Eightane

Yeah, once more residential towers and projects get finished and filled up, plus added traffic on that whole side of uptown from Whole Foods etc. I can see them returning to 3am rather easily.

Adding to what enicideme said, I'm fairly sure the CC wants to hold on to that in case of a future expansion/annex, which is sort of overdue already since several conventions express interest in Charlotte but we just don't have their kind of space.

Okay, I have to ask (and I figure it's slightly better to post here than in the Traffic Congestion/Highway Construction thread): are there plans to repave 3rd Street after this opens between Tryon and the west end of BB&T Ballpark? I know the problems with it precede this complex, but this would logically be the one obstacle preventing work on it, and it's at *least* an eyesore next to shining new towers in 3rd Ward and our crowning urban park and at *worst* so dilapidated it's dangerous for some drivers. I honestly haven't seen a city street so hump-ridden and horribly patched since I went to Toledo visiting a friend (and they have the excuse of harsh winters, here, not so much).

That would be a good idea, if I only had to go to AV-proper. I suppose I should've been more clear but there are destinations in the south of the Asheville metro that would be much better options by 74 (or 74-to-64) instead of 40, such as west of Brevard and the Great Balsams. If you're sticking to the city itself, yes, but as someone w/ family in Transylvania it's just irritating how the western reaches wound up.

Well that's honestly great news. I suppose it's easy to see how the *first* Shelby bypass went so utterly wrong and assume there haven't been many lessons learned from it, esp. since it's by far not the only example of that brand of shortsightedness. Every time I drive through there on the way to Asheville I have to wonder just what they thought would happen with no contingency to keep retailers from morphing the speedy alt' into a gridlocked mess.

And this would be why I think most bypasses should be built limited-access or elsewise follow the rule of on/offramps that interstate highways abide by. If the purpose of building the bypass is to get long-distance travellers past congestion nodes or retail oceans, it makes absolutely no sense to me that many are built w/o provisions that keep those retailers from swarming the new alternative. It creates dead-zones in the old route when the bix boxes pack up shop and move to their sparkling new location on the new road, whereas when businesses are made to stay put because they aren't *allowed* to crowd the new road, they fall under the "natural business selection" they always should have been: if they're important enough to the local economy, they stay because people support that by buying from them, if they can't, they just weren't a feasible business or they used to be but fell out of that niche. Newer businesses can then come in and take over old, vacant spaces on the older road, which also solves the problem of newcomers building seas of asphalt next to non-limited-access byways just because it's cheaper for them in some cases, or helps them "build to suit" because they're picky about their access orientation or how their building's shaped. Quality of travel and fast trips for their customers should trump all of their corporate philosophies on showmanship and idle personalization. The fact this wasn't nailed down as a concrete solution decades ago just makes me think people worship car culture even more than we mention and call to attention.

Excellent pics! From my experience driving up most of the corridor in the past month, I can almost see how a delay is possible, if unjustified. Certain poles, embankments near the street seemed very barely erected of late, so no telling how far along all the individual buried lines and such are. Plus it does take longer to test and initiate these it sometimes feels like, excusing the subjectivity.

Now that the Oakdale exit from 485 is open barring cleanup and finishing work, I wonder how much of a difference it will make in traffic easement, less than it does for trip time for some local destinations. Whatever it absorbs from 16 and Mt. Holly-Huntersville will be built back somewhat with the huge project at the corner and whatever inevitably locates in the Teeter's old building. Sad to see how car culture can barely clean up its own mess, I'm not saying a mass transit network is viable that far out but these types of things should be all the anti-transit pie wedge needs to see the reason in investing in modern rail.

Surprised more people aren't talking this up, these fires are horrendous and air continues to worsen. I'm in northeastern Gaston and there's a heavy haze of smog. Allergy symptoms everywhere. I've been watching coverage, they all talk about the Code Red air quality. The winds are supposed to change, but no one's forecasting anything about when we might have our atmospheric conditions in the Charlotte metro improve, or either I haven't happened to catch any broadcast that's dealing with that. They also make it sound like the firefighters are in a losing battle... How much *federal* response has been mobilized, does anyone have that info?

I'm with both the above posters. Prerenderings made it look like a sheer coloured glass arrangement, and here we have metal grills. Now I'm left hoping that when the planters are stocked and the foliage grows out it mitigates *this*. Or will they switch to using plastic tulips and fake ivy? Y'know, because who cares what they presented to the public and the powers that be to get their project greenlit?

Not to derail this from current developments within the mall, but as a sort of outsider to construction or real estate news is there any movement or change in the conversion of Macy's to Bloomingdale's, or Neiman Marcus possibly adding their 3rd story? Even just speculation. Seems they would both be shoe-ins for a market most luxury retailers watch I'd imagine.

Same here, I was especially psyched when 300 South Tryon finally came to fruition, having a true corridor from Carolina Theater down to the Levine Avenue of the Arts put us in a great place in that respect. Different train of thought here, I wanted to ask this for a week or so but I don't think bumping The Vue's thread is prudent: I assume it's fully leased by now, or at least close to 100%? I remember there being some dialogue about how it took a while, given the building's size and its market at the time. I'd also hope its meeting capacity would be a better draw for development in the rest of its block, yet the properties around it sit quiet as a mouse. Uncanny.

As for plants in Romare wilting, are there not landscapers/groundskeepers to maintain watering? Or is it a special last-resort-type scenario for that?

This does come as a mostly-pleasant surprise, what I see here... First thing that struck me is the geometry, it seems like different angles of view could make it look wildly unique, at least compared to the variety present in our zip code Will decline comment on that. Bottom line it is a pretty piece of urban vision. That said, I'm sorry but I can't be quite as calm about this as most have been, the retail amount is a *joke*. Especially on a street so woven into uptown, connecting to south end traffic and midtown, this should be at least commercially awake, even accounting for what others have said about large intersections, poor design etc. We have large, capable corporations spearheading sizeable chunks of land, and in the age of social media we have at least enough to gather what an area needs or is clamoring for. A property abutting a light rail stop in the heart of town should not be more car-accomodating than Metropolitan. I don't know who exactly is most liable for dropping the ball when it comes to getting critical mass of places to shop, but even with Lincoln Harris's Observer site that's still years away and under wraps, no matter how tipped towards retail it appears. Almost every other construction-base upswing of something, be it apartments, industry growth etc. can fill a vacuum through explosion. I eagerly await the day that uptown finds itself quenched of this really prominent gap in service.

Thanks, the both of you!

Thought of putting this in "Good New Restaurants" but it's not about new places. Given that the Queen will be celebrating her milestone 90th year on Thursday, I was wanting to eat somewhere local that serves authentic British cuisine, or at least close to it. Is there a local eatery with good (subjectively, let's get that tired joke out of the way now, hah) English food?

In a bit over a year when this is finished that view goes in my Top 5 for the QC. Not for density or amount of buildings (clearly) but the modern obelisks over green canopies. Like Piedmont Park in ATL and a bunch of other such man-meets-world corners of successful urban stitching. I could prattle on.~

I really have trouble wrapping my mind around what the huge push against this was even about. I mean sure, there's precedent for it being uber-hard to convert lanes to free once they're built as tolled, but do they believe the existing GP lanes will disintegrate when they break ground on this? Do they believe it wouldn't take MUCH longer to get new free lanes up there, with no contract nor stipulated source for the money to build? Do they think the new tolls are so exhorbitant as to be too much for lake towns, where the money pretty much has no trouble flowing and I'd bet there's five mansions for every shack or shanty? I stand by what I've said before to other people, other places. 77 needs to be four lanes at least up to Birkdale, and three at least up to I-40 in Statesville. How this is accomplished shouldn't be so grave a circumstance when the alternative is a gridlock already so bad I don't know how anyone can live there and commute south, and not tear out their hair. If a few dollars per day is too much, sell off a Benz or a Hummer H2. Or, y'know, quit imagining the DOT's made of money when they couldn't even get many projects off the dirt before the incumbents now rerouted the tax flow.

If it actually comes out with those orange and jade-shaded accents you can just imagine me as that eager kid in the foreground. I wanna hug the colours.

Right, I don't think we should *pursue* annexation, esp. thinking it's any sort of solution for growing pains or other issues. At the same time, as I might've said in a different topic the people in communities around Charlotte (and even outer-ring neighbourhoods with more of a historical population base or working-class identity) very much don't think the same way as urbanites, whether those in Charlotte or in/from elsewhere in the country. I do hear often from people I've known in places like north of Derita, west of Huntersville etc. that they're sick of paying Mecklenburg county taxes while getting fewer city services and just feeling like they subsidize the 'proper' Charlotteans. These are predominantly middle-class people who haven't gotten here in the past five or ten or even twenty years, and form an identity for themselves as citizens who're non-cosmopolitan and 'stable' in their situation. They can't necessarily move at the drop of a hat, and if they can they don't feel like they should have to, preferring their location for any number of reasons, job proximity, family history, and so on. They would vote in favour of annexation and much of what comes with it, they're not concerned with 'smart growth' in an urban sense. I try not to thumb my nose at them whether they're 'up' on good measures for sprawl reduction or not, they're very much part of this area's fabric. I don't agree with them but neither do I disagree. Arguments I see in favour of annexing start with how what works for other cities in terms of not just intelligent growth but the quality of life for people in its metro doesn't necessarily work (nor is desirable) everywhere, demographics are different, commuting and job growth needs and patterns are different... I see benefits in not growing the city's boundaries, but if residents are stuck in a 'no-man's-land' concerning what the county can offer them outside of other jurisdictions I wouldn't push them out for not resembling the influx; I like the idea of 'hoods that are pleasantly-suburban in character being within city limits, no less if it means their staying and convictions stave off the developers from turning those areas into massive developments that are *still* suburban but more dense w/o offering solutions for congestion; not every place that gets built up turns into town centers like Ayrsley. Plus with more land comes more tax base, and higher figures on population statistics; corporate decisions to relocate here from elsewhere would likely do research on the breakdowns but a higher figure still looks good from some perspectives, economic or otherwise. But, it means more land for Charlotte to be responsible for, more water/sewer/gas line construction and maintenance, and other non-dandy drawbacks, some that the casual denizen either doesn't know or thinks don't affect them as much as they actually do. If I maybe have any stake in this at all, it would mostly be wondering what comes to pass when tens of thousands (or more) people outside the seven 'burgs' have only the county to look to or serve them. The 'necks' north or west or northeast of Charlotte can't be absorbed into Concord or Belmont or what-have-you, they won't be under some other center's control with its own political agenda or ideas for the future that don't include or mirror the main city's.

Out of curiosity, I recall something about annexation laws in North Carolina changing a while back, to the tune of making it harder (more stringent guidelines) for municipalities to absorb more land. I don't know exactly what the changes were, and basically I'd like to know what annexations we might see in the next ten years as sprawl and contiguous neighbourhoods/developed land increase. I know the NE area around Mallard Creek is likely a big candidate, and not even just for 485's completion, though there *is* the X-factor of if the local populace wants it or would vote against absorption.

IMO an added bonus of this finally going up is hiding one side of that abominable old Duke building. I realize it's not stucco and beige or a blue/green glass wall so one *could* call it variety (from a Charlotte perspective, lol) but the concrete and stark design just always made me think of a hospital crossed with a military complex. Can't be sad to see it shielded.

As someone who grew up in (and has lived in) Gaston County all my life, I think that's FAR too outside reality to expect from all but the easternmost burgs. Any civic investment in mass transit or making cultural strides in modern or bohemian ways would be just that, civic, pushed by those in charge of economics or the like. Many, many people in the majority of Gaston County have no desire to connect themselves with anything in Charlotte but the jobs. There are *hoardes* of older or descendant-of-older mill folk or country-bred citizens who lack any appreciation for what a city or its effects have to offer, and they act as a collective of old dogs (the proverbial kind, who don't take to new tricks). Belmont and Mount Holly are two exceptions due to raw proximity and the people who moved out *from* Charlotte for cheaper land or CoL; they have more knowledge/understanding of the benefits. Lowell may be notable for a now-progressive council, but in their case for development, not culture. Even somewhere like Stanley - which isn't exactly knocking on Cleveland's door - will take at LEAST decades to reach a precipice like that. Anywhere further, like Bessemer, Cherryville, no way will we see that in our lifetimes. I personally believe Charlotte has grown more 'out' in all directions except due west for a reason, and it's not the river. It's a different world here in mentality.

I would honestly not have imagined that the Charlotte loop has more land area. Looking on certain maps the 'sphere' inside 285 looks huge, but I'm sure that's for Georgia's having smaller counties geographically. Another benefit, though, that I neglected earlier: Those in NE Gaston, Lincoln or otherwise near 16 that shop at Concord Mills. And population density aside that's not a low number of heads.

I'll echo what the opinion popping up here has become; there's a big difference between taking a ring road to cut out extra distance, like from the lake to Concord Mills where one might've gone either 77 to 85 or down slower full-access roads, and taking half the loop around from 85 at Belmont to 85 at W.T. Harris or beyond when the distance should speak for itself. It does spread out the volume and thus cut down on congestion and 'up' the time savings on multiple routes to similar destinations (for a while, until sprawl catches up and chokes this down to size), but not for any inherently smart decisions made by all commuters. I'm glad for the positive impacts to rush hour, and honestly as long as development's not abysmal quality at the new interchanges I love the idea of Charlotte growing more consistently at and into its northern fringes. But there'll always be more success or benefits touted than what you actually get if just a little research is done. 77 being widened, tolls or non, is a FAR more necessary evil (car culture and emissions) from my point of view, I hated driving to Statesville to see my grandmother even a decade ago when she was still around, rest her soul. It's easily one of the most egregious examples in the whole region for inadequate capacity or infrastructure and I'd pay easily five bucks each way with a smile on my face just to not have to pack bottled water and snacks every time I need that stop-and-go route.