A vanishing sense of place.
Let me tell you about my North Carolina. A thread 🧵👇
Let me tell you about my North Carolina. A thread 🧵👇
My NC was barefoot summers, fire-ant free. You ran from school out until the cicadas called you home. Life was slower. Life was local.
BBQ wasn’t just food—it was ritual. Low and slow over coals, under oil-rubbed tarps, bounded by cinder blocks. Before state health codes shut down what generations perfected.
Sundays were sacred. Stores closed. Beer wasn’t sold. Wednesday nights? Church. The NFL hadn’t bought our time yet.
Racing wasn’t a sport—it was heritage. Everyone had a favorite driver. Everyone wrenched. Grandstands were full at Rockingham and North Wilkesboro. That was before the luxury boxes and SoCal pretty boys.
My Charlotte had Belk’s and Ivey’s. Park N Shop. Herlocker’s. Now? Targets and Chili’s and Dollar General. Chain after chain. Everywhere looks the same.
When you see “NC is closed” online, it’s not hate. It’s exhaustion. I married a Yankee—I DID my part for Reconciliation. We’re just tired of watching what made us US disappear.
Our history? Being erased. Our foodways? Mocked. Our neighborhoods? Replaced by hedge-fund housing and national builders. Our brick ranches—gone-replaced by McMansions and zero lot lines with no room for azaleas.
New York pizza is good, I reckon. But our sweet tea, BBQ, banana pudding & collards are holy. You want to live here? Respect our roots. Assimilate, don’t overwrite.
The Southern house people dream of? It used to be built by someone’s Papaw. Now it’s a mass-market floorplan that looks the same in Kansas.
I’m a Realtor® and NC’s biggest cheerleader. I’ve welcomed hundreds here. But I tell every one: this place is special.Learn about us. Join us. Don’t try to change us.
Our kids used to go to UNC, NC State, ECU. Now? Bama. Texas. Illinois. The plates in the parking lots have changed. So have the loyalties. No wonder NIL happened and neutered the NCAA-none of it matters like it used to.
Somehow, we stopped asking folks to join the community. And just accepted sameness as the price of growth.
If you're the NYC resident who's looking for a new place to land now that your primary winner is a socialist-pay attention. You need to slow your Yankee roll when you get here, and listen a lot.
WE DO NOT WANT TO TURN INTO NYC.
WE DO NOT WANT TO TURN INTO NYC.
I love travel. But what I love most? Landing somewhere that knows who it is.
A diner with trucks out front. A thrift store with stories. A plaque with a forgotten bit of history. I even like NYC bagels-IN NYC.
A diner with trucks out front. A thrift store with stories. A plaque with a forgotten bit of history. I even like NYC bagels-IN NYC.
That’s what we’re losing. And it breaks my heart.
Not because I’m against change. But because I still believe place matters.
End 🧵
Not because I’m against change. But because I still believe place matters.
End 🧵
@dogwoodblooms @Livermush_Grits =)
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