I've Been on Vacation.,,

The Mrs., myself, and Woobie(correct spelling-not Whoobie) left for a week in North Carolina on Oct 27th. It was not an ideal time to leave town, but when is it ever a good time. Julie's company is going through some reorganization which really needed her involvement, so she has been on the phone a few times and one of my long time competitors announced they are folding their tent at the end of the year. So, I've also been on the phone and checking resumes to fill an open sales position or two. They are having a hundred year drought down here in NC and I think it is easier to get a permit to build a swimming pool than to find a qualified sales representative who knows anything about the offset printing business who isn't 55 years old and burned out.

Anyhoo, the weather has been beautiful, the color has been spectacular, and I continue to be amazed how people are willing to build a million dollar house next door to an Appalachian shack. I would think it would make it difficult to do a real estate comp a few years form now when you try to sell the place before you move into the old farts home. However, they keep throwing them up and the prices are still increasing in spite of the national trend to the contrary.

We also spent four days in Charlotte. WOW! I haven't seen a city do what they have done in the past ten years. The entire downtown, which they call Uptown, is virtually all new construction. It is the second largest banking center in the USA. There are banks everywhere and they love to built monuments to themselves. Bank of America and Wachovia in particular seem to dominate the landscape. They have leveled anything that is a good spot for another high-rise condo or office tower.

Charlotte has a lot of similarities to Indianapolis. They are of similar size, are creating a new downtown population to support the arts, restaurants, and professional teams that are all located within walking distance. Everything inside the inner loop is prospering while the dregs are just mile away in the shadows of the stadiums, arenas, condos, and office towers. They both have a problem with urban sprawl. Traffic gets progressively worse the farther you drive from the center of town. The most prosperous neighborhoods are located north and south and both have an abundance of malls.

On the contrary, Charlotte seems to be reaching their goals much faster than Indianapolis. That may be primarily the result of Indianapolis having no significant local banks. I also get the impression the average paycheck in Charlotte seems to support living in a $500K condo on top of the fact that they pay significantly lower property taxes. Both downtowns seem to understand the importance of cleanliness, but they both share similar issues with the homeless. Indianapolis, on the other hand, has preserved a lot of its older architecture. It has a less sterile feel than Charlotte and Indy has also preserved much more green space even if it primarily used by the homeless(i.e. University Park). For what it is worth, Indy overwhelms Charlotte in the memorial/monument category. Racing is enormous in both cities. Indy is the home for open wheel and Charlotte is home to NASCAR which is dominating the racing crowd until the egos running open wheel gets their poop together.

As for the people, both towns have an abundance of nice people. However, folks in Charlotte seem a bit trimmer and visitors look like they are from NYC or DC. Indy's out-of-towners tend to be square dancers with thick ankles that get excited riding up and down any elevator with a glass wall. Hey, their money is green, Chicago doesn't want them, and we sure as hell need their help to pay for the "Oil Can"(Lucas Oil Stadium).

Don't forget to vote November 6th.