urbandesign

This is great news. Similar to how develpment was spurred along in Southend. Of course, the ultimate increase for retail was close to nil (very few people rode the trolly and few yet spent money in the adjacent retail). Hopefully, the retail that stuck it out will now benefit from light rail. Just the idea of the trolly transformed S.End dramatically and right now Elizabeth is light years ahead of where S. End was before the trolly (or L. Rail) was promised.

Two good points. It'll be a fantastic tailgating spot, if it's not leased out to vendors and event type stuff on football days. If it's a free-for-all it'll be like Pops in the Park where people throw down blankets before the sun comes up; except it'll be rabid football fans carving out territory, instead of wine sipping socialites. Should be great. For the record, both are (will be) a great time. However it ends up the park will add a great element events at BofA Stadium and Uptown in general. Charlotte (especially central Charlotte) is in desparate need of an small-mid (500-2000) sized outdoor music/event venue. I'm not sure if having it on county property is ideal, but it could work. Of course, creating a venue that is wide-open vs. one that can be limited (when desired) to paying customers requires completely different design. Freedom Park and South Park have the wide-open type ampitheaters that can't easily book smaller pay-for-the-entry type events. I'd love to see some free/donation theater stuff in the warm months at this park, Shakespeare in the park is always fun...

My thoughts exactly. Talk about ten years of lost opportunity! It's their land and they can leave it vacant forever, but it makes me a little sick when people are blinded by their fear of losing control. For the (very) long term, the worst thing that could happen is a poorly designed, distasteful condo development. With bad retail, office or apartments, redevelopment is an option (limited # of parites involved in a transaction); but with big condo developments it's virtually impossible to acquire all the interest required to tear down and rebuild. Condos are forever. Thanks to everyone that enlightened me on the history of that corner.

I'm hoping it gets subdivided, Office/professional/small-retail would be a great fit for the back/north portion of the space (with a separate entrance, of course); I agree 100% with the sidewalk dining - I'd still love to see a smaller bar/restraunt in the front on the corner. It's a really nice space, but it's just huge. Can someone provide, or direct me to, a brief history of the Epicurian lot and why nothing is being done there? Well, besides putting up a freshened "coming soon" sign every 3yrs. I always just assumed it was tied up in a trust or some other legal issues... That's a whole lota taxes and lost revenue being flushed down the comode every year. I've been in Dilworth for almost 10yrs and haven't gotten the bottom line on that one - haven't really looked that hard though...

I agree with limited bagging, on a few streets, during major events like NFL games (Vick should be electrocuted, then revived, drowned, then revived, shot...). I also don't have a big problem with it during rush hour, though bags are not used then, it's just illegal to park on many streets during rush hour (bag or not), enforced by immediate towing. However, it seems random streets seem are bagged on ramdom evenings and weekends? I'm curious if the city has a schedule/map of when/why this is going to happen? Somebody must know...

I think of gridlock as several square blocks of "the grid" being severely locked up, not just two congested parallel streets with people cruising. With very few exceptions, at worst, you're only going to have to sit in congestion until the next cross street. You might be forced to maken an illegal right turn to get off Tryon, which is rediculous. I'm all for ped safety, but c'mon... I don't think bagging the parking meters has any impact on congestion, with the cars and cabs constantly stopped at the side of the road anyhow.

I've heard the same thing, but I've very rarely, with the exception of Tryon, seen significant gridlock in Uptown. Even with football and basketball games, it usually only takes a few minutes to get out of Uptown - bigger issues on Morehead and I-77 if you make that mistake after a game. I don't have a problem with the gridlock on Tryon, as it slow traffic and is more pedestrian friendly. Also, on Tryon the lights seem to be intentionally unsynchronized - not sure if it's intentional, but it seems to be impossible to make more than two consecutive intersections without getting caught at a light in normal traffic. Basically, if you're in a hurry stay off Tryon - no big deal. Back to the point, it seems like those F'n red bags are up all the time for no good reason. Does anybody know the real reason? I mean really know actual reason, because I don't and have not heard anything that makes much sense. Not that the real reason will make any sense what-so-ever, of course. I can't believe it has anything to do with city workers not wanting to work. It costs money to buy those lil' red beotchs and the associated locks, not to mention paying someone to install/remove them each time. Sorry about the off topic rant...