11 HouseBZ

I believe certain departments of the city of Charlotte ride for free. They show their city ID's as a pass if checked.

Was talking to a friend in the beer business last week and he told me that the Hoppy Holidays is the result of a screw up. Hop Drop was accidentally mix with a batch of something else, I believe coco loco or ramble (don't hold me to that for I was 3 pints deep). And so as not to waste product... Hoppy Holidays! Good thing is that if it does well, ^and seems to be from those lucky enough to get hands on it, I heard they know exactly how much of each were mixed so they can reproduce it and do it again next year. I might be able to get some next week from said friend. But if not, cheers.

I think this is scrap yard or right behind the scrap yard 1 block north of Matheson especially since the addressed street is E 31st. Lockwood doesn't start til 10 blocks south on the other side of Tryon. ^But as stated above(rjp212) this would be amazing for this area. Bring on the revitalization!

^ Agreed. I used to part time a job with a company who used to have the contract to "fix" up the place. Whoever the management is of the buildings, they're not really willling to let their current cash flow go. So many contractors before us would only piece meal the problems they found. We constantly had to fix their trashy work. The guy I worked for lost the contract because we were too expensive( we were actually fixing everything from complete floors replaced, 20' sections of walls replaced, reroofing, etc which means spending money that they didn't want to or at times couldn't pay). I really don't know how they are allowed to stay open. For instance just about all the apts west of Remus are infested with fleas, cats, and roaches. Border line third world. I literally stepped mid thigh through a floor because it was so rotten, and that was an apt we were not suppose to work on to so they could put it up for rent. This kind of ish happened regularly and they'd just want us to patch over it to cover it up. I guess out of sight, out of mind. Either way, I don't think it'll be developed anytime soon. Business is too lucrative, especially with a month and a half waiting list. Really wish they'd just bulldoze the place.

I also had the opportunity to eat at Draught the other day for lunch. I had the duck au jus which was on point. It washed down nicely with 2 Birdsong Browns. My only, but very minor, complaint is that there was a fairly weak local representation on the beer list. This, I'm sure will be fixed in time so I'll pipe down about it. But bottom line, I liked the feel of the joint and will definitely be back.

Just heard the other day (second hand, take it for what it's worth) that the last tenant (one of the many pallet companies) in the blue Hercules building on the left side of Graham going north has to be out by Friday. They said the owner changed their plan for it. Instead of tearing it down for new apartments, they're going to renovate the existing structure for apartments. Can't say that I'm too attached to this particular building so I wasn't disappointed when they were planning on tearing it down. The only buildings I would like for them to spare is the original Ford (1667 Statesville Rd currently building #2 of Rite Aid) and the pump house with accompanying water tower. I would just hope they reuse some of the brick and large diameter lumber from these buildings for whatever new developement to give it character and a nod toward the sites substantial influence in our history.

Last week as I drove by OMB's new location I noticed they were clearing out a lot of the under brush on the Tryon side of their property while leaving a good bit of the tall trees. Wasn't it mentioned that they were going to have a beer garden/patio area? Is this to be the location of said beer garden? If so, I feel this to be a huge upgrade from their previous outdoor patio. Very chill spot to enjoy a brew or two under the trees.

I have to agree that it will take time for Lockwood to ditch the bad image. Every violent crime in that area continues that stigma. But as one who sees some of the worst of the neighborhood, it is encouraging to see people look past that image and still invest in the area such as renovating houses. And I must add that Lockwood has one of the best views of Uptown. It's also nice to see some city investment with the new CFD headquarters. Rumor has it CFD is going to occupy two nearby warehouses with their logistics division. You can find these on the left after Armour Dr driving north on Graham. Police already occupy the warehouse with the Chevy smokestack with a random assortment of vehicles. These are all located between the new CFD headquarters and the blue Hercules building that was mentioned above. As far as the Catalina bungalows in Tryon Hills mentioned above, the last of them were razed as of two months ago. Dille Hay courts on the other side of 28th are still going strong and are fully occupied. A curfew was implemented a while back and has helped stem some of the problems from there at least. I was told the reason for the disconnected street grid in druid and Tryon Hills was to discourage drug dealing by limiting the ingress and egress. Therefore making it easier for CMPD to catch dealers. All in all I'm hopeful for the entire "North End" area, even though it's hard to see some of the changes working. There is a lot of potential for change though... P.S. I'd like to say hello to everyone, I'm new to Urban Planet.