Back then, for example, the Charlotte Hornets weren't even a gleam in the public eye. Now they're the ones pushing hardest for a new uptown arena. The area's phenomenal growth. It's also made for higher stakes. With 3,000 new students moving into the school system each year, the county has scrambled to find room.
Traffic also carries a hefty price.
High stakes are one reason local politics isn't the genteel activity it once was. Politics has become increasingly partisan and even bitter. But the ideology, if not the tone, of local government has remained basically moderate - befitting a community where pragmatic business interests dominate. Politics has become less predictable, though, as newcomers from the Midwest, New England and other parts of the South have swelled voting rolls. Newcomers have been elected to office and become a force on civic boards, in neighborhood associations and through grass-roots politics.