15895

Gastonia actually has a Smithsonian Museum (the Schiele Museum of Natural History.) Lots of Native American exhibits and outdoor trail with replica buildings etc. lots of natural history inside, I think some Gold displays, a Planetarium, etc. It’s pretty nice, I loved going frequently even as an adult even to enjoy the outdoor portions.

Austin joins one of a couple/few major cities that eliminated parking minimums Off the top of my head, Minneapolis, Alexandria VA, and I think NYC are Noteworthy ones so far (or at least NYC is close) “An affordability impact statement conducted by the City of Austin’s Housing and Planning Department said the removal of parking minimums will help lower the costs of building housing, in turn allowing for developers to hit desired profit levels more readily while also yielding lower market rent prices.” https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/austin-city-council-to-consider-eliminating-minimum-parking-requirements-thursday/amp/

Aside from the economic win for Charlotte - I hope they abolish the 6-flags brand and renovate those parks. I hate 6-flags. Cedar Fair parks are so much better.

I do recognize that, yeah. On the growth along the Blue Line, the growth relative to peers and a vast preference for people who do want lower cost of living, space, etc. all as you stated. Especially the last couple sentences (access to urbanity but not necessarily living in it. That’s really been a key to the urbanization of sunbelts IMO. For a lot of people, it’s the best of both worlds have access to walkable urbanity but still having your lower cost and larger homes. All of the growth occurring in metropolitan areas is going to give rise to nice urban districts) I don’t disagree with anything you said at all. (Though I still think there’s plenty of demand for urban living that supply just can’t keep up with given certain zoning laws etc pricing out so many families or working folks, etc.)

Honestly, I don’t know. I mostly follow Charlotte, Atlanta, Nashville & Austin in the south. But casually I’ve still heard pretty good things about it as far as remaining healthy (though come to think of it the area around North Hills has been soaking up tenants but I think those are different types of tenants from RTP.) Even “suburban” submarkets have been shifting to be more urban (Ballantyne, etc) in their office deliveries so even then, office tenants and workers have seem to shown a preference towards more mix-used urban centers so. I think the industry has just changed with Millenials and younger generations. It’d be dope for Raleigh if some RTP tenants started shifting to the warehouse district & Glenwood

I don’t know, sunbelt cities have good success with scoring larger developments In center cities while suburban office locations (and older stock in general) have been in decline. Atlanta even scored the Norfolk Southern headquarters in Midtown with a pretty cool development recently. There’s still quite a bit of demand for newer, modern and more urban locations for office tenants. Other than RTP & I guess Plano, i haven’t seen the trend buck towards campuses much lately. I think SouthEnd has the dynamics to keep scoring these larger office tenants. As far as the cap. I think as Morehead fills in, the “gap” between Uptown & SouthEnd will lessen. I think it’s just more uncomfortable with the faster traffic and lack of immediate development before you get to the thick of SouthEnd. Of course who could complain about a cap but I think the mental barrier will lessen over time (like… literally over the next few years) I’d be more interested if that portion of 277 could be raised & converted into a boulevard? I wonder if that would be cheaper/better? Have there been discussions on converting 277 into a boulevard? In other words, the reverse of what happened to Independence Blvd.

Your record is wrong. And Charlotte isn’t maliciously omitted or lacking representation. Especially on a list that only has a few areas anyway. Do you think Charlotte is the only city being treated unfair or something or are there other areas too that aren’t getting their dues? Charlotte constantly gets high accolades in many reports and within the media (that I see, at least). And the same is true for various booming sunbelt cities like Atlanta, Houston, Raleigh, etc. Someone asked why people have a certain image of Charlotte despite its booming, the answer is because its growth has been pretty low dense and sprawling over the decades. Thats literally a huge key to charlottes sustained growth; low cost of living, plenty of space, great place to raise kids, growing economy, etc. That’s the answer… I assumed you knew about NYC given your username, but maybe I assumed wrong.

That’s off topic. I was just responding to Larry Singer that I don’t think Charlotte is misfairly represented or maliciously left off of list, etc. If you want to talk about Charlotte’s growth over the decades, or other markets, the coffeehouse is probably more appropriate.

It is very disproportionately low density growth that is suburban in nature. That’s why there’s plenty of room to stretch out, have a larger home, lower cost of living, etc. Thats sort of the trade off.

Baltimore is still a bigger metro I think but it’s time is definitely coming to be eclipsed by Charlotte. I don’t think people are somehow overlooking Charlotte. I just think people tend to find affirmations of what they already believe and look for data to back up their claim. Charlotte just happens to be midsized and the urban development reflects that of a more sprawling, booming, southern city. The growth is by far disproportionately suburban in nature. The growth is just not that urban (which is probably a selling point. Lower taxes, lower cost, larger homes, etc). SouthEnd for example “only” has 8,569 existing apartment Units. Between 2018-2022 Uptown “only” added 2,837 units in two square miles. Yet at the same time, Charlotte is a fast growing area. Uptown zip code 28202 still only has a population below 20,000 in 2 sq. Miles. When we expand out to Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Nashville, Austin, Orlando, Tampa. I’m not sure Charlotte particularly stands out to outsiders in urban growth or urban development etc. and that’s literally just the south. I just mention that because it comes up often here: a conspiracy of people not giving CLT it’s dues. Charlotte has a huge reputation of being a boom town and literally only gets glowing reviews nationally. No one ever has negative views or have a perception that Charlotte is anything but a boom town a lot of people are moving to otherwise. Additionally, I mean. Even *Miami* isn’t on there so…. That’s why we have a great little thread documenting cranes now. https://ctycms.com/nc-charlotte-ccp/docs/development-report-april-2023-reduced-size.pdf

Baltimore making waves in the urban development rounds. The redevelopment of Inner Harbor has been talked about for a while and new renderings dropped today. Lots of place making and Wes Moore is a huge champion of efforts to revitalize the harbor. This looks unique and great. https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/economy/growth-development/harborplace-developer-design-plans-E2XBQBIQX5FGXPUHHO5P2OKVPU/?utm_campaign=TheBaltimoreBanner Other exciting large developments are happening in Baltimore. One of the more hopeful is the Baltimore Redline (light rail with large parts of it being underground) IMG_2131.avi

I *hate* when MAGA defaults to “can you find it on the map?” I always assume it’s projection that they don’t know where it is or the history or politics behind the country or areas they’re asking others if they can find it on the map. I get people may not be so well-versed in global affairs, global politics, etc and I don’t want to be disrespectful to people who don’t know, I don’t think there’s anything with nothing knowing etc. but if your response to me is “can you even find it on the map” questioning my intelligence…my response will be “of course I can find the biggest F-ing country in Europe on a map” as if it just appeared out of nowhere and not home to some of the largest battles in WWII, etc. As if out of nowhere, the Palestine issue just happened overnight and no one has heard of it otherwise. I imagine Larry Singer to not even know what Brazilians speak. So I dont think he needs to be giving geography quizzes. Thats why I’m not really bothered by his posts. I feel like I’m not talking with someone on my level & I dunno. I’m not going to expect someone who talks about Biden and Demonrats, Nancy Piglosi, transgender people are scary, snowflakes, Burisma, Biden is being played by an actor etc. to be able to conversaste with me about global politics, affairs or history.

Ok. Here’s some good Political news “With a shortage of millions of homes nationwide, we need to utilize every resource at our disposal to increase housing supply, which in turn, given the high demand, will help with rent levels and purchase costs,” HUD deputy secretary Adrianne Todman said during a press briefing. The new initiatives include: The Department of Transportation issuing guidance on how nearly $35 billion in funds can be accessed for new construction and office conversions at or near transportation centers. The Commercial to Residential Federal Resources Guidebook will have a series of programs that will provide low-interest loans, grants and tax incentives in order to facilitate conversions. The Department of Housing and Urban Development will offer billions in dollars in funding for conversions under the Community Development Block Grants program. The General Services Administration will expand its Good Neighbor Program to promote the sale of surplus federal properties that buyers could potentially redevelop for residential use. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/10/27/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-takes-action-to-create-more-affordable-housing-by-converting-commercial-properties-to-residential-use/

I could use a big fat blunt right now.

In Charlotte, NIMBY’s are very vocal about what they want (as pretty much all NIMBY’s are everywhere). Being vocal surprisingly works in local politics. At the same time, most of the pro-urban folks seem to go with the flow for fear nothing at all gets built in the city. I haven’t really seen activist or pro-urban folks get riled up other than in NoDa. NoDa has some fierce & a pretty large base of pro-urban residents who are going to make sure what gets built in their neighborhood is to their liking. It’s this weird dynamic where common-sense progress is blocked by NIMBY’s even if it doesn’t affect them & it has zero to do with historical preservations or neighborhood character etc. as evidenced by their giant wacky McMansions towering over the older Bungalows in the neighborhood. And on the other hand the Broader Urbanist community doesn’t really oppose things like Hearst Tower being ruined with the Truist logo, so many historical things being knocked down (the buildings where Dimensional Place is, Tryon House & the other buildings on North Tryon, Polk Park demolished at Trade/Tryon, Polk Building at 500 West Trade demolished, potentially getting rid of Marshall Park, etc). Again, NoDa being an exception. We can’t build nice apartments on a ghetto dilapidated gas station that no longer sells gas because it’s a historical neighborhood but let’s tear down Polk Park and then finalize some plans on what can replace it.

Well. The world survived the pandemic. What was built during the pandemic? 2020-2022 Units Built By City Proper (excluding NYC [given it had such an high amount]) 1. Austin - 29,115 units 2. Houston - 28,423 units 3. Atlanta - 17,886 units 4. LA - 17,779 units 5. DC - 17,300 units 6. Charlotte - 17,213 units 7. Miami - 15,748 units 8. San Antonio - 15,651 units 9. Seattle - 15,439 units 10. Chicago - 15,356 units 11. Denver - 14,761 units 12. Dallas - 13,741 units 13. Nashville - 12,085 units 14. Orlando - 11,028 units 15. Phoenix 10,132 units 16. Columbus 9,944 units 17. Portland - 9,791 units 18. Fort Worth - 9,672 units 19. Minneapolis - 9,569 units 20. Jersey City - 8,083 units 2020-2022 Units Built By City Proper Land Size (excluding NYC) 1. Jersey City - 8,083 units (14.75 sq mi) = 548 units per mile 2. Miami - 15,748 units (36.00 sq mi) = 437 units per mile 3. DC - 17,300 units (61.4 sq mi) = 282 units per mile 4. Seattle - 15,439 units (83.99 sq mi) = 184 units per mile 5. Minneapolis - 9,569 units (54.00 sq mi) = 177 units per mile 6. Atlanta - 17,886 units (135.32 sq mi) = 132 units per mile 7. Orlando - 11,028 units (110.85 sq mi) = 99 units per mile 8. Denver - 14,761 units (153.075 sq mi) = 96 units per mile 9. Austin - 29,115 units (319.94 sq mi) = 91 units per mile 10. Portland - 9,791 units (133.49 sq mi) = 73 units per mile 11. Chicago - 15,356 units (227.73 sq mi) = 67 units per mile 12. Charlotte - 17,213 units (310.02 sq mi) = 55 units per mile 13. Columbus 9,944 units (220.40 sq mi) = 45 units per mile 14. Houston - 28,423 units (640.44 sq mi) = 44 units per mile 15. Dallas - 13,741 units (339.604 sq mi ) = 40 units per mile 16. LA - 17,779 units (469.49 sq mi) = 38 units per mile 17. San Antonio - 15,651 units (498.85 sq mi) = 31 units per mile 18. Fort Worth - 9,672 units (347.27 sq mi) = 28 units per mile 19. Nashville - 12,085 units (504.03 sq mi) = 24 units per mile 20. Phoenix 10,132 units (518.27 sq mi) = 19 units per mile https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/rental-market/market-snapshots/new-apartment-construction/ Charlottes zip codes that made it to the top 50 zip codes of Apartments constructed between 2018 & 2022 #27 - 28262 (Greater University City) - 3,562 Units #46 - 28202 (Uptown) - 2,837 Units (Nashvilles large city limits killed its unit density. West End / Gulch was the 4th highest zip code in the US for apartments constructed) https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/rental-market/top-zip-codes-apartment-construction/ By Metropolitan Área for 2023:

You know there’s a DC section if you want to talk about it so much? Not many contributors in that section so maybe you can make it popular. There’s so much development it’s a shame there’s no contributors other than the constant posting in the Charlotte section.

Our finest contributor (CLT Dev) on Twitter shared the Axios article on what happened with 7th & Tryon: In a June 20 letter obtained by Axios, Metropolitan Partnership CEO Cary Euwer told county manager Dena Diorio that the “very complex” project faced several roadblocks. Among them, he listed, were “the unexpected exit of Truist as the anchor for the project, the COVID-19 pandemic and its unfolding impacts on the market for office space.” Truist seriously considered Seventh and Tryon several years ago as a potential site for its Innovation and Technology Center. A Mecklenburg County official says it was their understanding the developer held a lease for Truist to occupy the office tower. Instead, Truist built the 100,000-square-foot facility inside its corporate office at 214 North Tryon, formerly called the Hearst Tower. https://charlotte.axios.com/342460/seventh-and-tryon-truist-metropolitan-partnership-mecklenburg-county-library-north/

Per Rent Cafe, 28202 Zip code was #46 of the top 50 zip codes in apartment units added between 2018 & 2022. 2,837 units were added. Some of the higher ranking zip codes were more sprawling. Compared to southern peers, Charlotte performed solidly in the urban core. Nashville’s Gulch/West End was #4 & the highest for a southern city.

Fall at National

No surprise to see 20002 (NoMa/Union Market) & 20003 (Navy Yard) have such a large increase in apartments being constructed. It is a nice surprise though to see them as the two largest zip codes in the nation for new apartments. https://wtop.com/business-finance/2023/10/two-dc-zip-codes-lead-nation-for-new-apartment-construction/

Crystal City [in the background] Rosslyn Credit: https://x.com/chris_fukudawx/status/1716135858158313680?s=46&t=UaWwQ1nznVpI1DBZFaYZHg

3Q Airline results out. AA had a net loss of $545 Million (Record high revenue. Excluding net special items, AA would’ve had a $263 Million net profit. A big hit to profit was $983 Million in connection with their new pilot labor contract). United Net Income: $1.1 Billion Delta net income: $1.11 Billion Not sure if push ever came to shove Charlotte would get any cuts but not sure who would. Chicago? That’d be a boon to United. JFK? Great for Delta & JetBlue. CLT, DFW, DCA seem super insulated & safe, Philly & MIA seem pretty safe too. https://onemileatatime.com/news/american-airlines-reports-loss/

That would be a bummer if it couldn’t be doubled tracked. This is the most crude drawing ever from my iPhone but this is what I’d love to see in Charlotte. Red Line: Heavy Light Rail similar to Denver’s Commuter lines. Mooresville - Gateway. Peak 15 minute frequency, off-peak 30, late night 1 hour. Silver Line: Matthews to Belmont. Peak 10 minutes, off peak 12 minutes. ***Shared Tracks with Gold Line in uptown between gateway & CTC*** Gold Line: Extension further into Plaza Midwood and to 85 on the west. All day 10 minute frequency. Green Line: completely shares tracks with other lines. From Airport to Tyvola. 15 minute frequency all day. Shares tracks with silver from airport to Gateway, with gold & silver from gateway to CTC and with blue from CTC to Tyvola. Blue Line: 10 minute peak / 12 minute off peak. The uptown portion between green/silver/gold should give between Gateway & CTC [very uneven but oh well] frequency of around 5 minutes. Then between CTC & Tyvola should have frequencies of every 7-ish minutes. Benefits: - connections between gateway and CTC become feasible. - one stop seat to SouthEnd from airport - SouthEnd/Uptown is the busiest urban corridor and provides higher frequency for intown higher use passengers - Airport to uptown have decent frequency - interlining puts more frequency in the core. Park & ride from 485 doesn’t deserve the same frequency as East/West Blvd to say Convention Center Obviously we know the cons. Spacing between trains. Mixed traffic (though maybe between Gateway/CTC there could be a mass transit only portion). Is 7 minute frequency too much for the traffic going east/west in SouthEnd?

Not excited yet but close. I’ll be more excited once public officials have time to opine. And I’ll be officially once they start discussing plans again. The interesting thing this time versus in the past is NC potentially buying it which even without plans they should just buy it. Railroad people here will know but… if Amtrak is going to use this portion of the rail road… why not just make it light rail (or heavy light rail)? Maybe it could even be more quick to build than the silver line? NC purchasing the tracks provides a way of funding without using existing funding sources for transportation projects. If NC can just purchase it, then maybe it could cut down the cost of the red line (with the transaction of purchasing the tracks coming from another pot of money) and just build light rail along it. Silver line will have no tracks to follow. I dunno. I could just be so off the mark because again, rail road stuff is not my strong point. But the corridor looks so promising. It would be cool if it were heavy light rail. Would be more spacious and comfortable to (which would be a selling point for the LKN type). Maybe I’m more excited than I realize? Lol.