[First Ward Urban Village / North Tryon Vision Plan]

This is the best example of why a land use tax makes a lot of sense

[Carolina Panthers Facilities]

On 7/25/2022 at 1:39 PM, SouthEndCLT811 said:

IMO I think the stadium going on the Pipe and Foundry land would be an ideal scenario.  As this was mocked up a while back, we could return the BOA stadium land to a street grid as a cohesive part of Uptown.  And maybe that's where Tepper gets his entertainment district but it's more accessible to the rest of Uptown.

Then the rest of the Pipe and Foundry land on the other side of 277 could become training facilities, where go_vertical had suggested an aquarium.  Purely hypothetical, I'm not sure if there's enough space over there to accommodate it 

 

Throw in getting rid of 277, and now we're talking!

[Charlotte trying to be more bike friendly]

The city should get rid of on-street parking on Tryon and extend the rail trail through the heart of downtown.  There is no reason to have parking spots on the city's most valuable land when there are tens of thousands pf parking spots in decks and lots a few blocks away.   Imagine Tryon with a protected bike lane, more outdoor seating for restaurants, food trucks, art, etc?  If you want to actually connect South End and Uptown, this is the way.  

[Charlotte Greenways and Trails]

2 hours ago, ertley said:

To me, there's one huge opportunity for creating dedicated bike lanes--what I believe they classify as "Urban Trails" in the master plan--that (I think) would get huge use and address some of Charlotte's long term connectivity dead zone: Providence Road.  Mid- and lower Providence has that median that isn't particularly wide, and isn't even planted with trees, but absolutely has enough width to allow creation of two bike lanes. I know reconstructing the street would cost $$$, but it's just priceless right of way that's being wasted, and the width of the median won't allow any additional lane creation (not that the neighborhoods would brook such a thing anyway) besides a continuous central turning lane. The loss of a treeless median isn't something that anyone except standard NIMBYs should care about. Coincidentally the median ends right at Briar Creek, so if the city/county could manage to extend the Briar Creek greenway just down to Providence Road, you could have a major commuting bikeway stretching all the way from at least the McAlpine Creek greenway and then through Briar Creek greenway farther north to Randolph via Eastover Park. (End portion into downtown/uptown/center city would be the more challenging final stage, obvs.)

IMO the city should seriously evaluate this as an option, because this is ready right of way that doesn't have to be acquired, and it's literally wasted space now. With an Urban Trail up and down Providence you'd have north-south bike routes fairly evenly distributed through south Charlotte, with the Blue Line Rail Trail, then Sugar Creek greenway, and then hopefully eventually the Silver Line Rail Trail. This would take some of the pressure off the city/county to create longer east-west connections because you'd just have to make sure each of these adjacent trails were connected, but not necessarily (if impracticable) each continuously, in one line, linked to one another.    

On the other side of town, it looks like the city/county is planning on taking the Irwin Creek greenway through Double Oaks Park and then (smartly) utilizing the remainders of the lots taken for 77's widening on the west side of the road immediately south of the park. That gets Irwin Greek's greenway down to Oaklawn with pretty much no impediments, and within striking distance of downtown/uptown/center city. I think it's a great plan, in no small part because a bike path abutting the interstate won't have to deal with cars, intersections and stoplights for long stretches, so an ideal path for commuting. 

I think the city should look at doing the same thing on the west side of 77. I've long thought (with my passion for [re]connecting disjointed streets) that the city should connect Frazier and North Summit and Andrill then to Dean to Newcastle/Newland to create a good north-south street all the way from Beatties Ford just below 85 to Wesley Heights Way. You can also then make a dedicated bike trail on the east side of this new street with significant portions, again, without any interruptions or interference by cars due to no intersections. Win/Win IMO. 

That's an interesting idea!  I do think creatively using extra space near roads for truly protected lanes makes sense.  Between greenways, treeless medians, the rail trail, sidewalks that nobody ever walks on, etc. you'd think we could get a connected network of protected lanes. 

[Charlotte Greenways and Trails]

Thanks for this thread - great stuff!  The city and county should be spending so much more $ and time to connect all of this.  We have so many great pieces in place, but without true connectivity that lets people ride their bike to work or take their kids to a game uptown on a truly protected path, these will remain underutilized.  Once connected, the trail network will be amazing for the health, traffic, enjoyment, and brand of Charlotte.     I just don’t see any real urgency.  For example, it’s going to take 2 years just to update one busy section along Kings Road that connects Freedom Park and Uptown.  It only took 2 years to build the Eiffel Tower.  

[Amazon HQ2]

8 hours ago, kermit said:

I don't believe we have see these documents before. I stumbled across portions of Charlotte's RFP for Amazon HQ2. The only portion I have glanced at so far is the section titled Logistics where they present the transit options available to the 25 (!) sites proposed to Amazon. My skim reinforces that those who put the Amazon proposal together were completely tone deaf to what Amazon was pretty clear about desiring -- the majority of the sites presented had little or no transit access and no plans were presented (in this chapter anyway) of how that could be remediated. Basically these guys were presenting amazon with sites that would have been great spots for a textile mill back in 1952. Presenting 25 possible sites was also appears (to me) to be a super dumb move -- Amazon wanted to hear about the best possible site per their stated requirements, they didn't want to wade through 25 different possibilities. [none of this is intended to suggest that we had a chance, even with a better proposal]

https://www.wccbcharlotte.com/content/uploads/2018/12/Site-Proposal.pdf

Here is proposed site #2 from the document:

Gosh that is bad.  Almost as cringeworthy as that  video they put together.  Ugh.   

[Charlotte Greenways and Trails]

On 4/30/2020 at 8:31 PM, sakami said:

Not sure where to put this but The Observer reported that the city is going to close some streets to allow for pedestrian zones in a Shared Street program. As someone who lives on one of the streets listed as a potential option I would love more details about how long the closures would be in place.
 

https://charlottenc.gov/Transportation/Programs/Pages/CharlotteSharedStreets.aspx

This is a great idea, but has been a total flop so far due to lack of compliance and enforcement - at least on the Westfield section.  At all times of day I’ve noticed cars blowing past the “road closed” signs, and not stopping at houses on the street.  Without enforcement, having the city encourage kids to ride their bike in the street is a disaster waiting to happen  

[Cap over Belk Freeway (277)]

1 hour ago, kermit said:

You are right about that, the vast majority drive. But as long as driving is heavily subsidized we are incentivizing people to drive more rather than switch to sustainable forms of transportation. Unfortunately, the World is on fire, pedestrian deaths are epidemic, obesity...  

For some reason we have decided to make a form of transportation which is quite literally killing us cheaper for everyone.  Wouldn't it be better to put that money into transportation modes which have a positive economic impact? (e.g. transit increases productivity by increasing density)

The first step in this process is removing roads, we may as well start with the removals which will generate the largest economic returns -- manufacturing more uptown land by removing the Belk will certainly yield $$$$ for the city (property taxes), for its workers (income), its businesses (higher density = higher productivity) and its residents (more tax revenue / square mile = lower rates).

 

I love this idea.  Imagine a ring of parks and walking/biking/scooter paths alongside the new development that would circle the city.  It could be our version of Atlanta's Beltline and connect the existing greenways to Pearl Street park, Thompson Park, Marshall Park, Alexander Street Park, Frazier Park, etc.  A truly connected loop of parks and greenways all around the city.  Drivers would adjust and quality of like would increase for everyone.  

[Optimist Park / Belmont Projects]

8 minutes ago, Jayvee said:

There is seating for 650 people. I think it’ll be all good lol 

Yesterday it was very hard to find seating at lunch.  I noticed most of the tables were taken up by people working, meeting, etc. rather than eating food.  I think they will need more

[Charlotte-Douglas Airport (CLT) Expansion]

1 hour ago, CLT2014 said:

Yes, it is their only Charlotte store. This chain has a limited US presence.  Almost all of their stores are in the Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, and Chicago metro areas. Their only stores outside those areas are at CLT, LAX, and Las Vegas airports. 

This place would absolutely crush it uptown.  I'm shocked at how slow chains like this have been to move into Uptown.  Chopt and Chipotle, which are supposedly on the way, are going to be absolutely slammed 

[Learning from Other Places]

On 5/18/2019 at 7:05 PM, Desert Power said:

I wish I was creative enough to come up with ideas to renovate or use Latta Arcade more.  Brevard Court is always pretty busy 

It really has been neglected and yet has so much potential. It’s a shame so many great, small restaurant concepts are going to Tompkins Hall when Latta could have those in the middle of uptown.  It needs to be made just a little bit nicer and opened up on the evening and weekends, and it could be a real destination.

[Design Center Expansion in South End]

The Agenda has had a hugely positive impact on the city of Charlotte in my opinion.  I also agree with others pointing out how important location is - if you put Golden Cow in the Jenni’s location it would be killing it as well.  Hopefully some local brands will get the confidence to pay up for the top locations.

[Good New Restaurants]

Any idea why the Chik Fil A express closed?  That would do incredibly well in that spot today.  

[Design Center Expansion in South End]

On 4/2/2019 at 3:32 PM, archiham04 said:

I agree 100%  5pm on the rail trial is mind boggling.

The city should be doubling and tripling down on the rail trail - its the best thing I've seen the city do and still could be so much better 

[Cap over Belk Freeway (277)]

10 minutes ago, kermit said:

The land above is certainly and asset. They way we arrived at this discussion was from people saying a cap was too expensive — so I suggested what if we take the cheaper option and just remove the freeway.

It is certainly possible that the connectivity benefits the Belk provides to 80,000 daily drivers is the highest and best use. However we can’t be remotely certain of that until we fairly analyze the alternative possibilities. 

Even here, on urban planet, the assumption that cars are the best/ only option for connectivity is rampant. I am just suggesting that we think it through.

Great stuff Kermit and I largely agree - if you build roads, people are going to use them but if you take them away people will adjust.  The rail trail is now one of the best and most unique assets we have in the city and we should do everything we can to expand and improve that.  Also this aligns nicely with long-term trends that are just beginning now and are only heading in one direction - driverless cars, ride sharing, scooters, etc.  It seems like a no brainer for the city to plan for and begin to embrace those instead of building more huge parking decks...

[First Ward Urban Village / North Tryon Vision Plan]

On 3/9/2019 at 11:34 AM, TCLT said:

There's definitely some weird pieces along the River Walk, but in all seriousness the trail is really an incredible asset for San Antonio. You can walk or water taxi from the heart of the downtown tourist area several miles north and south with parks, cultural attractions, residential buildings, art pieces, and food/beverage options all along the way. It's well lit, welcoming, and well activated pedestrian experience. It feels like what the rail trail should be.

Charlotte really should be doubling and then tripling down on the success of the rail trail - it has all the pieces in place to be something really special 

[Charlotte Bike / Scooter Sharing]

19 hours ago, tozmervo said:

Hard disagree. Church and College sidewalks are often more congested since they are typically much narrower than Tryon. 

Other than rush hour and lunch on weekdays they are mostly empty - my office window looks out at one of the two streets we're discussing and it's a simple fact.  I think some simple rules around usage would solve a lot of the potential issues - "people walking have the right of way, if you're on a scooter and you run into someone walking it's your fault, etc.".  People are going to keep riding these on the sidewalks so we might as well create rules that deal with reality rather than trying to change it.  

[Charlotte Bike / Scooter Sharing]

The sidewalk ban should have only included Tryon - other sidewalks uptown are usually empty, including Church and College

[Charlotte Tech News]

On 10/12/2018 at 9:47 AM, atlrvr said:

To comment blindly on Tresata, as the previous poster did as well, $1B valuations are not un-commonly "manufactured".  And while the post was filled with cynicism, I'll just speculate that like many "unicorn" valuations on high growth/high potential/high risk deals, there are lots of levers.

 

I don't think this puts Charlotte in a bad light, per see, rather it's a bit where we are in the tech cycle, and there are plenty of examples in Silicon Valley where you see deals structured to imply $1B but the investor has far more protections than a big blank check for a small part of the company....also, I'd say that investors push for unicorn valuations more than companies as there is a halo affect and egos at play.

Lastly, I think the skepticism around the actual product reflects their original business model (analytics consulting), but it seems like they have developed an actual software package that takes over passive data collection, warehousing, analytics, and learning.....but I dunno...seems interesting to me.

This doesn't pass the sniff test for me either and their reviews from current and former employees don't help.  I don't have proof but I'd bet that this ends poorly.  This is from Glassdoor for example:

"This company is one massive hoax without a real product. Founders are dishonest and will cheat you of stock and salary on top of trying to humiliate you with inappropriate jokes and comments. They’re not interested in talent, they’re interested in hiring individuals who will do whatever they ask. Turnover is insane.

I’m pretty sure certain things they do are illegal.

This is the Theranos of Charlotte."

[1000 Room Convention Center Hotel]

16 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

I think everybody would be down for an aquarium if a rich person wanted to fund one (like the Shedd Aquarium, Georgia Aquarium, or Monterrey Bay Aquarium). Somebody with the money and passion behind it can truly build a great aquarium. Without the financial backing and commitment to operating a non-profit aquarium where the care of animals and research is a top priority... you end up with crappy for profit aquariums like SeaLife at Concord Mills where the overcharge you for a 20 minute walk through a fish tank. 

I honestly don't think the city and county would be able to execute on funding a quality $250 million + aquarium all on their own and have it turn out well. 

Charlotte, and most cities in general, don't have great track records spending $ on big projects like this and if they make sense financially someone will probably do it anyways.  The city needs to focus on laying the groundwork for organic development to occur - parks, transportation, ease of business, homelessness, etc. - and then get out of the way 

[1000 Room Convention Center Hotel]

10 hours ago, Phillydog said:

I think expanding on the rail trail.  That's an amazing concept.  San Antonio has it's "river".  The CLT Rail Trail could be a string of attractions.  Part botantical gardens, industrial museum, passive recreation, water features...new buildings would have to provide outdoor public space.  Restaurants, cafes and shops lining the Trail.  "Attractions" can be organic and built from a variety of financial sources.  It doesnt have to be an aquarium.  

Yes this is a way better idea than an aquarium.  Think about all of the organic development happening around Bearden Park now - it’s a thriving area because the city built a nice outdoor space.   An aquarium would likely end up like the NASCAR HOF - a terrible investment of tax payer dollars that doesn’t improve the city’s street scape at all.

[1000 Room Convention Center Hotel]

1 hour ago, kermit said:

Yea, I agree that as an investment, convention centers are pretty awful. 

Having said that, this money is from the bed tax, and a commitment was made to spend that revenue only on projects that increase local room-nights.  Given that restriction I think you could make a case that a convention center expansion is probably about the best use of the money you could find  (certainly has a higher room-night ROI than a new Panthers stadium, and the Panthers sale certainly drove the timing of this discussion).

The real question here is what investment of the money will generate the largest number of new visitors? (from more than a day’s drive away)

It was a serious lost opportunity not to partner with Lincoln Harris to build ballroom / exhibition space above their retail at the Observer site.

Thanks - helpful to know the details of the bed tax and that does change my opinion if it has to be spent on something.  I walked all around the convention center recently and I'm probably just a bit grumpy about how terrible the street scape is all around it - several blocks that are just a complete dead zone.  It's literally a fortress surrounded by walls.  

[1000 Room Convention Center Hotel]

In my opinion spending any tax dollars on this is a terrible idea.  The convention center is already a terrible use of space in what is becoming prime real estate uptown (no street level retail, huge walls around it, etc.).  We should spend the money on making the city as friendly for living and visiting as possible - parks, restaurants, rail, working on the homeless issue, etc. - and not worry about these mega projects that never seem to generate a good return.  

http://www.governing.com/blogs/bfc/col-convention-center-promised-benefits-rarely-materialize.html

https://www.citylab.com/solutions/2012/06/stop-building-convention-centers/2210/

https://www.brookings.edu/research/space-available-the-realities-of-convention-centers-as-economic-development-strategy/

 

[Amazon HQ2]

12 minutes ago, Dale said:

Nashville has an "It" buzz to it that Charlotte doesn't have. Of course that doesn't explain why boring Raleigh made the cut.

Amazon's biggest need with the new HQ is to attract and hire great tech talent.  They think they can get millennial/tech types to move to Nashville b/c it's cool and they think they can hire in RDU since there is a bigger tech presence  there already in addition to better universities relative to Charlotte.  It stinks because I think any millennial and/or tech types in RDU or at a college up there would move to CLT in a heartbeat to work for Amazon, so I don't think it's an actual advantage, but it's definitely a perceived advantage.  

[CATS Long Term Transit Plan - Silver, Red Lines]

On 11/22/2017 at 3:26 PM, Cadi40 said:

I feel like if people had to wait for a people mover then wait for a train they would rather just take an Uber or a taxi to Uptown. However I do like the people mover idea even without the Light rail near it.

Driverless technology and ride sharing should be a big part of this debate in general.  It is certain that getting around in a driverless taxi in the future (whether it's Uber/Tesla/Google/etc) will be far cheaper and more convenient than taxi's and Uber's today.  Given that should we be spending billions of dollars on other forms of transportation, or should we be spending the money to make our city adopt to the new technology instead?  I fear this huge spending will look like a big mistake 20 years from now when it is cheaper, faster and easier to hop in a driverless Uber than to take the light rail.