I once thought deep in his heart Charles Meeker might be a Francophile, who secretly wanted to turn Fayetteville Street into the Champs-Elysées. But, I’ve decided the Mayor doesn’t want to turn downtown Raleigh into Paris at all. He wants to turn it into Charlotte.

For years, while people have moved out of downtowns (for the suburbs), Charlotte’s downtown has boomed. Most North Carolinians saw this as proof people in Charlotte might really be different from the rest of us. But in the case of the Mayor, who lives in downtown Raleigh, it resulted in a severe dose of Charlotte Envy. Charlotte had a gleaming downtown Convention Center; Mayor Meeker wanted a bigger one. Charlotte had Lite-Rail; he wanted it too. Charlotte had a full-time Mayor and statues on its street corners; he wanted all those things and more.

Since he was elected Mayor, Charles Meeker’s case of Charlotte Envy has grown into an obsession. He’s spent a billion dollars to turn Raleigh into Charlotte. The problem is the Mayor’s not a magician. He can’t turn back the hands of time. He can’t socially engineer downtown Raleigh into Charlotte. People are not pouring back into downtown Raleigh. And there’s a good reason. They can’t afford too. The Mayor’s spent so much money his son – who’s a downtown developer – is renovating a $120,000 house on Hargett Street and selling it for $479,000. (News & Observer; 4-9-07).

In the end what Charles Meeker has done is create an enclave where none but the well-to-do can afford to buy a home.

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