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The Panthers, as an organization, lost credit with me as an organization when they were sexually abusing women. All this talk about the wife, I can only think where the complaints were about the sexual harassment? https://www.si.com/nfl/panthers/news/reflecting-on-the-jerry-richardson-scandal#google_vignette There’s more but here’s a snippet: "Former employees allege that in addition to verbal harassment, Richardson engaged in improper acts. According to sources, on multiple occasions Richardson requested female employees to visit him during a workday in his suite inside Bank of America Stadium. The women would be escorted by Richardson’s assistant, who would then depart, leaving the owner alone with a junior employee. One former female employee recalls Richardson, who stands 6'3", arriving barefoot and asking for a foot massage. Says one such invitee: 'The first time, you thought it was an important meeting with the owner. You [then] realized it was never anything that couldn’t be discussed over the phone.' Others talk of Richardson giving back rubs that lingered too long or went too low down the spine."

I’m not saying anyone is being sexist. But the comments about the wife, especially in professional sports or around powerful people / organizations, etc. I dunno. Sexism run rampant when talking about billionaires and such. I am skeptical of complaints of the wife. At the end of the day, her husband is responsible and if she is problematic, still. David’s a big boy with billions…. If he’s being pushed around by a spouse, that’s a David problem. She wouldn’t even be in this position had there not been sexual harassment scandals within the organization (not just one individual)

I love how the pictures & mentioning of Carmel, Indiana 2 pages back didnt evoke the same response as that of Union Square Manhattan or San Francisco (whichever Union Sq. Was being referred to). It’s really not that big of a deal. It wasn’t a big deal when it was Carmel, Indiana.

Thanks for the updates!!! This is great

How is Charlotte development (in context of general build / highways) different from Atlanta in general? (Texas highways though. Good lord. Atlanta is so much better than Dallas, Houston & Austin’s highways.)

You interject random stuff all the time, everyone interjects random stuff all the time. Do you realize how many things I have found appalling you have said and I rarely responded on as responses would drag on & on when it seemed easier to let the comment just die and move on? I would actually love if people stopped randomly bringing up San Francisco, New York, etc. as much as they do. But let’s get back on topic. Discussion: Queensbridge

I’m just saying. There would be like. No ridership. Under what example would it make sense to take an intercity train to Charlotte Airport? Where would it go beyond the airport? At 15 minute frequencies? A frequency higher than the light rail… I’d be shocked if it had a ridership of more than 10 people, literally. Charlottes better off building a streetcar to the airport and it would still get wayyyyyyy more ridership than intercity trains. And better frequency. And longer operating hours. At a giant fraction of the cost. I mean just think of taking an intercity train to CLT airport… first, you’d have to have someone drive you to the train station (or Uber to it). Hope there are like 50 trains a day. Hope your flight isn’t too early. Hope your flight isn’t too late. Hassle trying to get from an intercity train station to the terminal. Pay money for the intercity train. Assuming someone is doing so to save money rather than flying out of Raleigh, Wilmington, Greensboro or Asheville airports… Most people don’t live beside an intercity train station. And Gateway I would imagine would need to be way bigger than currently designed to handle the amount of trains to sustain any type of NEC frequency… The current Sprinter bus is way better than intercity would be. And more reliable. And probably faster given frequencies & shuttle times to/from the station for intercity trains.

Nov. 26, 2023 was the busiest day in history for airline passengers in the entire U.S. with 2.9 Million passengers clocked in. The NYC subway in 2023 (excluding LIRR, buses, NJT, Amtrak, etc) carries about 1 million more than that on weekdays. That’s ignoring the broader NEC and proximity to each other and how cheap it is to zip on over to an airport with hundreds of daily trains. The fundamentals that make NYC (and the NEC in general) likely aren’t there for Charlotte. Here in DC, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, 14,000 people took “metro” (its subway system) from National Airport (close to the city) & 5,300 to Dulles Airport (in the suburbs) Both airports have about the same passengers flip flopping on which is busier regularly. BWI (Baltimore-Washington International) Airport is the busiest in the region, served by 60 trains, fares can be around $7 for a region of 10MM people, + New Yorkers, Philadelphia/Delaware folks take advantage of the cheap fares from the airport and it generates about *2,100* passengers/day (and even then, that includes people who may not even be going to the airport) in a region most friendly to mass transit. You can really see the deterioration in ridership based on mode of transit and built environment. All that to say. The ridership would be insanely small to the airport on Amtrak. Like. Pretty much nothing. MARTA rail airport station carries about 12,000/day (its 2nd busiest station and home to the busiest airport in the world with a ton of employees) as a reference. The problem is, as always, Charlotte (and a few other cities) have to turn to things like BRT, Inadequate streetcars due to lack of state funding. People think more creative because we’re so ingrained and have been beaten by the Republican overlords that they’re not down with funding mass transit. The obvious answer. A light rail station to the airport, as part of a broader system, is the answer. And to have successful transit in Charlotte, as with anywhere, building it right matters.

Union Square in San Francisco or Union Square Manhattan? I’ll take 5 San Francisco Union Squares, please.

Photo by Kevin Wolf on Flickr Rosslyn with Tysons in the background https://www.arlnow.com/2023/11/27/arlington-ranks-as-no-6-destination-for-millennials/

Earlier this year Lenders already noted they’d start shifting from the south to Northeast & California & a few other markets (for market rate apartments.) The reason being rents are going up there and falling in the south. It’s good for society but housing has become a national game dominated by lenders who want to see large rent increases YoY. The bad thing is, the southern boom towns generally don’t funnel money into urban affordable housing programs as much so construction pace could slow down. Yet the population boom will not slow leading to more forced sprawl. It’s crony capitalism and people will be poorer because of it. *sigh*

BRT, baby. In all seriousness, it’s funny how rail transit to the airport is universally agreed as being appropriate by broader society despite the fact airport and airport branches can have lower ridership. Because the concept isn’t any different - mass rapid transit is better to get a lot of people around while relieving traffic. I think CLT airport is always cited as something people want and no one ever seemingly bats an eye at the cost. I imagine ridership on an uptown-airport line wouldn’t be as strong as other potential routings in Charlotte.

I’d be shocked if Tepper didn’t threaten CLT/Meck/NC to relocate before he’d relinquish the team any time soon (at least a decade). I dont think Billionaires care what others think, so. I doubt he’ll be pressured. I’m glad a ton of land wasn’t given to Tepper. Last thing uptown needs is another entity controlling large swaths of uptown.

What really changed my perspective (from focusing mostly on height, skyscraper, skyline appearance and over time drifting to ground level, etc) was when I first stayed at Marriott Marquis in Atlanta. The inside just seemed so cool (I still think it’s amazing looking on the inside) I’ve been to Atlanta a lot (I have family in ATL too) so I’ve always enjoyed the city but when I started to be able to afford where I wanted to stay, I was excited to stay downtown. I won’t post clog up with thread with pics but it feels like College Street in uptown CLT. It literally felt like this (because it was?) in all directions from the Marquis (even walking to the Aquarium was terrible. Which I’ve been before but I drove to the parking deck before so I never paid attention) : It sort of felt intimidating walking around at night (and I’ve been to many cities at night around the world so it’s not like I’m sheltered). I also took MARTA but it again was intimidating walking to/from/around majority of the stations. That time in Atlanta took the top of the list of intimidating for me. So now I just stay in the suburbs, rent a car and enjoy Atlanta, Ponce City Market, drive to Midtown etc. MARTA itself has been nice when going to an event or getting picked up. All that to say is, I agree with you. It sounds overly dramatic to say “unlivable, unbearable & unsustainable” but that’s sort of how I felt in Downtown Atlanta from my experience where I stayed downtown. It felt lonely & odd - a feeling I never got in Atlanta otherwise when staying elsewhere with vehicle. and for any Atlanta folks who say I stayed in the wrong part, etc. I’m just a visitor who researched a good place to stay, proximity to MARTA, etc. and well. I failed lol. ). Luckily Charlotte has the grace of time on its side and started to mature more after the 70’s & 80’s. So I don’t think it will get like that.

Some aerial pics from the Insta:

Talking about anything besides articles where Charlotte is best for business is like trying to talk to your flat-earther uncle about whether the earth is a globe or a flat surface. There are so many factors in these conversations, it’s not an easy answer and quite frankly, it’s much much harder to explain in-depth rather than bumper sticker yes/no, black/white 1 sentence logic. I’m not taking the time to find most up to date info or dig deeply because I know people are just wanting a blog of Charlotte population growth & best for business but: $430 like seems very low after car payment (assuming one has one), Gas, Insurance, Taxes+Fees, Maintenance. Then when you multiple that by 2 or 3 depending on people in your household. I never met someone in Charlotte who makes my salary and saves more money than I do. They have big homes (even hire people to do yard work) and a lot of them have cars that are expensive af (Teslas, SUV’s etc), they usually have 2 per household at least and often times buy their kids a car… but just focusing on a 2 car household. Thats at least $800 if not more likely in central Charlotte $1,300 given the income levels… vs. my subsidized (by my company and many employers even in Charlotte subsidize mass transit passes) and my partner also having subsidized transit. The transit alone has a huge impact on living cost. Even my friends in the suburbs here. Their home is a castle. They have a literal spare Jeep just for spare weather. 3 floors. They’re not saving more money. They’re just spending it on more room…(and they literally have multiple sitting rooms, one they have no idea what to do with. They have a movie theatre room. Etc) Then there’s other things. Those cities often have very generous households subsidies and invest heavily into low income housing. My partner made 1/2 what I did & he lived 2 blocks away and his rent for a bigger space than mine was $1,400 month (and includes utilities). Then there’s thing like wages… Minimum wage in Charlotte is $7.25. It’s literally less than half of the cities mentioned…. DC is $17.25 / NYC $16 / San Francisco $18 / Boston $15 / Seattle $19.97 / Minneapolis $15.19 That’s not even counting all the other programs they have. Tonsss of housing vouchers even for “normal” people. You can get a free Masters Degree, free Bachelor’s degree. You can get money for a down payment on a house. Free healthcare. I don’t qualify for hardly any & I pay a lot in taxes but I like living in a society where government has these programs. It makes my quality of life go up when broader society is doing well. I’m not saying those areas don’t have issues or claiming one area is better than another. Just mentioning factors that go beyond price per sq. Ft. of dwelling. Minneapolis is definitely doing something extraordinary and a lot of eyeballs are on the policies it implemented and a lot of areas are trying to replicate that success within context of their respective areas.

So Center City Retail. I was thinking from another thread about an Apple Store and I was thinking in general how it just doesn’t seem likely and I was thinking about allll the projects that Apple, H&M and Urban Outfitters have been rumored to be a tenant in. And then in general I was thinking about the state of retail & restaurants in uptown and going through the latest projects. I just listed a couple: Duke Energy Plaza (Built - 2022) Albertine - Fine Dining / Upscale restaurant Milkbread - Same owners as Albertine, fast-casual coffee shop Que Fresa - Fast Casual Mexican Somi Sushi - Fast Casual Japanese AJ’s Dry Cleaners - (Not KJ’s) The Ellis - Spice Charlotte - Elevated cocktails Ally center: Jinaya Ramen Bar Salata (closes 2PM Saturday, closed Sunday) Dean’s Italian Steakhouse (has gaps in hours) Golden Cow - Ice cream Brown Bag Seafood (closes 4PM Saturday / Sunday) Legacy Union: Night Swim Coffee - Closes at 6PM, closed weekends Epicenter is languishing and looks apocalyptic. Does Duke Energy center really have anything? FNB Tower has a Bank Branch. 1 BofA has a few fancy pants restaurants. SkyHouses have a fast casual pizza place. A vets office, coffee shop. Barrings & Kimpton have some fancy pants places. (Though I really like La Belle Helene) Museum Tower - Reid’s is closed on weekends, Starbucks closes at 7pm, Fin & Fino has limited hours, closed on Sunday. Bell Uptown - nothing? Spring Hill Suites? Ascent - Haymakers looks good. Closes at 4pm on Sunday. Obviously there’s WholeFoods, Harris Teeter & some Drug Stores also. But in general, I’m not really seeing any strong examples in the past couple of decades of great retail. Thats why I don’t think Apple would really improve uptown. It wouldn’t hurt. There just needs to be more things for people to do that aren’t catered to: 9-5 Business crowd/Convention Business Travelers (fast casual and steak places), Prom/Anniversary types & just needs more fun places for locals. Not Chimas, not Ruth Chris. Some fun places & Breweries (besides nightclub vibes). Places people want to be. That will go a long way & maybe then retail will follow. Then an Apple would be the cherry on top. I dunno. Wanting an Apple Store sounds more like wanting one to have one vs. will that address the weaknesses uptown faces. But waiting around thinking an Apple is the missing piece. How about less Steak Houses & fast casual places that aren’t closed on the weekends. I know “fun” is subjective but I mean… who out there is going to a Steak House or Pot Bellies for fun?? Lol [This isn’t meant to be criticism. Just a dialogue about what Uptown needs to become more vibrant & whether focusing too much on retailers, especially like H&M, etc. just a wrong focus. It’s things I’ve seen certain leaders mention before but I’m not sure that’s where efforts should be going] Austin has a skyscraper boom (like Nashville) and Austin seems to be by far dominated by residential. Charlotte can make places like the below, there are spaces currently but it doesn’t even have to be old space. It can be new and just as great as old. The Blind Pig in Austin has live music In general I just think uptown is lacking space for Charlotteans. SouthEnd (and NoDa & Plaza and other areas have). It’s no coincidence towers are going up in SouthEnd and now it appears SouthEnd is getting more. And I think it’s because the dynamics of a vibrant area (similar to the above in downtown Austin) are there. I much rather have a “Blind Pig” at the retail space at the Duke Conversion than

Although I like conversation, I don’t want to overshare my opinion by posting 500x so I’ll make one last comment and leave it alone until others comment if they have any xD Ignoring physical space (though I’d be surprised no one would make space [including Legacy Union]) & whether uptown could support it (I think a ton of downtowns could so), I just don’t think it’s that impactful. I’d fully expect it to look like the below most hours of the day besides the grand opening: In general, I think Charlotte should (I) completely ignore office-to-residential & leave it to the free market. It’s not at all worth dedicating resources to me nor makes sense. Let the private market do its thing. (II) Not worry about retail uptown (yet.) Grocery stores, Walmart? Sure. I think stakeholders should focus on local restaurants (wayyy too business crowd), local venues, entertainment, [more karaoke, more soul food, more places that have live music from local artist etc - not just rowdy night clubs). Focus on parks, dog parks, wider side walks, recreation, low income housing, dedicated transit ways. But definitely local restaurants & venues are definitely what uptown is lacking to go to the next level of vibrancy. I’m not saying retail wouldn’t be great. I’m just sort of over years of waiting for an H&M, Apple or Urban Outfitters which are alwayssss seemingly just the next development away & I kind of think, there’s other things that need to happen uptown that would go wayyy further than even & Apple, H&M & Urban Outfitters combined on the same block. They just don’t really generate much foot traffic. I know those are two things I think people would initially think it’s full of it. But think about it… an Apple wouldn’t make it feel any less sterile than Legacy Union already feels. A karaoke bar, and some Korean BBQ, etc. I dunno. Might be a little more lively. It just seems to be two things that I think we overly emphasize at the expense of what is really lacking. All my opinion though. You’re obviously Mr. Charlotte himself in hardcore into the loop so. Just providing a different perspective.

I think I’ve lamented the base enough. It is what it is at this point. I had super high-hopes for this project, a mall or multiple major retailers etc. based on rumors. I think it just annoying that it was such a large block with so many anchor tenants that it was a missed opportunity. It’s not at all bad. Just a missed opportunity for the neighborhood. Theres no reason it couldn’t have looked like the below: The architecture of the buildings from like. The 4th floor up is fine otherwise. But a different base. Oh well. Maybe Brooklyn Village can look like that (which renderings over the past 20 years have looked similar to). But as I said before. It’s hard to call this project a disappointment or missed opportunity otherwise. It just goes to show developers have different priorities that may not always align with the neighborhood or stakeholders.

It’d be one of a handful of cities with an urban location in the US if it did choose uptown (and there’s no lack of adequate space for Apple currently) and would be the only one in the south (TX/FL included) besides Brickell in Miami. Even Seattle doesn’t. Not to say Apple wouldn’t choose uptown, it just seems they prefer malls & places like Birkdale village in most US markets. In any event, I still think more great restaurants like what SouthEnd & NoDa have would have a better impact, be more lively than retail and be a huge win for the immediate area. And make sense for a place with quite a bit of stadiums.

The retail will be good enough if it’s a restaurant that isn’t a steakhouse or business vibes. It’s hard to imagine an Apple, Nike, etc going there. Maybe another CVS or grocer could be realistic? Which is fine, there needs to be more fun places to hang out / eat in uptown these days anyway. The options need to expand beyond steakhouse or fast casual in the southern portion. A large brewery would be way better than any retailer here IMO. It’d be really cool to have 2-3 solid great restaurants here. Midtown, SouthEnd, Ballantyne, Huntersville, Concord Mills seem more likely candidates for Apple over Uptown. I’d personally bet Concord Mills & Birkdale Village are the strongest contenders for an Apple. If it’s not in center city Atlanta, Dallas or Houston, it’s hard to see uptown pulling it off. So, realistically, I just want an awesome brewery or fun venue.

I’m not saying it’s not an issue, I’m saying If there’s no timeline, if theres no statements from officials, if there are no blurbs in the final monthly MTC agenda and they’re focused on on-time performance, it’s hard to think the frequencies are an that big of an issue to the powers-that-be. It seems to me like the measures they’re using (on-time performance) show improvement in CATS [and that they’re not actual riders. On-time performance matters but from a riders perspective, slashing frequency or keeping it low to achieve higher on-time performance isn’t a great trade off. I rather have unreliable rapid service than reliable reduced service.] The below is the Final MTC agenda for November 2023. https://www.charlottenc.gov/files/sharedassets/cats/v/1/cats-docs/final-mtc-agenda-packet-for-wednesday-november-15-2023.pdf I haven’t seen anything, timelines, etc so. I just don’t think it’s anything urgent to the city or agency.

No. I don’t even think the blue line is considered an issue?

I just learned how to do the google street view time things today so. I wanted to talk a little about the Union Market district in DC. It’s pretty much this area: It’s home to the zip code with the most apartment units U/C in the country. Between 2018 & 2022, it added over 7,000 new apartments completions. For context uptown added a little over 2,000 and has 9,000 units in total. The zip code is a bit more inclusive than union market (and bleeds into NoMa which the whole area is referred to as NoMa but a vast bulk is concentrated in this area) There’s still a ton of buildings in the pipeline and over 2,000 units underway. It really, really reminds me of SouthEnd and Sort of optimist park. It’s crazy because when I moved to DC in 2017, Union Market “District” wasn’t even worth being called a District to me. It was… nothing. Literally, I drove through and thought… industrial wasteland as far as the eye could see. Literally, it felt like a mistake to move to DC because it was the first area I had to go to for a uhaul. Since then it has crazily blossomed into one of the most impressive urban neighborhoods, bustling, great retail, amazing food scene, tons of entertainment and just a superb, large area. Literally just reminds me of all the potential SouthEnd has right here: Below are a few before/after from 2017-2023 of parts of Union Market. The street views don’t show a lot of people but pretty much all hours of the day it’s jammed with people

Yes! It was. I lived in Modern for a couple years. Now I live in Eliot. Which the rooftop views are really great