SOUTHE END — A Redditor who moved to Charlotte in 2023 is now fully convinced that the city has gone to shit in the two years since he arrived.
Citing vague complaints about “traffic, crime, and too many breweries,” 31-year-old transplant Mark Dano, who relocated from New York City in late 2023, says he feels “fully justified” in declaring Charlotte unrecognizable.
“This place isn’t as good as it used to be,” he told reporters while sitting on the patio of his South End apartment. “Back then, everything here was better. People were nicer. Rent was cheaper. You could walk down the street without worrying about your life. That’s all gone now.”
Dano waxed nostalgic about those halcyon days of 2023, when Charlotte allegedly existed in a state of perfect peace and harmony.
“Back then, crime didn’t exist. The skyline glowed like Rome at its height. The traffic flowed like a mountain stream. Even the Panthers looked promising.”
Now, Dano insists, “South End is shit, NoDa is shit, Uptown is shit too. And don’t even get me started on Plaza.” He also took issue with scooters, parking decks, and “all the people who have moved here in the last couple of years (except himself).”
When asked to name a specific turning point, Dano pointed at cranes in the distance and muttered something about “overdevelopment, gentrification, and how there are literally no more good restaurants here anymore.”
Dano confirmed he plans to move to Greenville, South Carolina, which he described as “a much more clean and authentic city.”
