architect77

I'm glad that you're not distancing Charlotte from NC, the greatest state in the country. I don't like the "Charlotte USA" signs in the airport nor the marketing campaign from which it came. The whole country is enamored with NC, and well they should be.

Sorry I commented. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I hope all of you have a chance to visit RDU sometime. It is one of the nicest airports (not including the new terminal) in the country. The highway approach, ramps, landscaping and backdrop of trees are stunning and an incredible "front door" welcome to North Carolina. But then again, Charlotte USA doesn't like to be associated with NC, lol.

I flew in and out of Charlotte last Wednesday and last night. Skyline, gorgeous, except I would like for the Duke Energy tower to only be lit in white light. The pink and purple blinking show last night was ridiculous. It ruins the elegance of the entire skyline in my opinion. Also, CLT needs to plant some grass and do some landscaping to hide all of the red clay around the runways. It looks awful. Compare CLT to Atlanta and even more so, RDU where it's beautifully landscaped with shrubs, grass and with a backdrop of uninterrupted pine trees. CLT is so busy, and between the lackluster appearance of the terminals and the airfield, it doesn't look good for Charlotte and North Carolina. If nothing else, I would replace the ceiling tiles and carpet in the terminals, then plant some grass to cover the exposed areas of dirt/red clay around the runways.

No, I don't. I am enjoying seeing Raleigh become a mid-size metropolitan area. But I've never heard its citizens discussing its downtown skyline and tall buildings, nor can i recall Raleigh ever trying to promote itself as a "World city" or comparing itself to Atlanta. I think all of North Carolina is content with and proud of Charlotte being its big city.

Which part am I 100% WRONG on? -Surmising about their projections? -Acknowledging 4 distinct, growing towns comprising the Triangle? I grew up in Raleigh so I know becoming a big city with tall buildings is the last thing on people's minds. So I'm not WRONG on that one.

NCDOT's 2040 population projections across the state probably was based less on real scientific projections than merely identifying needs. The Triangle's 4 distinct cities(Raleigh, Cary, Durham, Chapel Hill) are spread out, and they are growing through their individual popularity. Obviously they're wondering if the Triangle's 4 nodes of growth could outpace the one big metropolis of Charlotte. Also they're disregarding across the SC line, because the NCDOT only cares about its roads. As far as "boosterism" goes, Raleigh and the Triangle have always been content as small towns/cities. There is absolutely 0% public sentiment in Raleigh for tall skyscrapers or the "World Class" moniker. Population projections even 30 years down the road are surprisingly accurate. Usually the Census isn't ever off by more than 200,000 or so as far as state projections. "BTW To be frank - I don't see the point of trying to strir the pot of city v city/area v area in N.C" Everyone here loves reports like NCDOT 2040, and everyone loves demographics here also.

This is sure to get you Charlotteans riled up: NCDOT's transportation 2040 report projects Raleigh-Durham (I assume the combined MSA's of Raleigh-Cary and Durham-Chapel Hill) to grow by 84% and become the state's most populous region with 3.2 million residents. http://www.ncdot.gov/performance/reform/2040Plan/default.html That said, I was amazed to see that $23 Billion will be spent between 2011-2015 on highways and bridges. Here in Georgia, I bet they won't spend 1/4 that much. Here in Metro Atlanta, they don't plan on building anything that isn't from private investors.

My comment about flyovers didn't pertain to the turbine proposed for I-485/I-85. Raleigh has countless interchanges that need left flyovers as opposed to the old-fashioned cloverleafs. Some examples include the I-40 interchanges at RDU Intl Airport, Wade Ave at I-440, etc. Charlotte's I-77/I-85 interchange needs its ramps rebuilt with more gentle curves, yet NCDOT never has enough money to do these things. The state's spread out population evidently spreads out needs as well (too thinly, unfortunately).

What I don't understand is how Texas is able to build (almost literally) hundreds of fancy interchanges with umpteen flyovers, as if they were nothing.... Meanwhile Georgia and NC will go decades without a necessary and important flyover between two highways because they didn't have the extra $30 million that one flyover would cost. On Metro Atlanta's wishlist for transportation projects that 10 counties will vote for or against a 1 cent sales tax next year, is an "improvement" to the I-285/ GA400 interchange. Its projected cost is $500 million for the one interchange.

Thank you...

Well Raleigh's 23 mile long Beltline is merely an arc joined to I-40 at each end, and of course you know that Raleigh's outerloop will be 60% a toll road. A quite expensive one at that, about 20-30 cents per mile for 18 miles (the final eastern I-540 segment has yet to be finalized). The Triad seems to have the most roads despite ranking 3rd in metro population.

Wrong....The lion's share of current and future transportation dollars and projects are all in the Metrolina region.

The diverging diamond has had good results in Missouri and the few other places it has been implemented. Supposedly it has improved flow by 50%. It's quite clever in how all protected left turn signals are eliminated from the intersection.

Love the video, love the song, love how it took me back to a chilly dusk in the winter. Thank you so much. Who's the music by?

Well, I agree though I doubt the average traveler is scrutinizing the quality and complexity of the two I-40 interchanges with the airport. That said, the aviation parkway interchange should have a left flyover onto eastbound I-40. For all of RDU's grandeur, the I-40 interchanges are treated as if they were just a typical country road crossing overhead.

To me one of the greatest things about RDU is the fantastic roadways and landscaping into and out of the airport. It's so gorgeous and unique that I think it makes a lasting and positive impression on visitors. I think all of the ramps and cloverleafs are just wonderfully executed.

As a Raleigh-area native, I've always maintained that the Triangle and Charlotte weren't all that different in size, give or take a few hundred thousand residents... But flying into CLT from RDU this morning, we came in from the north (I recognized construction work on the Yadkin River Bridge Replacement), and there were huge swaths of residential developments everywhere, and Lake Norman was extremely developed. All of this together with Charlotte's tall downtown has changed my opinion on Metrolina (greater Charlotte). It is without a doubt NC's most heavily populated area. Now, I hope US Airways makes a lot of money this year, because Charlotte's airport needs a serious updating. The suspended ceiling tiles were dirty, the carpet is hideous (purple, pink, black), and I just think Charlotte deserves a better first impression. For those of you who haven't seen Raleigh-Durham's new Terminal 2, designed by Greensboro native Curtis Fentress who graduated from NC State's School of Design (like me), here are some pictures:

Could someone post some pics of the completed streetscape? I'm anxious to see it.

I shot this video on my cheap camera on March 31, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spxh1iBotl0

I wish Raleigh could manage to build even one....

Way Cool....

Welcome to UNION STATION. http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/7478063/ woops! I forgot how to do live links, sorry.

I hope you're not talking about Peachtree Center, which is perhaps Atlanta's only example of building contributing to the urban fabric. Meaningless motifs demanded by developers on every building today is laughable. Atlanta resembles an architectural testing site where nothing has any relationship to its neighbors. Look at most of SOM's recent work in New York, and you'll find less decoration and more purpose. Bloomberg's headquarters is a perfect example, or 7 World Trade. The Bloomberg tower is my absolute favorite.

I came home for a visit last week (Louisburg and Raleigh), and I love what they're doing to Hillsborough St. ESPECIALLY the mast-arm traffic light poles. For me, they are hot, hot, hot. I also was in Atlanta for a week, a city plagued with the sloppiest execution of city streets in the nation, in my opinion. Finally, they are doing something about that, and here is the result of a one-mile makeover in Buckhead which is quite an improvement. The Hyatt hotel in the picture (formerly the Hotel Nikko) used to be sitting alone on a huge empty lot. This area now is accommodating to pedestrian activity.

Thanks so much for posting these pics. I also like the unfinished mast arms. If it were up to me, I'd replace every signal drooping from wires with these citywide (and statewide). No other state can match the elegance of California's mast arms, however these aren't too far off. My favorite is the oversized one. I don't particularly care for the cutesy smaller ones found downtown.