His accent is not quite New England, not quite
Midwest -- but definitely not south of the Maryland border. His ball cap
-- dark blue with the familiar "NY" baseball logo -- offers a
firmer clue.
Jim Anderson is a Northerner. From New Jersey. The
Y-word.
Three years ago, a new job moved Anderson and his
wife, Deborah, south to Charlotte. The Andersons chose Ballantyne, which
they knew was an enclave of sorts for transplants like themselves. They
didn't know this: Since 1995, more non-Southerners have moved to their
neighborhood than any other Charlotte-area community, according to U.S.
census figures released Tuesday.
The data narrows earlier census numbers that showed
Americans largely moving West and South in the 1990s. The trend helped the
Charlotte metro area, which includes counties such as Union, York and
Cabarrus, grow 29 percent during the '90s, to 1.5 million people.
New figures point more precisely where newcomers
have settled, helpfully breaking the numbers down by neighborhood, or
"tracts," so Charlotteans can learn where to A) join their
fellow transplanted folk; or B) avoid the insurgents.
That place, in a 15-county area centered by
Mecklenburg County, is a tract that includes Ballantyne, where 28.5
percent of residents lived in another region of the country seven years
ago.
In second place, with 23.6 percent, is a
Huntersville tract that includes Birkdale. "You don't meet many
people from North Carolina in Huntersville," said Nancy Ayer, who
moved to Birkdale four years ago from Columbus, Ohio. "I think we
scared them away."
A University City tract that includes Highland Creek
was third with 22.4 percent.
The new census data offered a sharper profile of
U.S. neighborhoods, with statistics on items such as household income,
commuting time and Spanish-speaking residents. In Charlotte, the latter
category was led by a census tract between Interstate 85 and North Tryon
Street, where 47 percent of residents spoke Spanish and 45 percent were
born in a foreign country. Those totals were the highest of any N.C.
neighborhood.
In the Piedmont, Mecklenburg County was by far the
destination of choice for recent transplants, with 54 neighborhoods that
had at least 10 percent of residents moving from other parts of the United
States. In contrast, York and Cabarrus counties had three such
neighborhoods each. Iredell County had two.
In Mecklenburg, newcomers moved largely to
neighborhoods on the edges of Charlotte -- including several neighborhoods
near Ballantyne -- where the land is more plentiful and prices often more
affordable than some established Charlotte neighborhoods.
"I used to joke for years that there was a
little man somewhere on the highways directing people coming into
Charlotte to Myers Park and Eastover," said Everett Connelly, a
broker for Helen Adams Realty who has lived in Charlotte for more than 60
years. "Now there is shellshock at the price to live in those areas.
And now, people want something new."
When Jim Anderson took a business development job
with IBM three years ago, he and wife Deborah made a spreadsheet matching
Charlotte neighborhoods with the amenities they wanted. Those included
nearness to the airport, access to highways and proximity to restaurants
and entertainment.
Also on the list: Diversity of the community. In
Ballantyne, only 50 percent of residents were born in the South, census
figures show. "The last thing we wanted was to end up in a place
where everybody thought the same way," Anderson said.
Neighborhoods like his and Birkdale offer newcomers
a quick and pleasant choice, said Al Stuart, a demographer and professor
of geography at UNC Charlotte. For people who don't know better, new and
tidy suburban developments lessen the risks that come with choosing a
community.
"There's a certain safety and security in going
into these neighborhoods," Stuart said. "You can see what you're
getting. There are people like you there."
Such neighborhoods also offer transplants a
comfortable sameness. A drive through Ballantyne, Birkdale and the
University area is like a drive through many communities in Charlotte --
and the country -- with the same restaurants and grocery chains and bank
branches.
In Ballantyne, the diversity shows itself in subtle
ways, Anderson said. Behind his house is a couple from Phoenix and
Pennsylvania. Across the street is a couple from India. A few houses over?
They're from Ohio.
"You get a broad perspective of the country,
the environment that we live in," Anderson said. If there's any doubt
about his perspective, he has a copy of "New York, New York"
that he likes to play when the baseball playoffs roll around.
"These are neighbors, so you talk and you
debate, and all that comes out," he said. "I think it's
healthy."
