Culture in Charlotte
-
6/19/2008
I have lived in Charlotte for 14 years. The city is pleasant enough: people are friendly, some good shopping and restaurants, downtown getting more lively, and a very good library system. I also think the schools are underrated- there are some (not all) good schools in the public system. I am particularly pleased with the language immersion program.
However, for a city that has grown to this size, Charlotte still has a level of culture associated with a much smaller town. The art museum is miniscule and there is very little contemporary art. There is no Natural History Museum nor Children's museum. There is no zoo. There are not as many parks as there should be. The symphony struggles for money - the director from Germany just quit and was quoted as saying that a city as wealthy as Charlotte should be able to better support an orchestra. The general population is just not very concerned about culture as is probably typical of a financially oriented city where the emphasis is on making money. I came from Pittsburgh which is totally opposite - there you have a shrinking and economically far less vibrant city, but with culture befitting of the larger city it once was: famous symphony, museums in Science, Natural History, Art, Contemporary art, Childrens, and much larger parks.
Karina | Charlotte, NC