wheatie
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Posts posted by wheatie
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Portland has several cool bookshops in addition to Powell's, but Powell's is my favorite.
I wouldn't mind seeing a bookstore like Powells in downtown Portland. -
Not to be too contrary, but we aren't in a recession. A recession, by definition is two consecutive quarters with negative growth. We have yet to have one quarter of negative growth, let alone two in a row. The liberal media that wants to make sure you vote for a democrat this November sure likes to through around the word recession...but we don't have one in America...at least not yet.
None of that is to say I think this project will happen. It's just I get tired of hearing about this imaginary recession we aren't in.
The 2 quarters of negative growth definition is not the actual definition for a recession in the U.S.
National Bureau of Economic Research decides the exact dating of recessions in the U.S.. The NBER uses the following definition:
"A recession is a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales. A recession begins just after the economy reaches a peak of activity and ends as the economy reaches its trough."
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This is the idea behind bus/HOV lanes and BRT, which are the types of bus transit that actually work in Charlotte-like suburbs.
Again, we have to deal with the reality that bus transit has a major negative connotation in this region... and only part of that has to do with cultural stereotypes. In NYC, you can hop on a bus and get where you're going just as fast as if you drove, and have almost the same level of mobility -- actually, you probably have more mobility on NYC mass transit than if you tried to go to several destinations by car and had to find parking each time. In Charlotte, you would have to a) walk a long distance in the weather to get to a stop, b) wait an absolute minimum of 15 minutes, usually closer to 30 minutes, for the bus to crawl out of traffic and arrive at your stop, c) sit in gridlocked traffic just the same as if you had taken the car but without the luxury and privacy, and d) be almost entirely isolated at your destination because your bus line is the only form of transit within walking distance.
The average citizen would never go through the above if they had the financial means to simply drive themselves to their destination. There is no benefit to riding the bus other than cost -- everything else is sacrifice. That's not a strong sell and therefore the middle and upper class avoid buses at all costs (literally). So something has to be improved -- namely, the convenience and speed of bus transit. But in order to improve those things we'd be spending MAJOR money that could go to other projects. All things considered, I don't think that such a dramatic upgrade to bus service is worth the costs.
The average citizen all over the world goes through that mess everyday. Bus transit has a negative connotation almost everywhere. Here in Vancouver it is called the 'loser cruiser'; however, many people still ride it because the regional policy encourages it through the use of financial disincentives to driving. Back to the original point. Free parking at the park and ride should be seen as a temporary policy, until proper transit infrastructure provides alternatives. I walk over a 1.5 miles as part of my commute. There will always be an inconvenience associate with transit due to its focus on the whole and not the individual. BTW, CLT-like suburban development is not unique to CLT or the USA for that matter. These same problems are a plague in many cities.
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I don't know about Vancouver, but in Charlotte it's usually pointless to take the bus if you have access to a car -- largely because there is no savings in time by taking mass transit. Probably the biggest selling point for the Blue Line is that it takes riders past traffic jams on I-77 and South Blvd. and deposits them within walking distance of Uptown locations without a parking hassle. If the train had to sit in mixed traffic and took 45 minutes to make a single trip, nobody would ride it... and the same principle applies to suburban bus routes. People needing to go up roads like Providence or Colony are not going to see much point in sacrificing their mobility when they have to sit in the same traffic for the same amount of time.
When is taking the bus ever faster than a car? The point of taking the bus has never and will never be about fast transit. No matter the city, it is usually faster to drive than take a bus. By the way, I lived in those CLT suburbs for 4 years, and I am aware of the issues. I spend 2 hours on transit a day when I could spend less that 1.5 hours if I drove. Why do I take transit? Cost. If parking were free everywhere like CLT, I would probably drive.
Obviously connecting the suburban areas is a huge problem, and there is probably no good way of improving things in the near term. I guess that I think the time to come up with new ideas for the future is now.
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The geographic layout of suburban Charlotte makes this nearly impossible to implement. Neighborhoods are not laid out in a way that makes bus transit convenient -- the roads are not interconnected enough to make for linear routes, buildings are spaced so far apart that a stop only serves a limited number of people, and there is no way to separate buses from regular auto traffic. Besides, most suburban bus riders already use park-and-ride service... so they'd be driving to a bus lot in order to avoid the train lot. Not very efficient.
While CLT's layout is definitely challenging, it is not impossible to improve things. A linear route is not necessary, or possible. A combination of local and express buses improves the access and efficiency in areas which are spread out. How many cities separate buses from regular auto traffic? It is done only on a very limited basis at specific times of day here in Vancouver. The park and ride lots for buses in CLT are not for the local bus connections I am advocating. I am not simply talking about rerouting existing routes, but creating new routes which are specific to the task of connecting people to rapid transit.
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The goal of a growing city should not be to have people parking in commuter lots and then taking the train. The ultimate goal is to get people to take the bus to a train station and then transfer. Once there is sufficient bus service to shuttle people from their neighborhoods to the train, they should start charging for parking because there is an alternative. With respect to the northern Virginia park and rides this is possible. My cousin in Virginia takes the bus every day to the park and ride station and then hops on the train. I do the same here in Vancouver. Once people get used to taking transit, hopefully they will use the bus with less hesitation. Unfortunately, in CLT there is a big stigma attached to using bus service.
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A teacher of mine retired when he sold the patent to his rail crossings to the state of new york, I don't know if they've implemented them anywhere but the idea was to prevent this sort of thing. When a train was approaching, the lights would go but there would be no unsightly arms, going up and down. A steel plate/grid would rise vertically out of the ground (much like the barricades around loading dock entrances in urban settings) and block the entire crossing.
I've seen these implemented at a few Hertz rental car facilities.
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There was an article in the O this week about possibly converting HOV lanes into "Lexus Lanes" as they are commonly known. Apparently HOV lanes are underutilized nationwide because not enough people like to carpool and setting aside tolled lanes for quicker travel time is gaining in popularity. The idea can seem elitist but if they keep the fare low enough it might work for those who are in a rush or are just sick of congestion. Many of the service workers going on housecalls would have their employers pay the fee anyway.
If roads were a private enterprise I would have no problem with this. However, roads are financed by the public, and equal and fair usage policies should apply.
So the argument is that HOV lanes are underutilized. Well let's just give up on the idea of limiting single occupancy travel, and create a new revenue stream. This is an extremely flawed attitude. We travel a slippery slope when we begin to give perferred access to public assets to those who are willing to pay more for it. IMHO, this serves to create a de facto caste system based on the size of one's bank account. Should we allow people to pay extra to have their own lineup at the DMV, Social Security Office, or other government services where waits can be a pain.
How about making people that don't carpool (when they have the option) pay a toll for unnecessarily clogging our roads and adding to air emissions.
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I'd rather not see a stage. In a park of this size, that is just wasted space. For the times they want/need a stage, they can assemble a temporary structure. Stage areas are dead zones when they aren't being used, and this park is too small to sacrifice the space.
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There are escalators at Candlestick Park in San Francisco which I believe are on the outside of the stadium.
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I live in area now where condos are being thrown up left and right. Usually low rise (5 floors or less) condos without mixed use are built with wood. All of the highrises and mixed use buildings are generally concrete. You don't see alot of residential using steel.
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Not sure they could add a ramp, exhit ramps have to be at least 1 mile apart.
According to my measurements, the distance between Woodruff and Laurens is slightly greater than 2 miles which would just allow for another exit. The new exit would be roughly the same as the distance between Bridges and Butler on 385. This measurement is from road to road. Does DOT measure from ramp to ramp or road to road?
I just don't think connecting with Laurens and Verdae is enough for this development. Traffic on Woodruff Rd. cannot stand even 1/4 of the cars projected for this development.
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I don't know all of the facts here, but I imagine that a plurality of people will becoming from the eastside to this development. One of my anecdotal lines of evidence is the lineup at the Woodruff exit ramp fom 85 for the southbound lanes. How will it make sense for these people to use Laurens Rd. or Verdae to access the site? It would definitely be out of there way. There have always been options for people to avoid some of the traffic on Woodruff by using side roads (although not high capacity). I've used Garlington, Roper Mountain, Butler, and Tanner roads for years. It seems that a widening of Garlington might be a help as well. Access needs to be improved from all directions.
Are there any plans to add an exit of 85 directly dumping onto this new road? I think that would be the only thing to keep a majority of the new traffic off Woodruff.
Are there any plans for how this would integrate into a more robust transit system?
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How can this development do anything but make traffic worse on Woodruff Rd? Gridded streets may help traffic within the development, but the development still only has access to one major road (am I wrong about this?). Urban is a lot more than density and gridded streets. Realistically, what streets can this development connect to other than Woodruff road. The gridded streets will either end at the property lines or dump onto Woodruff Road.
How will this work? It would be very difficult to reengineer the streets as there is suburban sprawl to the east and interstate to the west. Do they control land all the way to Laurens Rd?
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Why should we be excited by another suburban hotel on Woodruff Road? Is this UrbanPlanet or SuburbanPlanet? There is no doubt that a development freeze is needed in the Woodruff Rd area. This is getting a bit ridiculous if you ask me. I think many on this board don't look to the future when they promote these projects. These type of developments are not sustainable and do nothing to improve the area. We need walkable streets with pedestrian friendly development. If there is a need for these developments they can modify to meet the demands of the community. Greenville need not be a development whore.
Why is a midrise hotel along the interstate so attractive? Are your standards so low?
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Were you a winner as an investor?
Indeed. Cytec was one of the few investments I had that weathered the tech bust and subsequent recession. The global commodity bull market has put some wind in there sails. It's a good time to be in this business.
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I'm excited about the number of professional jobs that this expansion will be bringing.
Would these qualify as professional jobs, or are they blue collar factory jobs? I used to be an investor in Cytec. It is a very good company.
The Vue
in Charlotte
Posted
IF the economy has stabilized. We keep hearing about this being the worst economy since the Great Depression. The effects of the Great Depression persisted for years. Obviously, this crisis is different, but we do not yet know how things will play out.