15895
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Posts posted by 15895
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14 minutes ago, CLT Development said:
Not sure where I said I didn't believe you. Boy are you sensitive. I brought a 100-pound plus prep center from Container Store home on the subway, you do what you gotta do when you live in an urban environment.
I’m not sensitive, I’m just responding to what you said to me. Sometimes I think You respond to my post with wrong information like the below & act surprised when I still dont agree
In fact, I think I tried to be respectful and say it works for you. But you’re more interested in talking about NYC and the entire country.
I also said I think this development is great the way it is and probably couldn’t do a better job. The office component provides business diversified business and revenue with the residents at night.
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10 minutes ago, CLT Development said:
You must have more than two arms, or weren't picking up very many things from each place. I've absolutely done some shopping sprees in other urban places, but the mixture of places you mentioned I'd never do on a single trip, as many are destination retail places. Adding quick transit to Midtown would do wonders for Charlotte, also messaging more effectively about the ease of bus transportation to Plaza Midwood via Central.
So you think I’m lying? Do you want a list?
From B&N it was a French to English visual dictionary.
From Macy’s, it was a hoodie, a little Kuerig coffee machine, and a queen size comforter that was vacuum sealed the size of a small briefcase.
From the weed store, it was two packs of THC infused Ocean-Breeze Gummies.
The dog was dropped off at camp. I used that bookbag to carry smaller things.
The post office was to drop off cards
From Pottery Barn it was a picture frame as a gift and I accidentally bought myself something I have no idea what it is but it was cute and I want it for a new table.
CVS it was wrapping paper which yes was a struggle with the tubes because I had 5 but it was across the street from my place and my last stop so I figured I could hobble.
in 1 trip…
If I was getting more, I would have brought my little cart thing. Or just went later or the next day…
Edit: The Krispy Kreme was the small box of 3. Because the bigger box is too inconvenient.
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18 minutes ago, CLT Development said:
I haven't tried to pull any area into anything. I simply stated that that scenario by anything other than automobile wasn't possible anywhere in the United States including NYC.
And I said I literally just did it so I don’t know why you keep repeating its not possible anywhere? And I regularly make those type of errands. It wasn’t some special trip… it’s normal, regular stuff people need in Charlotte too. IKEA… really anything. Normal stuff… And it’s the same thing I did in Charlotte. Same places. And if the bus to SouthPark was Better, I’d do it again (I’ve tried it twice. Once From uptown. Once from I think Scaleybark. Time… consuming…)
DC is not the most urban city in the U.S., so I have a hard time believing NY, San Francisco, Chicago it’s not possible but somehow in DC it is…
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10 minutes ago, CLT Development said:
You proposed a scenario that you did in I'm guessing in DC... So you kind of asked for that out of Charlotte perspective.
Running errands without a car is certainly tough in Charlotte, but I do it pretty regularly, just in quick daily trips, just like I did in *CENSOR BAR*
Those are the *same* places I went while I was in Charlotte…. The same habits… You don’t think other Charlotteans are going to B&N, Macy’s, Pottery Barn, pick up their kids, post office all in one swoop?
I didn’t say “this cute little local book store in a charming row home and the cute little toy store beside it”. I said the post office. The doggy daycare. Macy’s. B&N. Krispy Kreme. I like Pottery Barn. The same stuff…. If the buses to SouthPark were more reliable, that starts to become possible.
You’re still trying to drag other areas into it. It’s not necessary. We can leave NYC out of it and keep this focused on Charlotte unless it’s somehow relevant….
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7 minutes ago, CLT Development said:
A day like this would be impossible anywhere without a car, including when I lived in Brooklyn.
Well I literally just did it so. I just left off Barnes & Noble & Macy’s… (Edit: and the weed store & Krispy Kreme, lol)
Im not really interested in talking about NY or elsewhere, tbh. I’m not interested in getting into discussions about elsewhere, I’m just strictly talking about Charlotte within context of Charlotte so. It’d be great if we could not drift bringing other places into the equation.
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25 minutes ago, CLT Development said:
LOL, yes a 6 figure salary will absolutely walk to Whole Foods several times a week, I know many that do, including myself. I shop there a few times a week and take groceries home to NoDa on the train. It's super easy and a great place to wait for the train. I also have grabbed a beer a few dozen times and watched people stream inside inside from the street vs the parking deck. It is an amenity that people are reaching on foot.
I “hearted” your post. I have a hard time imagining people walking from SouthEnd to WholeFoods for groceries in significant numbers (Ive walked several times from a friends house that lived in 550 Uptown to SouthEnd when we missed a train)and it wasn’t great nor much foot traffic any of the times). And it was cold. And dark. And seemed longer than it probably was.
I liked your post because, it works for you. And I can appreciate your experience. I value access, getting to wherever I want, the freedom of mobility and I feel like there’s more freedom in car ownership in Charlotte. If I need to run to CVS, run to Target, drop something off at the post office, get Christmas stuff or check out new furniture, drop off my dog at doggy daycare, it just seems easier and have the options to go to the specific gym I like, the specific restaurant. I felt confined in Catalyst trying to not use a car.
It just doesn’t work for me nor enjoyable to rely nearly exclusively on transit in its current form in Charlotte. I think the answer is better transit than wishing Queens Bridge was all residential.
Im also surprised how so few here live in Multifamily housing nor live in center city.
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2 minutes ago, CLT Development said:Why would they have to "very often." Pretty much everything you need is a 5-15 min walk away, this is likely the most walkable part of Charlotte.
• Closest Grocery (Whole Foods) – 10 min walk, could be as close as a 5-7 min walk once the Rail Trail bridge is done.
• Closest Pharmacy (CVS) – 12 min walk away
• Closest Urgent Care (Concentra) – 12 min walk away
• Closest Dentist (SouthEnd Dentistry) – 11 min walk away
• Closest Quick Breakfast (Goodwurst)– 3 min away
• Closest Sit Down Breakfast (Yolk)– 4 min away
• Closest Hair Cut, Nails, Massage – 5 min away
• Closest Lunch (Culinary Dropout) – 2 min walk away
• Closest Dinner (Culinary Dropout) – 2 min walk away
• Closest Coffee (Waterbean) – 4 min away
6 Figure Salary walking from QueensBridge to WholeFoods several x a week? Doesn’t seem like something high income earners would want to do.Light Rail with 10 minute frequencies? Yeah. To WholeFoods & CVS. Better, rapid bus service throughout center city to get to Freedom Park, churches, TJ Maxxx, various restaurants, etc.
I’m just saying I think the project is as good as it can get to adding vibrancy but mobility is what will be the driving force behind more vibrancy, people out etc. I think the mixed-use is better than just pure residential, actually.
But there’s so many other reasons why people need to drive a vehicle very regularly if transit isn’t improved. It sounds like a nice house arrest to rely on that list you provided assuming transit doesn’t get revamped.
Meanwhile, given how walkable and such it is, maybe people should stop taking pics while driving a vehicle and rely on transit for picture updates.
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I wonder where BRT would even go in Charlotte. All the routes I think of seem geared towards commuters and at that point, would it only be BRT during the work hours? Or would suburbs get fast frequent and heavily invested in bus infrastructure before the inner city… and is there much demand for that service (relative to the investment) that the Express buses don’t already accomplish?
I’d love to see Freedom have a bus only lane + protected bike lanes and government $ to flow into it to bring more affordable & low income housing (with Market Rate components). I think that corridor has a tonnnn of potential, but I think only intentional action (laws) by the city can make that successful. Light Rail down Wilkinson, ~12 bus with bus lanes on Freedom, already have the Gold Line and densify the neighborhoods between Brookshire down to Wilkinson. That’d be so awesome IMO.
From Morehead around Wesley Heights and along Berryhill Road, it looks like it has strong bones to be a future SouthEnd (not in character or anything but in scale of development)
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3 hours ago, DownEast said:
Richmond's BRT has been very successful. One line going down Broad St from downtown through some historically dense hoods. It has spurred a decent amount of TOD as well.
Damn. Beat me to it.
Nice analysis by Kermit indeed.
The one thing about Richmond’s BRT is I don’t quite recall the fanfare of it being BRT. It seemed like an emphasis on the overall bus network, bus lane and optimizing the network to be overall frequent, simple and focus on stations and eyeing a new facility downtown. BRT seemed to me like, I dunno, just a part of an overall revamp whereas cities clamoring for federal dollars for it that I’ve seen seem to be treating it like “build BRT and the rest will follow” similar to how LRT can encourage development, revitalize areas, etc. But I think BRT is only a piece of the puzzle.
The GGWash actually has a lot of great articles about Richmond’s transit (for anyone interested in reading. There’s a ton of great analysis for those not interested in Richmond. I’m not interested in Richmond, but the articles have great discussions and links)
Future BRT discussions:
https://ggwash.org/view/91794/richmond-releases-alignment-of-second-pulse-bus-rapid-transit-route
High Level of the transformation (from Aug 2022)
With this interesting bit about a transportation authority (which is very relevant to Charlotte as I know some here are big champions)
Finally, the establishment of the Central Virginia Transportation Authority in 2020 has created GRTC’s first dedicated revenue stream and established a regional body to foster cooperation amongst localities. 2022 could be the most exciting year for transit since the great redesign of 2018 with a historic 20% increase in bus service in the works. Plus, the city has painted the Pulse lanes red from 3rd Street to I-195, thanks in part to a state grant.
Theres a ton more of in-depth analysis (a ton that are recent) here with lots of sources to other articles https://ggwash.org/search/908344757bc875e4ad97bb93cbca94a5
Also as DownEast notes, Richmond does have historically dense neighborhoods and the BRT essentially runs down the middle (pretty much Highway 250, which is a straight line.)
In the DC area, we have two BRT’s. I’m most familiar with MetroWay (below) which is *slower* than sin despite having mostly dedicated bus lanes, grand shelters, etc. in Arlington. I’d call it a failure. Or at least not something to emulate.
I think what makes it awful is that it isn’t a straight line. Partly due to highway 1 up north where it’s an elevated highway, and the turns, etc. Which is how I imagine it would be for Charlotte (having detours to hit higher densities of movement as opposed to staying mostly on one main road)
In DC, we have normal bus service that is more frequent (and 24 hour) routes. But they mostly go in straight lines. So I just get the feeling rapid bus works best in straight lines of dense areas.
I don’t think Charlotte should pursue BRT in the way Houston or I guess Wake are. I mean, sure pursue it but I don’t think it’ll do much. Not in growth. Not in development. Not in improved transit much. I think just increases frequencies on certain bus routes are better uses of resources and I think the eye should be on LRT & we shouldn’t be pressed with Houston or Raleigh getting federal dollars. I’m just not sure it’s going to pan out.
But. That’s my opinion on BRT. I think Charlotte isn’t missing out. And I don’t think it’d encourage much dev. I think it’s a fad and the Silver Line in the form of LRT will be by far superior to BRT, as hard as it is to ignore the fanfare surrounding these grants.
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49 minutes ago, kermit said:
IMO the city decided they were unwilling to sacrifice car lanes for BRT when it pulled the plug early on the Central ave bus lane trial. BRT without dedicated lanes is just a bus, and we all know how well buses have been working in Charlotte.
I also have concerns about the ability of BRT to stimulate density and walkability, but Raleigh will tell us that tale soon.
The BRT trend gives me “Obama-era” streetcar vibes.
It also seems the areas getting BRT are places that have less optimal transit & less state support for mass transit. Sort of like how Streetcars were pursued due to seeming that was the only transit that was viable to pursue from a funding standpoint.
Looking at Houston where they’re spending a ton on BRT, it looks like some portions are in the middle of giantttt roads. For me, I’m always a split between… no transit improvements vs. bad transit improvements. I’m still not sure which is better. Because bad transit seems to be future justification of less investment in the future.
Are there any good examples of BRT in the U.S.?
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Downtown Portland is on a completely different league than uptown Charlotte. From Louis Vuitton, Apple, Nike (which is moving into a larger two-level space) to local Retailers, local book stores, downtown Portland has a ton of offerings. No Legacy Union, but that can be Charlotte’s hidden gem. (And when I say Uptown Charlotte, I’m narrowing it to mean the area between College & Graham)
MAGA lies & anti-urban tropes aside, I don’t think any city is immune to not losing their team. Maybe a few like the Yankees where they seem like an overall brand staple to the league. LA didn’t have a football team several years ago and now it has 2, lol. So anything is possible.
I think it’s going to be right place / right time of a scenario moreso than anything. It has all the goods in terms of the merit, as do other places.
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Atherton Mill gives me Ballantyne Village vibes. (I love the way it looks though)
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1 hour ago, videtur quam contuor said:
Just wondering:
For the participants on this board, if you were considering (or hypothetically) leasing a residence for more than a year, which type would be your choice. Even if you currently own your home please participate. Also, no duplex/quad/ADU options. This is limited to multi-family housing. Assume cost is equal.
2-3 storey walk-up
5 plus matchstick palace. Texas doughnut or other style if you wish to be specific.
Higher rise concrete/steel construction
Reasons? Experience?
All else equal & specific to Charlotte, 5-Plus Matchstick maybe.
- The Tallest residential I’ve lived in was Catalyst in uptown and the elevators were so freakin slow (and it was detached parking.) it was so hard to get motivated to leave, wait in the elevator, go to the parking garage, drive down the maze of parking. Every time I needed something that was directly nearby which was often.
- 5-floor matchbox, I feel like they come with more amenities. You still get good views, usually nice rooftops and good amenities that you’d find in the high rise but a bit more amenity space and elevators don’t take as long and the parking situation isn’t as intense. I currently live in an 11 floor building and it’s best if both worlds imo. Restaurants in the bottom is another nice amenity.
- walk-up is cute. I’ve lived in one, it was very nice to be able to immediately pop outside. But there were less amenities and not as great views, less sunlight.
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2 hours ago, PuppiesandKittens said:
Downtown Greenville, SC has the following on Main Street:
Madewell
Anthropologie
J. McLaughlin
Bluemercury
Warby Parker
Lululemon
And lots more. And Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, etc. and a lot more are coming to a new development downtown, some relocating from the mall.
These are all stores that you can walk to, since they're literally on Main Street (or, for Williams-Sonoma, it will be just a few hundred feet from Main Street).
This is 1950's-style downtown shopping- it's actually downtown and if you're standing in the exact middle of downtown, you don't have to drive to it. That's what people are looking for. Charlotte doesn't have that. It could; there is no reason I am aware of why Founders Hall doesn't have these kinds of stores.
Nice.
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2 hours ago, Larry Singer said:
And your constant crying about "urban sprawl" gets old. People chose urban sprawl when they became over 25 years old and decided that they wanted yards and parks safe for their children and neighborhood schools, etc. Obviously, it is the best choice as the cities with urban sprawl are the cities for which the majority aspire to relocate. If you don't like urban sprawl, live downtown. I'm not bothered with it. America is a free country and people should live in the manner for which they worked and aspired. Seriously, why do people give a crap about density? What is wrong with places that aren't that dense? Obviously, people that hate cities with sprawl and choose to live here must be a bit feeble minded anyway.
I'm glad that you found the question concerning a "model" entertaining. I was hoping for a response mentioning a "unique" city or what you see as utopia, not one of a group of other with similarities.
I certainly don't think that Charlotte is perfect, but it is for me and the majority of the other one million city residents. I enjoy good restaurants, friendly bars, occasional performing arts, mostly bearable traffic, a choice of what I consider ideal neighborhoods to reside,
You may worry too much. It is difficult to determine your feelings since you send mixed messages. For example, is your absolute last sentence a joke? On one hand you complain about uptown and then you encourage folks to move uptown. As usual, you speak as if everyone is single and prefers to live in the city. Many don't that is why there is "sprawl."
You asked if anyone lived in SouthEnd? What does that matter? Do you feel that those the live in Southend have a more intellectual prospective of life in the area?
As long as you aren't the one investing millions in the infrastructure of the city and taking a risk during a precarious time, maybe you should sit back, relax and watch us develop.
That’s funny because I literally said:
You like Urban Sprawl, that’s what you want. I’m not going to convince you to not like it. Im not convincing anyone to have different preferences.Im talking to people who don’t want urban sprawl. Who don’t particularly want Charlotte’s urbanity to reflect that of Houston / Atlanta, who want the city to be dense.
I’m not saying anyone should want density, I’m saying people who do want density.I don’t feel like people in SouthEnd have a more intellectually prospective of life. I think South End is full of transitional young single people with higher paying jobs, college degrees. I think a focus should be on creating an inner-core that all incomes and families and residents can afford to live in and not just (I) people in poverty (II) people in the top range of income (III) focused on young college professionals. People either can’t afford center city, uncomfortable in neighborhoods that they perceive as too much crime or SouthEnd doesn’t fit their lifestyle (Im 31, it’s not my vibe.)
In regards to my last comment. It was basically “practice what you preach.” Why advocate for certain laws, for Charlotte be a certain way but you’re not willing to live the lifestyle yourself? How does one go around talking about density this, density that, anti-car, etc yet at the end of the day lives in a low dense part of a neighborhood (even if it is one like NoDa) with a car. If you don’t live like that, why do you think others would?
I like my neighborhood because it’s full of families, a diverse & mixed-income neighborhood, plenty of public schools, neighborhood parks even despite having a ton of newer large developments.
Skyscrapers are just skyscrapers. I don’t think Legacy Union changes anything. I don’t think Legacy Union does anything but serve as office space. Focusing on the entire center city (different policies for further out areas), into neighborhoods that go unnoticed. More parks, zoning reforms, wider sidewalks, etc.
And if I were to move back to Charlotte, I’d live in Lake Norman or maybe Ballantyne. Not uptown. Definitely not SouthEnd. Preferably a Charleston style shotgun house with a BMW, so. To me, Charlotte doesn’t have any urban neighborhoods that I would want to live an urban lifestyle in at the moment nor seemingly anytime soon.I didn’t choose another specific area because I don’t like engaging in conversations like that. I’ll choose a composition of cities to talk about the characteristics but I’m not getting into specifics because that’s when people start drifting to where is better and I don’t like that. And everywhere has its own set of facts. And then people are going to talk about things out of context, because they don’t know the other area etc. It’s not the dialogue I prefer.
& FYI, you’re probably one of the only people on this board who aren’t interested in density, urban issues and urban growth of the inner-city core.
But im not convincing people to fundamentally change Charlotte. I mean, at least not like the majority on this board. I’m fine with increased housing in Wesley Heights, wider sidewalks & South Blvd. getting a road diet and bike lanes and making the crosswalks way bigger. Other people are focused on building more Skyscrapers than Raleigh to become a “world class city” whatever that means.
Practice what you preach. Once you live the life you’re preaching, then talk to me. I feel like it’s super important to have a perspective of the lifestyle of that which you want other people to live by. Because reality of living it is different than occasionally joining it then back off to your big house and nice yard.
Edit:
Center City Charlotte in uptown and the other neighborhoods are way less diverse and even more expensive than my neighborhood that is more populated, next to the waterfront with Hell’s Kitchen, The Atlantic HQ, and other prestigious firms and restaurants, 2 metro stops, all of it. The Smithsonian museums are only a few blocks away. And yet it’s cheaper here than center city Charlotte… How does that work…
The below shows the extremes of the center city Charlotte zip codes where as I mentioned earlier. You either are young, single willing to live in the dorms if SouthEnd…. In poverty or very racially skewed. Or very wealthy. Everyone else is screwed. The neighborhoods are of extremes. That’s where I think opportunity lies… break down the barriers keeping these extremes. I want policies to give Charlotteans the freedom to choose to live in center city instead of government having laws that restricts that from happening. I don’t want Charlotte to be like anywhere else, I do want it have policies that don’t artificially exclude people from center city.Uptown:
My neighborhood:
28203:
28207:
My Neighborhood:
28207:
My neighborhood:
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31 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:
People are looking for retail literally in the middle of Uptown and in the 277 loop as opposed to the broader definition of Center City that includes South End et...
That portion of Center City is really a financial district though. Financial districts are tough to stimulate with retail after 5pm in many cities nationwide, even in NY where downtown / Wall Street is relatively quiet at night compared to more residential neighborhoods where the trendy shopping is located.
Completely agree. I actually started another thread pertaining to this.
Why specifically uptown? Why would a Pet Supplies Plus be better in Uptown more than its current location in Elizabeth?
It’s really just another rhetorical question that isn’t in the spirit of this thread (retail in uptown/SouthEnd mostly)
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This Thread is about Center City and broader Urban Discussion in relation to Center City.
There are threads about specific projects or neighborhoods but this thread can be reserved for general ideas, general discussion, hypotheticals etc. that way other topics discussing actual news / updates doesn’t get derailed with hypotheticals, policy discussion, etc.
Center City has several definitions. Center City Partners defines it as the 2-Mile Radius from Trade/Tryon (2nd ring below)
Other artistic versions show a similar broad geography
I think to the detriment of broader Center City, there is too much emphasis on a narrow strip of SouthEnd, Uptown, Dilworth, Plaza, Myers Park.
I’ve held the belief to be a true urban area (specifically center city), Charlotte Leaders need to focus on the majority…
To me, the key to Charlotte’s vibrancy, urbanity, transformation and transition into a large urban center rest in the gold mine below:
When we start building a center city for everybody, that’s when Charlotte is urban. There are so many middle and lower class people in these neighborhoods. Charlotte needs to funnel money into these areas, from social help, to new parks, new plazas, all of it. And that is where Charlotte needs to pump money into housing, move a new NFL/MLS stadium out there west of 77.
If you look at cities in the U.S. like NY, San Francisco, Boston, DC etc. The CBD area isn’t what people fall in love with. And that’s even true around the world.
It’s the Castro (among others) in San Francisco
it’s Adam’s Morgan (among others) in DC, *notttt* the federal buildings near the National Mall
This has been my observation in almost anywhere I’ve been with kudos to Philly & San Fran (even on global standards to cities I’ve been) being more lively in their immediate CBD unlike DC and most places.
As much as I think these other areas outside the usuals in center city matter, I realized in the retail in center city, I’m a bit hypocritical to preach about the rest of center city when I say things like there’s not enough xyz retail.
Thats not true - it’s just not in the form I imagine. So how do we advocate for real policy that transforms, lifts up, invest in the rest of center city instead of ignoring their existence? Because that IMO is the key to urbanity in Charlotte.
(and fyi I didn’t intend to imply West of 77 should resemble Castro District or Adam’s Morgan. It’s just the easiest examples to demonstrate CBD’s aren’t typically where the magic happens. Which in Charlotte, will look different but overall the concept of investing in other neighborhoods)
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I just realized, and it’s sort of silly that I’m only realizing.
Center City already has a ton of retail. From Walmart, Target, plenty of grocery options like Fresh Market, national retailers like GameStop, Pet Supplies Plus …
What retailers or what further options are people actually looking for? The entire center city has at very least the basics. NoDa has the Food Lion, though it’d be nicer if it was a Harris Teeter but at the end of the day, it gets the job done. As much as I loved the Map Store I equally love the Blossom Shop that replaced it.
What shortage of retail / restaurant option is there?
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33 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:
While others may disagree with me, I’d like to see this changed to all residential with some hotel portion. There is a lot of space in SE to develop office space when demand picks up in the future. Two towers filled with people 24 hours per day would augment the vitality of this already vibrant area.
Unless most of the residents have to drive, which I imagine most people would need to very often in this location. It’s not a silver bullet to just have more residents. Increasing blue line frequency and bus service (maybe there should be high frequency urban circulator type service throughout SouthEnd as a supplemental to light rail) is really probably the most important factor in that. For example, most people without a vehicle go to the grocery store near daily or multiple times a week. Going to Publix or Harris Teeter from Queens Bridge could be literally an hour to/from. Start expanding that beyond just a grocery store and for every day needs or places beyond the immediate surrounding…
A healthy mix of uses are great and this development probably couldn’t do better itself to add vitality, foot traffic and vibrancy to the area. The office workers should provide a good addition of workers to patronize certain retailers during the day with residents & visitors at night.
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1 hour ago, kermit said:
IMO it is not OK to stick with sprawl (and certainly not OK to subsidize it). It is so clearly unsustainable from the perspective of finance (see my post above) and the environment. The cities that are unable to adapt away from sprawl are going to make present day Cleveland, Detroit and Youngstown look positively Singapore-like in their prosperity. Nothing will be more worthless in the post-auto age than a 100% car dependent neighborhood, if a city is 100% that then we can all see what the future of those places will look like.
[yea, I got a bit carried away here, but that is what candidates who are trailing in the polls need to do to remain visible]
I’m right there with you but tbh, I try to moderate my views or amend them when posting because I get people too riled up too frequently lol. So I was just trying to throw a bone, lol.
This is super common here; When I see people talking about NYC bleeding people and to be thankful that Charlotte is booming and getting all the skyscrapers it does when it too could be bleeding people like NYC and therefore, less skyscrapers built. I literally can’t understand. Because NYC is literally not only building the most… but they’re quite monumental developments so… NYC has had one of the most transformational skylines in the past decade IMO. So it’s just hard to follow. Then add to it that the Texas cities and Atlanta and Raleigh (and even little ole Nashville. How Nashville? lol) get quite the flack here and it’s like… A giant mismatch of priorities vs. desired outcome. Those policy discussions or thought exercises are like… not a recipe for pleasant interactions here xD So. Not wanting to be like xyz city building more skyscrapers because you’re afraid you’ll get less skyscrapers. Not following.
A few Skyscrapers, some light rail lines. That just isn’t going to cut it. That’s not policy - those are projects / developments. One trendy urban policy here and there isn’t going to cut it. Good ole boring dry policy that focuses on the entire core (not just a few pockets) and a renewed efforts into the entire city center, the urbanization of Freedom Drive, investments in the lower income neighborhoods in center city, taxing reforms, a focus on the historical black neighborhoods is key to Charlotte’s urbanity along with other long-term sustainable policy as a whole. You can’t have an urban Center City Charlotte when the vast majority of it goes ignored. & Any policy passed will take decades to play out.
It’s just such an extremely hard sell when Charlotte is firing on all cylinders and broadly considered by certain definitions a booming city with a bright future. A sustainable future, with smaller houses, Less vehicle infrastructure improvements in lieu of mass transit vs. a booming economy and building to meet today’s needs and widening congested roads.
29 minutes ago, JHart said:We are still building new commercial office space here in Charlotte, there is zero need for any incentives to be provided for poorly maintained commercial offices. That office didn't suddenly become unleaseable and lose 50% of its value overnight.. Those cities in the article do not have acres of vacant land ready for construction and have development costs that far exceed Charlotte's which make the math more compelling. How would the city paying incentives to convert an office building to residential make the tax revenues go up? People aren't paying $40/sqft for residential leases...
Right. If private investors want to use their dollars, have fun. Using city resources is just nonsense. You could build way more housing for more economically diverse families at a fraction of the cost of pumping money into an office conversion for higher income folks who don’t need the subsidies. Doesn’t make sense in Charlotte unless it’s a strategic place-making conversion that will have ripple effects like that article about Cleveland in the Learning from Other Places thread.
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1 hour ago, kermit said:
Carrots alone have not worked well to decrease driving in the US, and its really hard to find money for transit improvements when the voting public sees driving as a better option. London is a great urban place because driving has always been a huge pain in the ass (more so now with the congestion charge), its certainly not because transit there is cheap (but it is easy and very effective, except on Christmas day)
I’ll suggest a semantic middle ground might exist before we need to make driving ‘expensive’. Instead, we should talk about ending the myriad subsidies that have been created for drivers. This would start with doubling the gas tax (current user fees only pay for half of actual road costs), ending exploration tax credits for oil producers, ending property tax subsidies (tax parking lots based on highest and best use rather than unimproved values), charging per parking space walkability impact fees to developers, ending priority road use for cars (putting bikes and pedestrians on more equal footing — an actual Vision Zero plan which will require reduced speed limits), and introducing carbon, noise and other fees to address the externalities of cars. Much of this new revenue could be used to improve transit. And if you are worried about how this might effect low income folks (who can still afford to buy and maintain a car) then these fees can be rebated back to low-income groups if you want. None of these changes would make driving expensive, these changes would merely mean that drivers would no longer be the largest single welfare class in the US.
Drivers need to pay their own way.
[thank you for listening to my campaign speech, polls show me trailing my opponent by two million percent]
IMO, so spot on.
Another thing in fundamentally changing Charlotte from auto-oriented sprawl to a more sustainable & dense city with adequate transit options is thinking long-term. It’s going to take decades for almost any city outside of a few to move towards a more urban future (and I think quite a bit of cities have taken that leap). Even mature dense & urban metropolitan areas are still laying the ground work for a more urban metropolitan area.
I look at Denver & there are some criticisms or disappointment surrounding the ridership of the light rail. But if we fast forward 60 years… 60 years of their rail network, Denver might have transformed into an area resembling the DC region, for example. And it’s not just rail, it’s new housing policy, new climate policies, new tax structures so many things that will move at glacial speeds but one day people will wake up wondering how Denver became such an urban area (if it does). It was boring, dry policy that at the time seemed inconsequential and low impact.
IMO it’s going to be monumental and probably impossible in the political climate of Charlotte / NC. Balancing the needs of today with the needs of the future in addition to the saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. I don’t think there’s political will from the voters for that shift. I do think there’s political will to build another rail line & piece meal policies that won’t really shift anything fundamentally, but not the entire package to transform Charlotte away from an urban-sprawl model of growth. And that’s ok - many people prefer it & well, we can still advocate for other things within that frame to make a lot of progress in urbanity and sustainability.
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Per REIS as of 3Q23
Charlotte had the following Multifamily Units Complete:
2013 - 3,739
2014 - 4,147
2015 - 4,042
2016 - 7,125
2017 - 5,358
2018 - 6,642
2019 - 8,156
2020 - 6,125
2021 - 6,891
2022 - 4,743
Best Case Scenario Projections:
2023 - 4,117
2024 - 3,563
2025 - 6,464
2026 - 3,486
2027 - 3,299
Forecast:
2028 - 2,663
2029 - 2,145
2030 - 2,101
2031 - 3,157
In 4Q21 the inventory of multifamily units in Charlotte was 176,151. By 2032 it’s expected to be 215,723.
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42 minutes ago, kermit said:
Setting aside the issue of funding (and politics), this last round of grants makes it clear that ‘the plan’ is for 110mph (or higher) service between Atlanta and DC (220mph between CLT-Atl) So, yes, tracks east of Greensboro will eventually get some attention. Politics (both local and federal) will determine how long that will take.
I feel like Amtrak and passenger train service is pretty popular with rural & conservative men. I also think a lot of rural and conservative men in general have a hobby for freight trains, older trains and such.I know I’m generalizing here a bit & maybe wrongly so, but I feel like it’s not such the hot rod for Conservative and rural legislators like mass transit in general is.
So hopefully it’s realistic to think it could progress at a reasonable time frame. I actually feel like passenger rail is progressing way faster than I ever expected in my lifetime.
(But you and a couple other posters are train experts and I know next to nothing on passenger nor freight trains other than layman’s knowledge)
Also, with all this money floating around, billions of dollars from the feds (California on rail transit alone has been many many many billions the last couple years from BART to MUNI, LA Metro, CalTrain, California High Speed Rail, BrightLine West, Pacific Surfliner or whatever, another system I don’t know the name of, etc)… at some point you have to see the $ signs of how much of those federal dollars will stimulate in the economy from construction to economy activity in general.
Queensbridge Collective - 1 tower, maybe 2
in Charlotte
Posted · Edited by AirNostrumMAD
But you were the one who mentioned Brooklyn & “anywhere in the US”. So. I am serious with that.
& I don’t care who you mute, so. You quoted me. You replied to me. Numerous times. It only seems fitting you be the one to mute me, so.
Edit: in response to the profanity below, I did not bring up my personal habits, I did not allude to anywhere else and picked the most basic routine things that already exist in Charlotte in response to your list to me listing off urgent cares and dentist that I don’t consider to be every day errands. You mentioned NY. You quoted me up & down. And Instead of just muting like you said you were, you use profanity (something I don’t do, so you won’t get profanity back in kind from me.)