Eightane

Took a short day trip into uptown the other day. I have to say the coast live oak at Ally Center looks like it'll pull through, barring some exceptional freezeout in the next few months. Also it seems the Carolina Theatre is still coming together, despite everything? We had some truly good luck as far as buildings that were funded and started before COVID changed the world. I still think the Liz Hair nature walk is a golden asset for the city and I will die on that hill. P.S. I think the Ratcliffe on the Green retains the title of my fave residential building anywhere in the QC. So magnificent.

I agree about the first two of those, but vaccination is headed towards being *rightfully* mandatory. As I type this my aunt is in a hospital, intubated, and has been given a 20% chance to live. She is unvaccinated. This pandemic is historic and horrific and bears no meaningful resemblance or similarity to overcaution about taking pictures, because photos aren't a contagion. There, I've said my off-topic yet personal piece. Resume.

If there's one saving grace for us (which sadly doesn't help those in the mountains and what they're dealing with) it's that the Eastern Continental Divide which runs all down the Blue Ridge divides up the watersheds. About everything in the light pink there and west will flow towards the Mississippi, not our local rivers. Everything east of there though will definitely have to make its way down the Yadkin, Catawba, Broad rivers etc. Also it's odd that the text in that rain total map says Hurricane Frances, and the wrong year as well.

I have to say, as a resident of Gastonia who works in Stanley and had to drive home through the final squall line, this was no joke, no matter how paltry totals were in the central and eastern QC metro. I have NEVER driven through rain that hard in my life, and I've been in 6-hour downpours in the mountains that registered double-digit inch totals. I couldn't see two feet in front of my windshield at any time. If we were abnormally dry in any way before, we sure aren't now.

Damn, that's unfortunate. Well I won't hold my breath on if it gets built more quality-rich, but at least they're saving a historic property and making some unique living quarters for the new tenants. :/ I'm a hopeless optimist that way.

Any updates, esp. of a photo nature, on the Parkwood Church Apartments? This is one of the coolest repurposed properties IMO in all of Metrolina. Have they progressed on the AC screening, and if so, does it look as tasteful as in the renderings?

The biggest problem with Gastonia is that its CBD/ downtown is incredibly piecemeal, and not well-activated in the majority of blocks. Yes, it's made some great strides in the past few years, revitalizing the area near the courthouse, but at the end of the day it suffers terribly from this AND its poor connectivity to Charlotte (I-85 loses a lane before it even gets CLOSE to central Gaston, and anyone who's taken the Sloans Ferry Bridge that carries 74 across the Catawba knows it is a *scary* piece of road and in no way a fostering agent for growth). Given Belmont's raw proximity to Meck, and its great work w/ revitalization in the past 20-some-dd years, i don't see it being impossible at all that Belmont becomes the next powerhouse of Gaston and might absolutely pass Gastonia in population. it won't be tomorrow, or next year, but it's definitely a place to watch.

This is a really good synopsis of exactly why Gaston's development has been so different (and less) than Cabarrus, Union etc. I was born and raised in Stanley, and honestly it's just within the past year or two that I've seen noticeable acceleration in growth. Without major engines or drivers like Winthrop, HQs and so on, it took people discovering how pleasant and quiet these communities are (AND lower costs of living therein) to finally kick off meaningful explosions in economy and population. Belmont and Mount holly have hit a good stride with booming suburban growth, and Belmont will one day be larger than Gastonia, maybe in my lifetime. Stanley and Dallas are starting to feel their own booms, adding housing and infrastructure. Bessemer City and Cherryville will likely maintain their small-town, non-suburban character for the rest of my natural life, but who knows about afterwards. we're finally seeing Gaston and Meck try to grow together. Time will tell.

One underrated aspect of this finally opening is that UNCC, CPCC and Johnson C. Smith will be linked by mass transit, and permanent lines too (not changeable like bus routes). It won't mean much for older residents but for the collegiate set I see it helping social- and connectivity-issues. Especially once COVID is fully squashed.

One thing I wish was planted more often in urban environments is Chinese Wisteria. So long as it's surrounded by sidewalks and streets its penchant for being out-of-control is eliminated (nowhere to spread), and not only are the flowers in Spring absolutely gorgeous AND fragrant, but the leafing habit is handsome in its own right the rest of the growing season. The only big drawback in my eyes is the tenderness of the flower buds when young. One good frost will often knock down the blooms in Gaston county and other points west or north of the city.

Southend's midrises are a breath of dense air among sparse southern neighbourhoods. I'm so proud of Charlotte, it's built some truly urban fabric in the 33 years I've existed.

It is such a tables-turned feeling, after months and months of us bemoaning the lack of visual progress, to see this finally accelerate construction while so much of the world has come to a standstill. That said, I'm giddy that it's on its way to glory!

This made me imagine seeing apparitions from inside the deck, not of people but of buildings, all the renderings of scrapped projects. OJ coming out the nose does not feel good.

As much as it pains me to, I have to agree here. Not only is this beautiful alone IF the context of neighbourhood architecture weren't calling this out in the worst way, but this is in no way how it will look when it's done. We will not have this as an end result, in any possible outcome.

I will always love that this exists. And I will never not think of "No Parking Hare".