new international city,” “home of the American Dream,” “a city without limits”?

Boosterism is to Atlanta what air is to biological organisms, smoggy though it may be at times. Surely you’ve heard of  “the New South,” an economic development campaign right after the Civil War headed by Atlanta journalist Henry Grady.

In the 20th century Atlanta’s business and civic leaders went forth in  the North  to recruit new business with campaigns known as “Forward Atlanta,” the first in the 1920s and the second in the 1960s – both highly successful.

“The New Georgia Encyclopedia” lists the “Atlanta spirit” as one of the three dominant forces in its history, the others being transportation and race relations – about which more later.

To be sure, Atlanta is by not alone in its boosterism or its sloganeering. Every city worth its freeways, including Charlotte, engages in it. But here, it’s in the genes. And it started early. The late Atlanta historian Franklin Garrett liked to cite a comment about Atlanta boosters made by Georgia low-country folks in the 19th century: “If Atlanta could suck as hard as it blows, it would be a seaport.”

As you know, Atlanta is not a seaport, which makes its growth especially remarkable, since inland cities have to have something to replace an ocean front or a major river (Atlanta’s main river is useful mostly as a conduit to take water from Lake Lanier to the fishes and turtles in Florida).

Atlanta’s water substitute was transportation, first railroads, then highways and now as site of the world’s busiest international airport (sometimes second busiest). All these transportation avenues  work together to support the city’s economy.

Atlanta’s racial history has indeed been pivotal, and its 1950s slogan, “the City too busy to hate,” has been roundly criticized by local black leaders as a white executive’s image of Atlanta’s storied racial past. Atlanta was home to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and was arguably the headquarters of the Civil Rights movement. Black and white leaders conspired together in the ‘60s and ‘70s to integrate schools and retailers. But Atlanta had also once been the national headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan, the scene of a vicious 1906 race riot and the backdrop to the notorious Leo Frank kidnapping and murder case.

I see no need to mention other achievements, but will anyway. Atlanta is one of the biggest convention centers, home to four major-league sports teams, site of a Democratic National Convention, host to the 1996 Summer Olympic Games and headquarters of 22 Fortune 1,000 corporations (with seven more in other parts of Georgia).

And I haven’t even mentioned “Gone With the Wind” and Coca-Cola (one of the Fortune companies), nor, of course, the crowded freeways, air pollution and water supply challenge.

That published report, Mr. Mayor, quoted you as saying that Charlotte, the “Queen City,” has chosen to compete with big cities such as Atlanta, Dallas and Denver rather than Knoxville, Greensboro or Richmond, which you suggested would be easier models. I’m sure their chambers of commerce will appreciate that.

I’m also puzzled by this new civic ambition on your part. As a regular visitor to Charlotte to see relatives, I have some knowledge of your city and I certainly commend you and your civic and business leaders for what’s there now. I’ve never met a pothole in Charlotte, which certainly isn’t the case in metro Atlanta. And I find your city attractive and well-groomed — where you also have some lessons to offer.

But give it up. You’ve already got the nation’s biggest bank and a large banking establishment, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the headquarters of GMAC, the nucleus of a light-rail transportation system and architecture that compares favorably with Atlanta’s.

You won’t heed my advice, of course. So I’ll just leave you with just one more local slogan that hasn’t been used much lately but is still relevant: “Look at Atlanta now.”

With best wishes and kindest regards,

Tom Walker

Top photo: Charlotte

Bottom photo: Atlanta

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3 Responses to “Forget it, Charlotte”

1. Mary Civille says:

   May 12, 2009 at 11:27 pm

   Tom — Not content to rest on the few laurels that haven’t been paved over for parking lots, lots of PR folks labored mightily to create a brand that turns out to be the airport (ATL). Still, the old girl looks pretty against the sunset. Too bad no one’s around to notice (they’re all in the ‘burbs.)

   Reply
2. Dallas says:

   May 13, 2009 at 8:11 am

   Beautifully written, but oh the pain and the irony … For so long, Charlotte was said to “just like Atlanta, 20 years ago,” which was never accurate for both good and sad reasons. Atlanta could’ve done better and Charlotte could’ve aimed higher. We could wish that both cities had yearned to be the best run, and poured all their energetic boosterizing into fixing sidewalks, running great schools, supporting the world’s next great newspapers … (seriously!). But hey! Charming old neighborhoods and wonderful people make both cities terrific places to live.

   Reply
3. Mary Lee (aka Bootsie Lucas) says:

   May 13, 2009 at 11:05 am

   Tom,
   I’m not sure what Pat McCrory is talking about. Just before moving to Atlanta last year, I spent four years living in Charlotte (culture shock after 2 years in Los Angeles), and I heard people saying, “We don’t want to end up like Atlanta.” And “We need to learn from Atlanta’s mistakes.” Well, the city has suffered a huge blow from the banking debacle, but so far it still has a vibrant downtown (called Uptown) where people actually live and suburbanites visit at night. Most of the town is clean and shiny, and when you call the city with a problem, somebody actually responds. There’s a start on rapid transit and culturally it has nearly everything Atlanta has, just on a smaller scale. Except for maybe air pollution. It’s way up there on the air pollution index. Oh, and its downwind from a nuclear power plant.

   Reply

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