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MATB1980

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Posts posted by MATB1980

  1. ^^^

    I agree completely. Whether people like it or not we have no choice but to start building more compact cities with robust mass transit infrastructure. Energy prices are going to continually climb and we can no longer afford to keep our heads in the sand about ubran sprawl. Sprawl is no longer viable and the world economy is not going to support them. I am actually pretty excited about this though because we're probably going to find our quality of lives improved greatly with greater access to the arts and entertainment, shorter commuting times, and more social interaction with more people living closer together. The Vue is helping with this push here in Charlotte and I can't wait to see it finished.

  2. As development begins to take up land near the South Blue line the pressure will be go higher because of price of land and space available. And the closer you get to uptown do not be surprise to see a 30 stories + going up one of these days. What we are looking at is the best use of the land.

    I totally agree, this is just the beginning I suspect of seeing higher development all along the Blue Line. This is really the whole purpose of rapid mass transit. Lets get building some mass!

    The question at this point though is when do they begin sitework? I can't wait to see to this develpoment go up, the skyline will be looking pretty amazing when these three towers make their presence felt.

  3. I can't wait to hear the updates on this. The sooner we get decent highspeed rail into Charlotte the better. With the airline industry the way it is, I think the future of rail as a means of long distance travel is starting to look more and more appealing. Of course the N.CR is something I am waiting on too as I plan on using it from day one if it finally gets built. I dream of a day I can sell my car without replacing it!

  4. I am very sad for the dog.

    On the other hand, I'm imagining another 3 midrise towers in the midground of the photo and I'm thinking it will actually be a much BETTER view.

    Whatever.

    I completely agree you on that. I would much rather be part of a new skyline than look at one in the distance and having a view of 3x new towers right outside my window would be pretty exciting for me. Just my opinion though...

  5. BA stopped flying to Charlotte due to lack of interest. Their prices where considerably higher than USA, so most people chose to fly USA to the UK. This was in the days where flying was considerably cheaper and I would expect that demand isn't as high now. I see no advantage in flying to Heathrow from Charlotte over going to Gatwick. Heathrow is more congested, more difficult to get through, and really doesn't offer any advantages to central London over flying to Gatwick. In both cases the easiest way to get into London is just to take the express train. The tube does go to Heathrow, but it is a very long trip (over an hour) because the underground does not have express service and it is a very long way.

    I would think a Heathrow would be more sucessful than a Gatwick link. Being a Brit myself I fly back home regularly and have used both Heathrow and Gatwick. Gatwick is definitely the better choice for going into London but lets not forget that there are a lot of people like myself who are going to other places in England too. Flying into Heathrow is 100x easier to deal with especially if you're heading out into the West Country. As a result of this I actually fly via DC, Chicago or Phily now because I prefer the convenience of Heathrow. It would be interesting to know how many people follow the same logic as me, because my feeling is that US maybe pleasantly surprised by the response - plus since CLT is an expanding hub it would be perfect to have other people connect here (I'm probably a little biased on the last point though :lol: )

  6. There are certainly a lot of people who ride the LYNX the entire length of the line, but CATS isn't operating the Blue line as a commuter rail system. All the trains stop at every stop. I'm not sure what you are trying to say here. Are you saying that CATS should slow the trains down and put more stops on the Blue line?

    I don't think CATS is necessarily operating the blue line as a CR, but I would agree that the majority of people who are using the rail are doing so for commuting purposes from 485.

  7. So what happened to construction will start back up in 30 days?

    The original post stated the 30 day timeframe on the 11th, so I would guess we should see some action within the next 2 weeks. Fingers are crossed.

  8. so i don't know whether to be excited, or not, but on the webcam it looks like the curved signage (AT&T Billboard) is electrical now??? or is some bright light being shined on it from somewhere?

    Sorry to say it's still the bright orange billboard we've all come to know and hate. I think it was just the spotlights reflecting in such a was as to blind the camera.

  9. Living in this very corridor over in Biddleville by JCSU, I would be okay with some sort of local corridor tax that would help get the project up and running. Relying on the FTA, County wide taxes or the state to free up cash this project is only ever going to delay the thing.

    I agree with you ChiefJoJo that the city doing this alone would be of great benefit in lowering Cats operating budget and avoiding MTC's issues. Plus once the system is up and running then I would guess that the remaining Streetcar lines wouldn't be too far behind in consturction after the city/MTC/CATS etc see the significant benefits that this first segment would bring.

  10. I don't know if anyone has seen this yet but there is an article on the CBJ today about bringing the Streetcar system forward. No dates are mentioned for when if it does indeed get brought forward but I am hopeful that we may be in a for a street car way before the originally planned 2018 - maybe if we're lucky we'll see something by 2012. Anyway, for anyone interested in the article here is the link:

    http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte...2706000^1587987

  11. I think a cheaper alternative to Light Rail for getting to places like South Park, the hospitals, etc would be electric streetcar like the one that just opened in Seattle.

    Here is a great little video showing it's inaugural run.

    I could easily see one of these going up East Blvd and up East Trade to Elizabeth and Presby Hospital.

    I totally agree with you on that. I think that is what they plan for the future street car system here in Charlotte anyway but it can't come soon enough as far as I am concerned. These types of systems are used commonly in Europe in large towns and cities with great effect, and I think a similiar one here in Charlotte would make a great impact on the city - both economically and congestion wise. Now we just need the city planners to condense development and limit sprawl and we could create quite the model city!

  12. OK....so the next million dollar question....

    What will be erected in the current Family Dollar's location?

    To be honest I don't know if anyone has the answer to this question yet. The plan is to demolish the existing site and start something new there but as far I know there are no concrete plans yet. There is a grand master plan though for the whole W. Trade/Beaties Ford corridor though that includes new retail/residential/entertainment along that strech with plans eventually for it to go all the way out to I-85. The Street car is apparently is planed to go up to JCSU but the plan was for that to feed the entire corridor to revitalize the whole stretch. Right now I guess we'll have to wait and see but I'll post new info if I find anything more out.

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