The middle class just couldn't take Charlotte's big tax, high crime, crappy school liberalism any more.
The middle class in Charlotte is supposedly shrinking, the paper claims, because of a growing income gap between the rich and the poor.
“Charlotte’s poor and affluent neighborhoods have grown dramatically in recent decades, evidence of a widening income gap, while middle-class communities are shrinking,” the paper read.
Uh, no. As in hell no. They can’t be serious.
To arrive at this conclusion, the Observer and Stanford University twisted Charlotte’s demographic reality into an unrecognizable mangle in an article over the weekend. The propaganda here is the same stuff the media and the Obama campaign (sorry, that was redundant) have been spinning for months. The evil rich are destroying the middle class and only the rich and poor are left. Ergo we need class warfare and to punish the rich by redistributing the wealth. It’s Obama’s main — heck only — line for this election, and now universities, the Observer and other Democrat Party subsidiaries are cranking out cooked studies like this one to support it. The reality, at least in Charlotte, is another story entirely.
The middle class isn’t shrinking here, as the Observer and Stanford claim, because of some insidious, growing income gap between poor and rich created by rich greed, but because Charlotte elites, particularly those on the school board, declared war on the middle class aboout 15 years ago and launched a massive wave of middle class white flight no one will acknowledge.
Charlotte’s “missing” middle class can be found in York County, SC, and Union County, where they moved to avoid Mecklenburg’s taxes, schools and legendary crime problems. Many of them didn’t actually flee, but instead skipped over the county entirely when they moved here, locating outside and then driving back in. You can see the evidence of this on our clogged freeways as everyone commutes.
The biggest secret of the last decade is that the explosive growth Charlotte leaders were so proud of — and that they liked to pretend was an influx of white, affluent bankers attracted by Charlotte’s fabulous social amenities – was actually the opposite, white flight accompanied by an even larger surge of low income people moving here. I began tracking the overwhelming evidence of this screamingly obvious phenomenon about a decade ago, mainly because no one else would do it. Here’s how bad white and middle class flight from the county had become by 2006, from a piece I wrote that year:
Since 2001, CMS had added about 20,000 additional kids to its rolls. But while the numbers of students of every other race have exploded, the big secret that no one dares speak of is that the total number of white kids in the system has stayed almost exactly the same. In 2001, there were 46,749. This year, there are 46,741.
Of the roughly 5,000 kids CMS added this year, just 189 were white. Compare that to Union County next door, which added 1,800 white kids this year while the counties around us added a total of nearly 4,000 and you begin to get a picture of what’s happening here. White middle and upper-middle class parents are bypassing our school system by the thousands.
For much of the last decade until the recession, the surrounding counties were adding a total of 4,000 to 5,000 additional middle class kids a year (about 10 percent were African-American or Hispanic).
Meanwhile, 26,000 middle class individuals fled middle ring neighborhoods for outside the county — a trend completely ignored by the Observer – not because the rich oppressed them, but because crime was so bad.
By 2005, with the economy still booming, this was obvious. Consider this from a piece I did on it:
When 26,000 people disappear, you’d think someone would notice. In the space of just a decade, that’s exactly what happened. Nearly 10,000 white people packed up the moving boxes and abandoned what until recently were solid, diverse middle-class neighborhoods along a four-mile wide stretch of land between Albemarle and Monroe Road. Like clockwork, they were replaced nearly one for one by Hispanic and African-American newcomers. Across the county, in another census tract between Little Rock Road and I-85, another startling transformation took place. In the space of less than a decade, 2,000 white residents fled the solid, diverse middle-class neighborhoods in that area, too.
It’s a phenomenon that’s occurring in neighborhood after neighborhood in the county’s middle ring, the once strongly middle-class suburban space between uptown and the far-flung suburbs. Between 1990 and 2000, a net 26,000 white, middle-class residents moved out ofthese middle-ring neighborhoods, a staggering trend that continues today.
It’s the classic lead-in to white flight. Just ask the folks in Chicago. First whites fled middle-ring suburbs for far flung suburbs, leaving behind depressed property values and rising crime in the neighborhoods they abandoned. As the blight spread, they abandoned those far-flung suburbs and pressed even further out. Then came bright flight, where middle class African-Americans and Hispanics begin to abandon middle-ring suburbs as well.
Stanford and the Observer claim that poor neighborhoods are growing in Charlotte, implying that the evil rich are somehow creating more poor, or that the middle class has now become poor.
The Stanford study hints at an underlying complaint by Occupy Wall Street protesters – that there are two Americas, and people are upset about the division.
The 140 percent increase in families in poor neighborhoods was larger than the national average of about 100 percent, said Sean Reardon, an associate professor of education at Stanford who led the research.
The number of poor here HAS exploded, but it has nothing to do with income distribution among the classes changing or the middle class becoming poor. It is because Charlotte has become a national mecca for the poor, importing more of them over the last decade than almost anywhere else in the country, in part because our social services were so generous.
Between 2000 and 2008, or right up until the beginning of the Great Recession, the Charlotte region had the second highest growth in poverty in the nation according to the Brookings Institute. We jumped from 123,000 impoverished people to 233,000 in less than a decade, a study of census data by the Brookings Institute showed. That same study ranked Charlotte first in the nation in the increase in the number of poor children living here, from 40,000 at the beginning of the decade to 87,000. This wasn’t because they suddenly became poor. It was because they moved here.
As the left-leaning but demographically accurate Brookings Institute pointed out repeatedly during the last decade, Charlotte became a destination city for (mostly) poor minorities in particular over the last decade, as I documented in this piece in 2010:
The city has become so diverse that non-Hispanic whites have now officially obtained minority status in Charlotte, making up just 49.1 percent of the population, a trend that was unthinkable as late as 2000.
What is going on here? Brookings described Charlotte as one of the top Hispanic destination cities in the nation with the second fastest growing Hispanic and Asian population in the country, according to the report. (Brookings combined the two groups in its stats. Given that the Asian population is still tiny here, it’s almost entirely the Hispanic population that is driving this trend.)
In that time period, the Charlotte area’s Hispanic population more than doubled, jumping by more than 40,000 to 80,200. The new Brookings report also lists Charlotte as a destination city for African-Americans, a trend Brookings first noted earlier in the decade as part of what it called the “New Great Migration” of black Americans back to the South. A staggering 94,171 African-Americans moved here in just eight years, making the Charlotte area the sixth hottest relocation spot in the nation for them, after Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Miami and the Washington, D.C., area.
Now do you understand why they are holding the Democratic National Convention here?
So essentially what the Observerand Stanford have actually proved here is not that some insidious income gap is growing, but that Charlotte’s affluent, shiny-shoed liberals won’t live next to the only other group of people left in Charlotte — poor minorities.
That sounds like a personal problem to me. Whatever the case, it’s not one that requires income redistribution to fix.
In an interview with Reuters, Reardon said the Stanford study hints at an underlying complaint by Occupy Wall Street protesters – that there are two Americas, and people are upset about the division.
29
2011 At 8:29 pm, James2 Said:
Yeah, this looks like one of two things happened.
1) The Charlotte Observer is looking for a new way to justify the policies that are the status quo. Find a new enemy to blame (the 1%).
or
2) Stanford looked at the data without understanding the local issues (high crime, high taxes and lousy schools) that are driving the middle class to nearby counties.
Life is great in York County. Even my employer has moved down here.
30
2011 At 7:19 am, bruce Said:
Two words … Freedom DR. Starting at I-85 and heading west to the Coulwood area and on out to the MT Holly Huntersville sub developments. This has become a crime ridden awful place to live as compared to 15 years ago.
But lets be of good cheer….. it is not really that bad because what we used to call bad is now called normal.
Remember folks…. it ain’t crime … it’s big city living .
Those lawn mowers,blowers,trailers,tool boxes, DUBS, Accords, weed eaters, and personal belonging that used to be yours are now in the hands of some criminal who needed them much more than you.
AND Judge “let em go” can go home to his gated community and feel good about his life.
Summary…… Our justice system and CMS work hand in hand to MAKE SURE that Charlotte continues it’s downward spiral.
OOPS… it’s not a downward spiral … it is exploring new and untested territory .
.
30
2011 At 8:32 am, Skyler the Weird Said:
Like the previous proprietor said “Detroit on the Cawtawba”.
It’s funny that the number one goal of CMS is not to educate but to revive forced busing from the 70′s. Problem is there are no White kids left to bus. Even people in the suburbs are heading to Cabarras, Union, or York or even furthur out.
I was forced into a diversity class once and the instructor made a comment about how when the low income minority population in a neighborhood reaches 12% the middle class majority begins to leave until the neighborhood is eventuall all low income minorities. He was not pleased when I asked, “What happens to the crime rate when that population reaches 12%?”
30
2011 At 1:51 pm, ah59396 Said:
2000
white
375,386
black
221,627
2010
white
365,384
black
256,241
Statistics provided via the US Census.
roughly 10,000 white people lost in Charlotte since 2000, or a whopping 2.6% of total white population. Hardly “white-flight”. I will agree there has been a demographic surge in african americans and hispanics, however to say the hispanic surge is uniquely attributed to Charlotte is foolish.
Also, the crime complaint is ridiculous. Do yourself a favor and check out the 2010 CQ Press report for crime rankings. Charlotte lands 118th, behind Melbourne FL and Durham and in front of Everett WA and Amarillo TX. All obviously known for their brutal crime records…
Please note that density is not taken into account with this type of rating, however Charlotte falls behind a large portion of what most of us would consider “national cities”.
There is no conspiracy or agenda here folks, its just the way things are. I promise.
30
2011 At 2:22 pm, Tara Servatius Said:
Roughly 10,000 white people lost in Charlotte since 2000, or a whopping 2.6% of total white population. Hardly “white-flight”.
My post, if you stop and take the chance to read it before commenting, refers to the period between 1990 and 2010, not just 2000 to 2010, as your response does. As you can see from reading the post, 26,000 whites fled from the formerly lower middle class/middle class urban ring in the 1990 to 2000 period per the census. That is huge. To lose 2.6 percent of the white population since 2000 would also be massive flight.
As the post points out — again, it would help a lot of it you read it first — a lot of the “missing” white middle class didn’t actually leave Charlotte, but instead never moved to the county, with families chosing instead to locate outside the county when they arrived here rather than moving in. The poor, meanwhile, actually moved in in huge numbers. That is a big contributor to the lack of middle class in contrast to the growing number of poor. Families moving to the region choosing to locate outside the county they work in is the classic first step in white flight.
I will agree there has been a demographic surge in african americans and hispanics, however to say the hispanic surge is uniquely attributed to Charlotte is foolish.
I didn’t say that. The Brookings Institute did. You’ll have to take that up with them if you disagree with their work. Again, they ranked Charlotte the second fastest growing city in the nation for Asians/HIspanics according to Brookings.
Also, the crime complaint is ridiculous. Do yourself a favor and check out the 2010 CQ Press report for crime rankings. Charlotte lands 118th, behind Melbourne FL and Durham and in front of Everett WA and Amarillo TX. All obviously known for their brutal crime records…
Long time Charlotteans remember that for much of the last decade of the last decade, crime was a huge problem here. Violent crime was increasing by 9% a year and we were ranked 57th most dangerous city by CQ out of over 370 cities. It was a big issue around here (http://www.morganquitno.com/cit02safe.htm). They hired the current police cheif to clean it up and he has done a good job. But as the post shows, the damage was done.
30
2011 At 2:41 pm, Skyler the Weird Said:
And Cheif Monroe is doing the European crime stats thing if you don’t respond, people will stop reporting the crimes committed against them to the Police and you stats will improve.
30
2011 At 8:03 pm, ah59396 Said:
Tara, I’ve been in Charlotte a long time as well. I agree that the crime in this city was awful at one point. I was especially frustrated at the mess around Eastland, as I frequented the ice rink there for hockey. But honestly I appreciate that you recognize the job that has been done. I frequently jog in and around Grier heights/down Monroe road and have never had an issue. For that I am thankful.
Also, as someone who attended the Mexico world cup qualifier here in Charlotte, I can attest there are PLENTY of Hispanics in metro Charlotte. I’m not disputing our ranking, I’m just stating we aren’t the only ones with similar statistics, especially in the Sunbelt.
And yes I missed the “1990-2010″ part, thanks for the acknowledging it with a backhanded comment. You and I will never be on the same page, but it’s nothing personal.
01
2011 At 12:01 am, bruce Said:
an59396 said,
“Also, the crime complaint is ridiculous.”
You are probably right. The 5 thefts this year at my shop really did not happen or the 15 thefts over the past several years also probably did not happen . Maybe I misplaced all that stuff,I am sure that it will turn up. Now that you have informed me of the low crime rate in Charlotte I will start looking for my stuff again.
Lets see…. The 150 gallon air compressor tank just might be over in the corner somewhere or the 3 Craftsman tool boxes “full of machine tools”and special sockets could be in the back room hiding under a tarp. The Mig welder , 150 ft of #2 welding leads, Tig torches, Torque wrenches, Micrometers,carbide lathe tools, end mills, boring heads , hundreds of pounds of misc metal rounds. inside mics, dial bore gauges and special jigs and tools, all are simply misplaced.
The rats must have torn that 4 ft hole in the rear wall to get warm and chewed through all the copper wiring and then took it somewhere to make a nest.
Now lets go outside.. All metal of any kind ….GONE.
20 ton press…. GONE…… Welding tables GONE…. Scrap pile ….GONE
Police response …. Priceless. They do however leave a business card and a police report #.
The one criminal caught in the act…. Arrested and let go with probation, NO JAIL TIME.
AND just “last night” my business neighbor had his back door kicked in.
As the police have said many times to me …
We hate thieves too ,if you find out who the thieves are give us a call.
02
2011 At 9:58 am, JasonP Said:
Bruce,
It’s your fault for opening your own business. You’re just playing right into all these kind folks’ temptations. They can’t help themselves you’re an enabler. For shame!
04
2011 At 8:39 am, dj Said:
ah59396
Within bounds you are correct. Charlotte is no different than many places, which saw crime increase and then decrease with invasion of illegals and then their exodus. Chief Monroe gets the benefit but should get little credit. Likely making it actually difficult for illegals to get drivers licenses in NC was the number one reason crime rates are down….
I’m trying to remember some numbers I once ran from the census….something like from 2000-2006, around 70,000 higher income tax filers moved out of Mecklenburg to Union and other surrounding counties, and all those counties saw dramatic enrollment increases in white students….