rockhilljames

Yeah, well I just got upgraded on my flight from Phoenix to Santa Barbara next week, so I'm not complaining!

Some of the newer ones do, four seats of it if I remember correctly.

I think a boutique hotel centered around the Design Center / Camden Road area would do VERY well.

South End is VERY undeserved in terms of hotels.

I like the site plan...I think it's a good transition between downtown and South End.

I'd say that hits it right on the head. Most truly "edgy/hip" neighborhoods remain crappy places for a long time. Artists get cheap studio space, eclectic vendors and shop owners get bargain-basement prices that allow them to operate with much less overhead. So when NoDa got all that buzz (including the generic name "NoDa"), people saw it as the "next big thing" and prices got out of control. Sadly we did lose places like FatCity that are so hard to find in this town. NoDa has never been "bustling", at least not in it's current incarnation, but I have great hopes for what it can be. At this point it looks like what it can be is a cool urban neighborhood with a slightly edgier fair than the rest of Charlotte. It's never going to be our "weird" area of town.

I would bet that he and the copilot were fooling around with it and it went off. Good thing it didn't go off at 32,000 feet.

I don't know if my post just didn't post or what, so I'm trying this again. I'm not trying to be insulting, my point is, are you saying that this puts Charlotte in a positive or negative light? Honestly, I'm guessing that most people that hear about this don't think anything about the cities involved, but are focusing more on the airline instead. So I'll ask; do you guys think this is a negative for Charlotte, or do you think that people just won't care one way or the other about which city was the destination?

19.3%? Ouch. If you want to check out your home's value (up or down) check out cyberhomes.com. You can type in your address and see how your house (and area) is fairing as far as home value. It also let's you do comparisons of neighborhoods, which is a pretty cool way to see how the area is doing in terms of home values. Cyberhomes.com

Yeah, that was my point. I was just wondering what that had to do with Charlotte specifically. I would rather, as I think most people would, that guns NOT be fired during a flight, regardless of the route!! I just think that fact that this happened during a Charlotte route was just a coincidence, although the fact that it was a US Airways pilot increased the chance of it happening during a Charlotte leg. Honestly it doesn't bother me that the pilots carry guns, I just think this was a very isolated incident.

..but isn't this a non-issue? How is this positive or negative publicity for Charlotte? Any intelligent reader would realize that the two cities mentioned (Charlotte and Denver) have absolutely nothing to do with this, it just happened along that route. So why is the fact that Charlotte mentioned in the news about this worthy of mention? As a side note, since my wife and I are expecting again in April, I'm not traveling for the entire month of March and April! That means I don't have to see Charlotte-Douglas for another two months!!!!!!!!!!

Man it's really too bad that this couldn't be open for the ACC tourney. Looks pretty good!

Do the trains have more capacity than a double? Can they stack another car on the end?

Honest to goodness, I drove to lunch today (RuSans) and the platforms we passed by were PACKED. The entire Woodlawn platformed was FILLED with people, as was the next two stations. I didn't envy trying to cram into those trains.

I think F&C won the bidding on the air rights.

This has no basis in fact and undermines any argument you're trying to make. Please point out to me where the University system in SC was designed to keep out most of the population. If you're going to point to Jim Crow laws and things of that nature, I'd point out that the entire South, and indeed the entire country, practiced those rules at one time.

Just a point of fact; South Carolina went from the Southland conference, to ACC, to independent, loose affiliation with the Metro Conference (basketball and soccer), and then as a full member of the SEC. We also went 5-6 in our first year of SEC play, and I'd like to mention that a year after the 0-11 season (thanks for pointing that out) we were 8-4 and Outback Bowl champions over Ohio State. Forbes magazine ranked USC's football team the 12th most valuable team in the country last year, with a total worth of $69 million dollars and a profit of $28.9 million last year. A great deal of that money went back into the University for academic purposes. It's not coincidence that USC's admission into the SEC also came at the same time that USC began it's building boom and push for AAU membership. The new Innovista campus being built now will house new labs for USC's flagship hydrogen cell and nanotechnology research center. I know it's going to kill some of you guys to hear this...but the success of the football program (in monetary terms anyway) is directly responsible for much of the current academic success at USC, as over $10 million a year from the Athletics Dept goes to fund chairs and endowments. That says nothing of the millions poured into the local economy each year by visiting fans and traveling USC fans on game day. Although, since UNCC is in the same recruiting territory as USC, I wouldn't mind it at all if they decided against a team, now that I think about it.

As to your question regarding atmosphere, I LOVE my Panthers, and love going to NFL games....but as a proud graduate of USC, and as a season ticket holder, there's no comparing the atmosphere between a college football game and the NFL. College wins hands-down in my opinion. The passion of the fans, the intensity of the tailgating, the NOISE and sheer love of the game is amplified for a college game. Of course, USC is in the SEC and consistently puts 80,000 screaming fans in the place. I think that to really answer that question you should look to several smaller schools in the area for comparison. The game-day atmosphere at Furman and App State are probably similar to what Charlotte would have, and I have heard that both are great. Imagine Charlotte competing in the Big East or the ACC in about a decade. Basketball, Baseball, Football, all sports would be elevated on a national scale that Charlotte can't even consider right now.

Do you realize what the site clean-up will require? It might be some time before we see this land redeveloped.

I'm still against tearing down those houses. East Blvd has a such a neat feel to it with the converted houses on both sides of the wide avenue.

Demoed? Oh no, it's still there, crane on top.

I love this tower, and what it adds to this block. ...but tell me you wouldn't rather have this: with a hotel added for more floors...

Yay photos! It's a real departure from BoA's carefully built campus approach to their towers. I still can't tell whether I like it or not. I think the curved portion of the walls might save it from looking really bland as well as the curtain appearance of the wall. I think I'll have to withhold judgment until this one gets built.

Somebody with a camera?....

That sounds like an implied direct correlation between a schools focus on athletics and falling academic standards to me. If, as your reply suggest, you were merely speaking of football and not other sports in general, can you give me an example of a school who's academics is suffering due to the focus on the football program? As to your direct question, yes I feel it is appropriate to raise student fees for the establishment of a football program. Providing that the majority of students support it. From what I've seen of the process so far, the school and athletic department have done a very good job making sure they understand the level of support before moving forward.