Why I Love North Carolina, Part 1: Triad
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- The Piedmont Triad: a bit forgotten on the way between Charlotte and the Raleigh/Durham, but it shouldn't be. Winston-Salem is off the beaten path, but full of cool urbanist surprises - let's explore!
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Best and worst cities to take a Summer vacation, nypost
Metrics include walkability, weather, safety, low crime, ease of travel, price. 43 metros
Best cities to take a Summer vacation to
1. Minneapolis, MN
2. Long Beach, CA
3. Washington DC
4. Seattle, WA
5. Omaha, NE
Worst cities to take a Summer vacation to
1. Jacksonville, FL
2. Colorado Springs, CO
3. Fresno. CA
4. Memphis, TN
5. Albuquerque, NM
Yep! I watch on Nebula. Then I come here 2 days later to comment.
watched this on Nebula but came here to comment: please, Ray, bring us the vlogs our hearts desire. you’re clearly a natural!
I usually watch your videos an nebula, but for several weeks (months?) now the sound on all your videos there is broken. it's not that the file itself is broken, the sound only persists for a for minutes, then breaks off and I have to pause and restart the video for the sound to return. thought I'd write u directly since only your channel is affected
City Nerd sounds like he's having fun. Someone should check on him.
Anti-wellness check
It’s good for his spirit, but likely bad for clicks. 😂🤣
he might be going senile
I live in this state. I love getting coverage here. I always feel like NC is underrepresented
It’s obviously his evil twin brother, SuburbNerd
I hope he brings up how Duke University torpedoed Triangle-wide light rail because of their financial relationship with the Koch brothers.
So upsetting I can’t even talk about it smh
Duke might have been the ones to shoot it dead, but the legislature put the gun in their hands by refusing to bring any state money to the project in the first place. Like so many things I dislike about this state it comes back to the people with nothing better to do than redraw lines to keep themselves in power.
Every time I think about it I break down
I’m from North Carolina. Duke is a fucking shit show especially when it comes to sports. I don’t care. Tarhill for life baby and also go pack.
@@blindpanthervlogs Blue Devil here, and a Carolina killer in baseball -- held them to one run in 15 innings, eons ago. But if Duke is guilty as charged on this, they should be ashamed. Odd that they consort with Koch, since they're usually at such pains to be politically correct, but I guess at the end of the day big corporate money rules over all.
Lived in High Point for three years in high school (2000 to 2003), and seeing how much the Triad has changed for the better -- after I left and couldn't enjoy it, of course! 😂 -- is genuinely uplifting. Downtown Greensboro used to be a dirty dump. Downtown High Point was all about the furniture market and nothing else. Winston's always had some cool stuff going on, but it was always a question of whether it was worth the drive. The smaller towns were just kinda sleepy small towns, not much happening. Growth has brought activity, and it's great to see.
By the way, the old Reynolds Building is the miniature precursor to the Empire State Building. The building staffs send each other Christmas cards every year.
The ESB staff send a Father's Day card to the Reynolds building staff every year hahaha
The annual card is a myth, they only did it the first year
@@akurbyburby Is it really? Huh. Well, that's kinda disappointing.
@@Waldzkrieger Oh was that what it was? I thought I recalled it being Christmas. Still a fun little thing, though!
I would say Hight Point is still that way - I was shocked at the loads of shiny buildings and lack of people downtown.
NC truly deserves better. Thank you for the highlights, CityNerd.
NC and South outside of S. Florida: bigotry, homophobia, anti-abortion stuck up women. Not 1 date in 4 years at UNCG-4 women to each man!!’
NORTH CAROLINA MENTIONED!!! BOJANGLES AND COOKOUT !!!
food lion and harris teeter are from NC as well! plenty to be proud of as a carolinian
And cheerwine
mmm yes... vinegar based all you can eat bbq for a low price
Shoutout to Char-Grill
Biscuits. Biscuit fast food restaurants!
So happy to see NC being talked about here! Unfortunately it seems like a big portion of the population of all our cities actively resist urbanism, holding back our massive potential for enjoyable and walkable urban spaces.
Was a transportation planner in Winston-Salem several years ago and it truly does punch above its weight in many regards as featured here. This is due to, among other reasons, the major academic institutions located here: UNCSA, WFU, Salem College, and WSSU all within relative proximity to one another. Although, this is not to discount that W-S does have major challenges, as it was one of the most racially and economically segregated cities I’ve ever experienced.
I feel like it helps that W-S was one of the few cities that industrialized in the late 1800s rather than the 1950s. Same with Durham, Charlotte, and Greensboro to a certain extent.
I lived in Winston in the early 90s when I went to NCSA, now UNCSA and Winston then was a dump. No nightlife at all. Traffic lights were turned off at 9pm. It was very segregated. I could not get out of that place fast enough. Nice to see they are making an attempt
The walk score for city vs. downtown areas is such a real NC thing. Lived/have spent lots of time in Wilmington, Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, and Greensboro and they all have the same "problem". When living in Raleigh we were on the edge of some of the old downtown neighborhoods and we could walk one direction super easily and another direction you found yourself on the side of a busy road in a ditch almost instantly. Love the NC content!
I've lived in Charlotte, Wilmington, Durham, Chapel Hill and Asheville and felt the last part of your comment in my heart. All the areas in NC cities built up after the 1950s have a lot of work to do in order to be walkable. Those areas, with over 70 years of terrible planning, will probably take a while to fix if we can even get people to take the initiative to fix them at all.
I've watched plenty of mike mileage that a lot of people who love North Carolina are going to love your video.
I like Mileage Mike's channel! It's really zen to sit back and enjoy the view
@@scpatl4nowI mostly don't like that he's a "just one more lane bro" kind of person. Same thing with road guy rob.
@@jamalgibson8139 Yeah, that's kind of annoying, but I don't pay those videos any mind
@@jamalgibson8139well, he was a trucker, so he had to deal with that and makes sense.
Not everyone out there is pro small street and public transportation being they wouldn't have a job if that was the way of life
@@jdtubaman Not trying to get into an off-topic argument, but you absolutely can have trucking and small streets together, as seen in much of Europe. I know that perhaps Mike doesn't see that, but trucking is a massive industry in Europe, so it's not like it can't be done. You just have to keep the highways outside of cities.
That Reynolds building at 2:45 was the inspiration for the Empire State Building, but so glad Winston is getting the love it deserves, if Charlotte, the Piedmont Triad, and RDU get their acts together and up their collaboration, this could be one of the coolest corridors in the country, namely effective high speed rail connections.
Unfortunately, I don't think the East of Raleigh / West of Charlotte crowd will ever allow CL, the Triangle and Triad to collaborate like that. And they somehow hold so much of the political power.
@@greenbrown7776 you are probably right in the end, but NC has surprised me many times before
Honestly, for me, one of the most important parts about a walkable city is the shade provided. Seeing the record heat levels we are experiencing and will see, the amount of shade in so many cities is lacking. We need to make sure we use nature to cool down these areas.
Yeah I hint at it a bit in the Long Branch Trail section. I'm in Phoenix right now and the lack of shade is absolutely oppressive
That's why you see lots of arcades built in south American cities. It's a great way to keep out of the heat while being walkable.
@@CityNerd My condolences...
Sounds like you’ve been to downtown Dallas.
Dude. The cigarette brands were named after the city.
Dude…
He was joking
That Greensboro train station is superb. Thank God it still exists!!
There’s a plan to redevelop it to hopefully 🤞be even better. They want to make a farmers market area, a small park or playground, and add some small eateries I think.
You should see the one highpoint
Holy shit, he’s in my state. Please come to Chapel Hill and Carrboro.
Carrboro is one of the most perfect towns ever!
North Carolina 👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾 honestly, an amazing state to live in. I just hope rail gets pushed more to the forefront. So much opportunity to connect all the cities here.
True, it has both mountains and beaches.
Highways everywhere eww
@@Electrodexify do you know of any states in the United States that doesn't have highways?
@@saratemp790 there are many states that are very light on highways and cities with hardly any highways destroying their core. NC cities are a spiderweb mess of highways
@@Electrodexify name a few. I'm curious...
Fuckin looooool that first shot of "Deactown" looks EXACTLY like the fake manufactured hipster neighborhood in South Park called SoDoSoPa (with views of historic Kenny's House).
It's cool to see walkability in places like NC. As a Texan who is soon leaving the South and not returning, I've had my fill of any location below the mason-dixon line, but it's nice to see where I could go if I ever come back for a visit.
Fellow Texan here, I love my state but I feel your pain
I am the exact opposite! I used to live in NY but I moved down south and I refuse to even travel north Of the mason-dixon line!
yoooo nc represent! all the cities down here are in a massive growth phase, and while thats terrible for housing, its great as you can literally watch the city grow into something greater(although you also get to watch as city council puts their foot in their mouth over and over with terrible decisions, looking at you charlotte
btw - Old Salem is essentially a tourism destination by itself, I went there in school at least once, even as someone from Raleigh. (I think we also went to the International Civil Rights Center on the same trip)
I was going to say! I was under the impression it wasn't used for anything other than school field trips lol
I wish I was old enough to appreciate anything when my school went there, all I remember is buying a slice of pound cake and seeing an organ in a church of some kind, and deciding that organs are cool
Wait a minute.... fancy seeing you here....
Fellow school tripper- basically remember it for those really good ultra-thin cookies and giant pipe organ.
You have said a ton of semi-ignorant things here about Winston-Salem. Particularly what you thought we are. This is one if the most politically progressive cities in the South East and you've treated like you expected it to be some sort of regressive shithole. We are also the home to one of the best performing arts schools in America, the oldest women's school (Which you walked on the campus of, but didn't seem to notice) and an important legacy HBCU. You'd be better off actually having a conversation with locals for these pieces so that you don't come off as out of touch.
Had no clue that Winston-Salem was moving in that direction, the shots look amazing! Love the repurposed industrial space. Also love the CityNerd vlog moments!
So it looks like Camel City indeed does come from camel cigarettes, but that Winston and Salem cigarettes were introduced (by RJ Reynolds, same company as Camel, headquartered in Winston-Salem) and named after the town.
There are plans to connect W-S to the rest of the NC rail corridor. It will also be extended out east to Wilmington.
DUDEEEE I've been a LONG time follower!!! I used to live in MA and moved to downtown Winston-Salem 6 months ago . I love it soooooooooooo much! This made my day!!!!!
Same here!
I lived in MA moved to fuquay varina NC in 2003. Back then it was cool, now we're tired of Yankees moving here😂
Thanks for visiting Winston Salem! Glad you enjoyed your time in downtown. The local sentiment is very similar to your impression of downtown. A lot of up and coming promise downtown. Great and relatively affordable downtown lifestyle can certainly be had here. The biggest problem as you mentioned is as soon as you step outside of the immediate downtown area it becomes near impossible to walk/ bike anywhere. I love 4mins by car from work. It would be a quick 15min bike ride if I didn't think I would die on the no-shoulder 45+mph roads on the way there. Keep up the good work!
The crux of urbanism is fostering walkability and bikability in a city as well as a decent public transit system. Sadly, a lot of US cities have grown outrageously car-centric.
We know. But this guy is actually pointing out the positives which does a heck of a lot more than just complaining about the negatives. The US isn’t nearly as bad as people make it out to be. And a lot of people/ cities are making positive changes.
NC raise up!
My shirt is already off
You should try visiting Raleigh and checking out the greenway, it runs circular around downtown and connects multiple locations of interest like parks, two different lakes, a large indoor mall and the north carolina museum of art (which has its own beautiful trail as well). What makes all of this special is its in the city and accessible from downtown. I think it'd make a cool video, I currently use the greenway to commute to work.
Maybe the only good part about downtown Raleigh, lol.
Raleigh is a great city. I live there and bike everywhere. When I take the train to visit friends in Durham and Charlotte, I don’t bring my bike because it’s not safe in either of those cities (at least where I need to go). While the corridors into Raleigh (Capital blvd, New Bern, and Western) are all absolute nightmares, biking inside the beltline is otherwise safe and enjoyable, especially on the greenway.
I can't wait for the day he does a Raleigh video. Nobody let him see Capital Blvd though!
Yeah, I intentionally avoided Raleigh this time because I was already overambitious as it was. Saving it for a future trip!
You mentioned the large indoor mall and failed to mention Raleigh’s finest dining establishment located inside said mall.
Viewer suggested topic: Top 10 bikeable Cheesecake Factories.
I enjoyed watching this, particularly the highlights of the greenways. Looking forward to Durham. Richmond, VA (we call it "RVA") would make for an interesting city review as well, with several walkable neighborhoods that were developed along the country's first street car system, along with a couple of neighborhoods that have experienced explosive growth within the last 10 years. We have a BRT that was developed a few years ago that connects some of the densest neighborhoods.
My friend, you are gonna LOVE downtown Wilmington when you inevitably wander out here eventually. Best city in North Carolina, but to be fair, unfortunately also has one of the nastiest histories of US cities.
I like Wilmington a lot. True on the history. And also true: Hurricane target. Honestly, if not for that, I'd seriously consider retiring there.
@@greenbrown7776I like going there at least once a year especially when the weather turns hot.
NORTH CAROLINA VIDEOS LFGGGG!! I'm our local urbanist TH-camr in Asheville, NC. It's a bizarre town.
Biased since I'm a Charlotte native, but W-S is my favorite mid-size city in the US. So glad you gave it some attention.
The State of NC #NCDOT wants to connect #Amtrak Piedmont to Winston-Salem, but Norfolk Southern owns all the lines and some of the rail needs work, like bridges. Itll happen but not for probably another 10-15 years. : (
I wish we would just nationalize our railways, freight has too much control over them.
For the most part, the Moravians were a lot more open minded than their other southern neighbors.
You should make a trip to Richmond, VA. But not in June. Or July.
noe August LOL
Winston-Salem once had its own airport (Smith Reynolds) but it's no longer used for passenger service. Same goes for passenger train service which ended in 1970. The station has been restored and there's an initiative to restore service underway. The city is also home to one the finest arts conservatories in the nation - the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Smith Reynolds is still there but there's no comercial flights out of there. Piedmont airlines use to operate out of Smith Reynolds until they were bought out by American Airlines and then basically dissolved
It was so fantastic meeting you in Durham and the collection of city nerds you brought together from all over NC! There were some advocacy conversations that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
it's worth tuning into the local org who made the event happen in Durham - BikeDurham is doing a lot locally to advocate for pedestrian and bike infrastructure.
Digging the red brick theme of NC, almost as good as the pueblo theme of NM.
It's all the repurposed 19th and early 20th century warehouses, most of them were built with that red brick.
You know what? I was just going to comment on your last video, on how Winston-Salem seemed like a nice city. And here you are, with the first mention on the city. Wait did I comment? I forget. Either way I'm glad you mentioned it. Yeah all in all not a bad downtown. Of course, not the biggest downtown, but it has potential.
Never in a million years did I think a video dedicated to my hometown (GSO) would pop up on your channel.
NC has a lot of mid-sized cities with interesting little secrets. They won't win any awards for transit. But there's a lot of potential.
I went to school at UNC-Greensboro and two interesting things about the town are 1) on the positive side, a very diverse local music scene with hobby musicians, traditional musicians, and classical musicians just getting together to jam etc in a way I haven't experienced in other places where it was more about big names/gigs. The low cost of living lets people have more hobbies in general. and 2) on the negative side, an overwhelming focus on religion, especially baptist in a kind of oppressive way, many jobs and business owners will still feel empowered to ask you about religious beliefs at an interview, etc.
As an agnostic who grew up in NC, I totally agree. Charlotte is still under the impression that being the hometown of Billy Graham is actually something to celebrate.
I'm the land surveyor who surveyed over 100 separate parcels of land where the ballpark sites prior to its development. Based on my knowledge of the long-term plans for the site, I can say that most of the surface parking at the W-S ballpark will be going away in the next few years.
I never realized that walkable downtowns surrounded by horrendous sprawl was an nc thing, I just figured that was how (US/NA) cities worked
It's a common thing in North America, but it's VERY exaggerated in North Carolina. Greensboro, especially. I've often said that Greensboro is the only city I've ever known of that is a suburb of itself.
@@JoshColletta Raleigh definitely feels like a massive suburb lol
@@austinobambino1360 Didn't spend much time there, so I wouldn't know, but I believe it!
The Nerd is coming from a PNW perspective. Newer cities that have a lot less pre-automobile infrastructure.
@@JoshCollettathat is so true! I do my best to forget about the sprawled part of Greensboro and just frequent businesses and hang out within a mile or two radius of downtown. Then I drive down Wendover and remember that a lot of town is pretty crappy.
Love the inclusion of the POV cutaways!
It kills me to say it (because I adore your channel), but I feel that some of your longer videos tend to drag a bit (especially when it comes to fully fleshing out the methodology and going in-depth with each city in the Top 10 lists). That being said, I think boots-on-the-ground, in-person stuff like what you've included here ends up being really effective in breaking up the content / varying the pacing of the video!
Thanks for giving my home state some love. You're right, most NC cities are not built well enough for public transit and it really needs to work on that. They're trying to work on those issues but they're getting a lot of pushback by Nimbys. The transit projects that they actually are working on are being built at a ridiculously slow pace. North Carolina is a great state but it's experiencing a lot of growing pains. I'm just hoping that with all the people moving here, the transplants will pressure the DOT/State and Local governments to start investing in more transit options. The booming population in NC cities is quickly becoming unsustainable with it's current transit infrastructure and this will hopefully force city and state leaders to act.
I agree. However, the state general assembly fights tooth and nail to stop it. They want more Texas like cities instead of investing in denser, more transit oriented development.
I love living in Greensboro. They added a free bus that runs up and down elm street and the neighborhoods north and east of downtown are walkable and have some fun bars and restaurants as well. There are plans to add protected bike lanes along Market street (running East from downtown) and they’re finishing up a greenway that runs in a circle around downtown, creating bike and walking access from all sides. Overall it feels like a mix between a small big city and a big college town.
Dang I hate that I missed you. I work in downtown Winston and have lived in Greensboro since middle school. I love that you gave us a little shout!!
Southern history is important, though I can understand why you might not like it so much. Understanding southern history helps us understand attitudes and opinions.
I looked a little into southern architecture for a while. Plantation houses (not a city nerd thing) and South Caroline city homes (IS a City Nerd thing). Those homes still exist today.
Thanks again for an interesting look at a city I'll probably never visit again. (I don't like the south, but for climate. The architecture is fascinating.)
You missed nothing by skipping downtown High Point because it's split in two:
1) the core, which is dominated by the Furniture Market and is a ghost town 50 weeks out of the year, and
2) the area around the ballpark which has signs of life.
I do think a lot of the main cities in NC have been improving their downtown areas for the better- in addition to Winston-Salem, Charlotte & Asheville's downtown areas have been undergoing vibrant revival and lots of urbanization. As someone who lived in Downtown Atlanta but have also spent a lot of time in Charlotte, I definitely feel Charlotte's urbanism in their downtown (or "Uptown" in Charlotte's case) is FAR better than Atlanta. Even smaller cities such as Statesville (which ironically I am currently visiting as I type this) or Wilmington blow other Deep South cities out of the water as far as the urbanism of their downtowns go.
I have spent lots of time visiting both Winston-Salem and Chapel Hill because my extended family used to live in both places. Chapel Hill might strike some people as being more "cool" because it's where UNC is and it's bound to be viewed as younger and more hip. What I've noticed, though, is that once you move away from the campus and the vibrant downtown, it just feels like any other town with its shopping centers and cookie-cutter sprawl. I honestly feel like W-S has a lot more character and it uses its historical land use patterns to its full potential, like converting old mill buildings into other uses. It seems like it has a more artsy feel to it. It seems like CH relies too heavily on the university and its sports teams with little intrigue other than that. Does anybody have any insights into how the two towns differ from an urban planning perspective?
so you only respond to people who give you money. and here you are in my birth town. you will not be remembered in my will.
I love these videos. They show me that there are parts of the country that are at least making some attempt at making their places more fun to visit and live in. It's proper good news.
Haven’t been to these cities but another great NC city is Asheville. Only spent an afternoon there but it’s such a neat, artsy place! This makes me want to go back and see more of the state.
asheville is another great example of a city with a terrible walk score but a good core
The fact that the city was too poor to demolish buildings downtown in most of its history was a godsend
You uploaded this video on the same day that I'm moving back to North Carolina. INCREDIBLE.
Lived in Uptown/4th ward and my wife lived in Industry Hill in Winston Salem before she moved to Charlotte. When we were living in NC, we visited Winston Salem a couple of times and love the walkability of neighborhoods and reminded us of Uptown. Currently in CO, but if we happen to ever move back that way Winston Salem is top of the list!
Lived in High Point and despite Greensboro for a combined 6 years (2014-2020). High Point definitely has a lot of catching up to do compared to the other triad cities. But summarized the areas fantastically. I did always get the feeling W-S had more going on than the other two, despite Greensboro having more population (remember there’s UNCG and NC A&T right next to downtown g’boro).
Lots of great trails, great beer, good weather and way less people supporting the ‘historical losers’ than you’d think. Nice video Mr. Nerd
Winston-Salem historically has more wealth, Hanes underwear and texas pete hot sauce were created there haha
Can't believe you found all this good in the city, despite not even going to reynolda village! W-S is an extremely underrated city.
I like the cutaways to candid, in the moment CityNerd
Another good and unheard of city in NC is Hendersonville. It's kind of a retirement place. So maybe because of that, it has a pretty good fine dining, foodie scene downtown.
Tryon is another one of those and maybe it’s a little older or more homespun than Hville
@@katherandefy yes NC has a lot of cute towns.
l lived for a year in Hendersonville before moving up the road to Asheville. Hendersonville is a beautiful little city with plenty for retirees to enjoy.
Hendersonville. Isn't that the town you can take the Ecusta Trail from Brevard to?
Came over from Nebula for this and I'd love to see you do a video on northeast cities under 1 million people that sit at the northern end of the northeast corridor and are under-represented on TH-cam. This isn't just to get you to talk about my beloved Portland I swear...
Back in the late 1990s I interviewed at UNC Greensboro and enjoyed seeing the area. Looks like public transport there has improved a good deal.
I grew up in eastern NC but went to university in Charlotte and had many friends in Greensboro and Winston. Winston was always the smaller city and somewhat less important but honestly, it always felt more cohesive and interesting especially in its downtown core. Greensboro felt more college town and the development seemed to be pushed out of the central city into the areas adjacent to the universities in a much more car-centric overly modern type of way while Winston was just more charming and quirky. I remember stumbling upon breweries and interesting eateries in Winston before the whole breweries and quirkiness of places became such a fad. I think the fact that you have to somewhat make an effort to get to Winston as opposed to always passing through Greensboro (think I-40/I-85 and rail travel, etc.) makes Winston a more interesting place because people really choose to be there.
I used to live in GSO, and I tend to agree with your assessment.
The "just for show" houses in Old Salem are mostly private residences still in use.
Can confirm. I live in WS. One of the houses on S Main St in the heart of Old Salem was for sale about 6 years ago when I was looking to buy a new house. We looked at it and considered it. Most of them are private residence
High Point is pretty depressing tbh. Old furniture manufacturing town, but the yearly market event is basically gone and it's pretty dead. Definitely could be charming, though; probably just isn't quite "ripe" enough for the gentrifiers yet.
You should do a talk at Duke OUF if you ever have time!
And at the UNC Department of City & Regional Planning!!
Come over to the Burlington/Graham area and I would be happy to show you around. Just last month, Burlington was just ranked as the 3rd best city to move to in NC by USA Today.
You need to visit Richmond, VA! It's almost never talked about on your channel but it's a great up and coming city with lots of distinct neighborhoods. Imo it's more aesthetically appealing than some NC cities but similar none the less.
I lived in Charlotte for a year and thought it was pretty underrated
I like Charlotte I just wish there weren't as many highways everywhere, if they made the outer neighborhoods denser you wouldn't need them.
ive always told people, NYC/DC is tough to live in nice to visit, where NC isnt great to visit unless you like sports, but its a great city to live in. Bit too much sprawl, but its notably getting better even in the 6 years ive lived here.
i feel the state as a whole is pretty underrated. there's lots of people, lots of stuff happening, mountains, beaches, urban, rural, colleges, good economy, but it's not brought up very often
NC One of the fastest growing states for a reason. Great quality of life!
It's an improvement on Montana. Mostly, jobs, cost of living and overall development. I miss seeing the Rockies, but my life has improved in basically every other way.
Sister went to North Carolina A&T in Greensboro. One of the great things about the city is that it lies at the perfect sleeper train distance from Atlanta on the Amtrak Crescent in both directions.
As long as you don't mind getting the train absolutely in the middle of the night??
Key tell of a true city person: entering some 'nature' and then quickly realizing the lack of preparation by always assuming the existence of readily available service infrastructure (like.....water vendors) :P
thanks for taking the bus!
and great job with the civil rights history
It's affordable sure, but there is nothing to do in NC. Walking is NOT an option when its 100º and Humid for 5 months of the year. Everyone sits inside with their AC.
Sunday in the south I'm not surprised the downtown was empty.
It's the most underrated aspect of living in the south imo
Dude, now you literally have no excuse to not visit Richmond, VA. You will think its cool, I promise!!
Welcome to North Carolina. You will find this trend continues across the state, almost without exception, from Hickory to Forrest City to Wilmington and beyond.
Hello. Good afternoon. My name is Brian López. I love North Carolina. You know why? Just like Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and many more on the East Coast, North Carolina has beautiful beaches.
Yeah we need more of those elevated pedestrian freeway crossings.
It can actually be more pleasant to go under, if there's a bridge over a river and greenway. Less noise, less sight of the highway. Depends on safety considerations. A well used greenway underpass can be great.
@@bearcubdaycare Either one. I worry about crime more in an underpass.
Love that you’re highlighting my home state and acknowledging the history here. Cant wait for the Durham episode!
You should check out Greenville SC! Very similar vibes but a bit smaller. Old industrial city, very walkable downtown (the ball field is a highlight), albeit with sprawl all around it :/. There's also an amazing Greenway (swamp rabbit trail) that runs along an old railway, right through downtown with a ton of development along it. I think the planning dept is doing a great job for the explosive growth the city is experiencing. Anyway great video 😊
I like the name of your greenway " Swamp rabbit trail" 😂
charlotte needs an MLB team so we can solidify the atlanta charlotte rivalry in sports form.
Very refreshing content. Finally City Nerd is not dissing Sunbelt cities, and actually enjoying the South. NC is great for some affordable warm-climate urbanism. No need to pay California prices.
Its the California of the east... Without the problems
Nah, NC just has different problems.
Your predisposition towards negative assumptions of the south are shared by many Americans unfortunately. Of course there are negatives about our state but there is so much to love and enjoy, of my favorite are the people and the routine kindness they exhibit. Love from North Carolina!
I think it would be really interesting if you looked at Charleston SC the city has changed a TON in the last twenty years and the traffic patterns are tragic and unique because the metro area is surrounded by water and totally exploded in the recent past.
Winston and Salem cigarettes were named after the cities that merged together. Winston is the north side of the city and Salem is the south now known as Bethania/Bethabara and Old Salem respectively.
(First off great vid all around) Can you plan city visit to Kansas City? As a KC native now in Brooklyn, would love to hear your thoughts on going from what was one of the worst downtowns in the country 20 years ago to…surprisingly cool? Crossroads First Fridays, KC Streetcar, first female soccer stadium, downtown baseball stadium plans, ‘South Loop Park’ highway green cap plans…. a lot of work to go but what’re your thoughts on what’s going the right way and what’s just plain wrong?
Old Salem isn’t always that dead - they often have actors and people re-enacting the daily lives of the Moravian Society there.
There was a bit of that going on but I don't like to film people up close, too awkward
Glad to see you made it down here and enjoyed it! I've been enjoying your videos for months now and glad to see you took a chance on Winston-Salem. I think you highlighted some really great features.
It was announced recently that Winston-Salem will be added to the Amtrak line thanks to a large grant.
Please come back some time and check out the Quarry at Grant Park, Hanes Park, and the Ardmore and West Salem neighborhoods.
I think an important part missing from the discussion is the average wage in Winston Salem. Those apartments are awesome but most working class people can't afford them, and families with kids tend to buy houses in the surrounding areas. They aren't being used by and large
Are they literally sitting half-vacant?
@@thatoneotherotherguy 10% ish vacancy overall, I'm from WS and it's clear the luxury apartments are the brunt of that because of how difficult it is to find affordable housing
That problem is not unique to WS. Most urban areas in the southeast have the same issue.
You did fail to mention that there is no grocery store in downtown and there are few family dollars surrounding it. Otherwise Winston Salem is a major food desert and home to the second most segregated school district in the US
Washington Perk isn't exactly a grocery story but is the coolest convenience store I've been to, they got a sandwich shop in the back and a coffee shop to the side. Some locals buy groceries there. I moved away from the area and its not for me but business like that are what keeps it from being a waste of time
Holy shit CityNerd + NC
In his essay Junior Johnson is the Last American Hero, Tom Wolfe wrote that before Nascar conquered the state in the '50s North Carolina had about 45 minor league baseball teams.
bohemian and moravian... any slovaks too?
Winston-Salem and Raleigh-Durham are great!
But drive 30 minutes outside of the city and you will be in the deep south. I mean areas where racial segregation is just a tiny bit away from Jim Crow eras
I really love this new video format with the intermixed selfie videos. Feels a lot more personal.
My home region! What started it all for me with The Black Urbanist!
And yes, we do have urbanism! And I haven’t been to Winston-Salem since I moved away 8 years ago, so nice to see it’s newer and reused areas
I lived in Downtown Greensboro for two years right behind the train station (you saw my old apartment from the train!) and know it’s new urbanism and scrappy urbanism and park system well!
And yeah, being Black and from here, yeah. That’s what I’m sitting with and what made me go to DC.
I was home this weekend for my 20th reunion, hate that I missed you, but glad you had a good time and you captured us well!
As soon as Albuquerque becomes too gentrified and expensive, CityNerd is moving to the Piedmont Triad. Anti-depressants, be damned.
NC is awesome! Can’t wait for your Durham Raleigh vid!
Also, you need to check out Raleigh. I think you would love it.