southslider

If there's one good thing to come out of that completely hideous sign on our skyline, it's completing the gap in our skyline between Uptown and South End.

No Republican has won the popular vote for the presidency since the 1980s, except the incumbent during 9-11. North Carolina has been a roughly 50-50 state for much of the current century but only seen Republicans increase their seats in the NC General Assembly. It took the prior State Supreme Court to finally deliver a fair 50-50 Congressional map that remains threatened by the power-hungry state legislature.

When you design a street with more than seven times the space for fast-moving metal than slow-moving flesh, you've not designed a street, but a murderous highway. Buses should only stop on streets, not highways. Wilkinson has ths space for bus lanes that would calm traffic and narrow the crossing for pedestrians. Until there is political will to reallocate space to more vulnerable users walking and riding a corridor, there is no vision for zero deaths.

Shared spaces are essential to cities. Inconsiderate riders smoking still pose much less danger than selfish drivers smoking tires as they zip around you on a roadway. Still, public spaces must strive for better, and can succeed when both designed well and well maintained. Design can prevent blind spots. Blind spots provide opportunity. Maintenance upholds decorum. The broken window theory is that any neglect breaks down decorum. The culture of decency is fragile in public spaces, and even more so, when not properly maintained.

^^Not surprised the City and State lack communication. Easier to spread divisive rhetoric about each other than spend even a minute trying to understand other's perspectives. And just forget about trying to find common ground.

Greyhound at 4th and Graham covers part of the planned Charlotte Gateway Station site.

^The greatest difficulty may be convincing Greyhound to move.

Longer terms on Council won't reform a system dominated by partisan primary voters.

But I was promised a river in place of 277

All y'all might could tell me what he was fixing to say by this.

^Urban design is essentially more crucial than density. Height matters less than vibrant street-level spaces and the interaction of streets, as if an outdoor room. Urban spaces must carefully balance the invitation and comfort intrinsically sensed by people to linger, interact, and move freely.

The NC House Speaker has let it be known under no circumstances while he is in power will Charlotte be seeing any additional taxing authority. And when people show you who they are, believe them. However, Moore has also shown his biggest political vulnerability, and that's the NC mess that is transportation funding. Moore is actually weak when it comes to dealing with the combined voices of all NC communities who are immensely disappointed in NCDOT. The successful lobbying strategy isn't what any one city or even one region needs, but what all of the state deeply craves. No amount of urban-rural divide rhetoric by any established politician can stop true reform when it truly addresses statewide problems.

^3-car platforms and trains would also be the appropriate project right now to take advantage of increased federal funds without increasing local funds

Even if the stars aligned, CATS won't be ready for a Full Funding Grant Agreement for Silver Line until the BIL/IIJA expires. And since Council and MTC are keeping the higher cost alignment mostly missing Uptown, the project may not even achieve a high enough rating to gain Federal approval to enter Final Design.

Amen to the full list. Focus on operations. Rebuild public trust. Put riders and operators first. Rededicate resources to implement Envision My Ride, instead of the admittedly delayed 2030 Plan. Finish the Gateway Station through a private partner. There are so many other more cost-effective and long overdue needs to pursue instead of anything needing enabling state legislation and an area vote. At this point, Silver Line and Red Line are just energy-sucking, politically volatile distractions from core responsibilities and realistic opportunities. Shelve these futile, big-ticket projects. And seriously get to work on what can be achieved more immediately. Return to ridership wins for a growing region.

^Not only will cities with existing walkable fabric have the upper hand, but also those with existing rail systems. Until transit building in the US can reign in costs, even super dense legacy cities will have a hard time expanding their systems, let alone a Silver Line of more than quadrupled costs over Blue Line.

On the local match side, Raleigh has a similar local sales tax funding source that Charlotte-Mecklenburg already has in place. Similarly, CATS could pursue BRT in multiple corridors for way less than the now $9 Billion Silver Line,

Search Charlotte Explorer Map and you can see an interactive map with aerial and parcel layers along with the Silver Line alignment. The latest design combines the Pierson Dr and Sharon Amity Rd interchanges with a new frontage road between the two. The Village Lake area would see several apartment buildings taken for a more direct alignment between Wallace Rd and Monroe Rd.

Adding just one rail line will no more fix Charlotte than adding free lanes to 77. The more effective plan is a package of smaller plans across more communities. Quick wins without raising taxes will provide more areas with more benefits.

It's an increase in tax base, which transit helped create, especially near stations. That's the very nature of value capture. If local governments decide to lower the tax rate to nullify the increase by going with a revenue-neutral rate, then they have decided to forgo capturing the increased value.

No, I want the increase in assessed value to fund transit, not increase tax rates.

Tax values result in more revenue than rates. Leverage the incremental increase in property values instead of dramatically increasing rates.

True, this is an option bypassing the state, and if seeking alignments for development, then value capture along transit lines also make sense to use property taxes instead.

Sure, neither state legislators nor area voters may support more funding for transit without more funding for roads. Still, spending the bulk of that new revenue on just one highway project makes as much sense as spending the lion's share on just one light rail line. Marrying two bad plans does not make for a good compromise.

^as if North Mecklenburg would tax themselves more to let South Mecklenburg have more free lanes on the same 77 corridor