Let me be clear.  I like sports.  I like football… but not as much as I did years ago…before they did that strike thing way back in the day.  (Yeah, I should let that go, but I still feel a little some type of way about the whole situation.)  However, that’s not what this post is about.  This post is about economics,  a city and the people of it—Charlotte, NC.  I lived there not too long ago (and hopefully will be returning to at least live there part time).  I remember the ordinary folk and want to say something about that situation.

Charlotte, The People and Relative Economics

This post is partly about the sale of Carolina Panthers, but mostly about physical changes and perceptions relative to economics that I’d noticed in the city of Charlotte.  There has been a lot of growth in the city recently.  And, along with that growth, I feel there has also been a lot of displacement of the ordinary folks who live there–the real people who actually make a city by spending their hard-earned money on ordinary things like groceries, utilities and rent –which, in the words of Jimmy McMillan is becoming “too damn high”.  When I first moved to Charlotte, it felt like there was a strong bond between the ordinary folks and her people.  Cost of living was affordable, there were a lot of fun things to do and the transportation was very user friendly.

A lot of those things are still in place, but the city seemed like it was starting to get a bit uppity over the past few years.  When I used to take the bus (everywhere), I noticed a certain amount of pride and togetherness that people displayed.  Recently, not so much.  People were displaying concerns about growing costs of living and the overall way the city was growing and how it related to them, rather than the usual helpful attitude.  I think perhaps mainly because of how the city/and her officials were starting to treat them in light of changing times.  Instead of fixing neighborhoods, they just started throwing up apartments everywhere and shutting down the affordable housing that existed.  Along with those changes, they just moved people out altogether on the low-low…   like “Out of sight, out of mind. We don’t care”.  I’m not sure where they went, but, that was the perception.

So, let’s fast forward to now (‘cause I don’t really like to write long articles unless I’m writing chapters in a book…and even then I’m hard pressed to do so).  With this possible sale of the Carolina Panthers Franchise pending, I’m wondering if it would almost be a good thing.  Would it make the city and community leaders realize the importance of regular people in the long-term growth and sustainment of the city?  Or, not.   I’m hoping so.

Great Expectation For The Future

Maybe they’ll look at implementing a plan that will make the city welcoming again to all.  I’m not wishing any business loss to anyone; but I am hoping that city leaders would stop and reflect on what would happen if other major corporations left, like the banks or the other sports franchise.  How would the city sustain itself?  Now is the time to plan for such occurrences instead of trying to react afterwards.  You have to admit, it’s something to think about.

Oh, about the sale of the panthers, nah…I hope they stay.  #PantherNation?

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