If you aren’t familiar with “Shelbyville“, it is the rival town to Springfield, home of “The Simpsons”.  The town is often cited as being the complete opposite of Springfield in every way…Buffalo has its very own Shelbyville, often called “Buffalo South” or “Charlotte”.

Every couple of weeks, I rummage through the Shelbyville blogs and newspaper sites to see what’s going on in the headquarters of the Buffalo Diaspora. The story of the week appears to be the scourge of construction cranes that are dotting the city skyline.

Charlotteans grumbled in the ’90s that orange traffic barrels had come to symbolize progress in one of the region’s fastest growing cities.

In 2008, that honor goes to construction cranes, which have recently taken over the uptown like an infestation of 200-foot iron weeds.

Twenty-five tower cranes are active in and around the Interstate 277 loop, on a dozen projects ranging from the NASCAR Hall of Fame to the EpiCentre.

Construction and the resulting jobs are booming in Charlotte as the economy expands and people flock to the region.

Up to 11 more cranes could be added to the uptown area by year’s end, says Dennis Kenna, whose Heede Southeast Inc. supplies many of the region’s construction cranes.

For a town that has seen a decade long economic boom, the current explosion in construction is still shocking.

“It’s a renaissance,” says Michael Smith, president of Center City Partners. “These cranes are a fascinating, leading indicator of progress.

“We have an urban core that is expanding and it has pierced through 277 into South End, Elizabeth, midtown, Wesley Heights and Wilmore,” he says.

Experts say young professionals seeking to live near jobs and entertainment, and empty nesters weary of yard work and long commutes are driving the boom.

In case people are wondering, that is what a renaissance looks like. Also, I’d like to note how Charlotte has identified the primary means with which to attract young professionals to their city, jobs.  Not much talk of museums, sense of place, or massive amounts of state funding.  They keep the taxes low, attract business, and the people follow.  Not really a revolutionary idea, but one that we might be able to learn a thing or two from up here in Springfield, err, I mean Buffalo.

There is nothing wrong with having nice looking buildings, museums, cool restaurants, and kitschy tschotske shops; they are absolutely a value added bonus for people looking for a place to live.  However, they are not a primary means to create economic development.  The jobs need to be here in order for those things to be a real differentiator.