cjd5050

They post on the Charlotte subreddit and I think the mods there banned the url at some point. Sadly this is the cost of having everyone connected on a platform like Facebook...where you can be engaged by sharing and liking with a click. Ignorance spreads like wildfire.

Very good points and you changed my mind on the idea of investing to produce payment. Now all that is needed is for LYNX to make the same counter argument when the public talks about revenue.

South End’s new residents have the choice of train or Uber. Many prefer Uber. Didn't see this mentioned..... It feels like the observer is looking to make a story out of nothing. To start, it appears everyone they spoke to did not speak to transportation related to commuting to work. It would have been nice if they presented that. Also, I am not sure why the expectation is there that someone living in the South End would walk 5 min to a station, take 10 minutes on a train and then walk an additional few minutes to various locations Uptown when they can an Uber in 10 minutes. Especially if weather is an issue. Unless you're talking about a regular commute for work, I think the South End stations (New Bern, East/West, Bland and Carson) are pointless for any type of Uptown destination. When the new line opens up going to NoDa or the University Area will be a different story. Also...kinda silly to talk about revenue when you have an honor system. They should invest in only providing access to the stations after payment. I bet you could lower prices while producing more revenue simply by getting everyone to pay.

Reading the report and looking at the 2033 plan I am a bit disappointed. I really like the hammerhead satellite but I think this should be the international terminal rather than the Alt C4-b plan that puts regional jets out there. The main reason is I think if international went out to the satellite you would have the option of building a grand terminal due to a somewhat isolated construction process. That said I do love what they will be doing over the car rental parking lots. Not sure what terminal that would be but it feels like it would look like a larger version of the new San Diego terminal....which is stunning. Exciting stuff for sure.

Sure something like this could be iconic. See. Sydney Opera House or the Guggenheim. Don't get me wrong, I can find a bit of love in all urban design and I think from the street Charlotte is doing great things. It's just this parcel is a full block and I think you need that to have a podium for something really, really special.

Maybe we have a different opinion on what iconic is. For sure Duke and probably BofA. Maybe Hearst and One Wells Fargo but I think these two are just OK towers that stand out for no other reason than height. I am talking about buildings that truly stand out. Buildings that when you just look at a silhouette it's obvious. I don't think Charlotte has lots of those. Just my opinion of course.

How many full blocks are even an option at this point in Uptown? My hope is that someone buys and sits on it until the market is right to build something iconic.

Thanks for the info and I hope so. For the amount of waterfront the region has there is simply not enough places to enjoy the water (dinner/drinks) if you don't live on the water. Not sure why a developer would be responsible for building a school. The region is expected to double in population in the next 20 years or so. Schools are going to be needed regardless of where developers build. I would assume a new HS at the least.

Interesting and sad. Are they happy with the project? Everyone has their own reasons but I am not sure I could deal with construction for 20 years. I would take the money and run to another waterfront property. But to each there own. Thanks for the info.

I honestly don't think this will even be close to the final plans. I think eventually the owners of this cove will all sell and this will become the 'riverfront' that most hope for. Just imagine 2-3 story buildings lining the cove with a boardwalk around the entire thing. Toss in a couple of bridges and you have something really special. Zillow (I know) has those homes pegged at around $750k per. I just don't see how some developer does not come in and purchase all of them with a massive markup. The return is there. May take 20 years but developers are in the long game.

I'll need to listen to this and your take is very interesting. My question to picking networks or transportation networks is this. The thing that I am not sure you're considering is the timeline of mass transportation and how it impacts cost. The longer you wait to develop mass transportation the more expensive and problematic it becomes. Not just in the ever rising cost of construction but also the logistics of it. The more people and buildings you have to 'work around' the more difficult building something as structured as mass transit becomes. It used to be rail was built to open up development and it did. Now it seems to have become the exact opposite where first you wait for a place to become populated and then you build mass transit to it. I think fundamentally this is wrong. Take for example the river district. Light rail planning should be one of the first things done and the design of that entire area should be based around it. But sadly, this will not happen. I mean..just imagine if in the past they had the vision to build South Park or Ballantyne out with light rail in mind. Just how different would Charlotte be?

Not saying HB2 has nothing to do with this but I can think of 2 other items that may be causing this. In the last 4 weeks there has been an uptick in news on the CMS school assignment issue. I know if I was in the market right now and did not have to make a move, I would wait it out until that was resolved. Especially if you were looking at areas where you could expect higher odds of movement due to location. Also, in my neighborhood alone the list prices are absurd. We purchased a home for $285k in October of last year. Another similar sized home went for $285k as well. In our same community you have someone with a similar sized house (but with a pool) trying to list for $370k and a little bit of a bigger home but poor location that backs up to a busy street listing for $360k. I can think of no justification for the jump in list prices to this level in less than 6 months outside of stupid listing agents selling a myth. Both of these are also plausible reasons why traffic would be down on many listings.

Somewhat new to NC. When you say Raleigh are you saying State Government or the city of Raleigh? I get why a rural / urban divide exists. It's unfortunate but expected. But I don't understand why Raleigh, as a city, would not be all in for pushing an urban (development) agenda for both Raleigh and Charlotte.

Working the ridership numbers makes sense. I guess I am unclear as to who the brochure is for. Also, I am not sure wealthy or upper middle class folks are going to be using mass transit to go shopping in Mecklenburg County. I see them driving. But I could see some using mass transit to either commute in for work or for special events. As a Mecklenburg county resident I am for mass transit but I'd also like to see a way to have Union County residents pay a bigger contribution than fare and potential taxes. Maybe build a large parking ramp at the end of the line closest to Union County and sell monthly parking permits priced on where you live? Just an idea.

Thanks for posting this. Couple of comments..... Why do they reference the commute time of Union County residents on a CATS plan? Union County is not going to contribute so why should their commuters be of concern? For the Silver Line to work, they really need the Town of Matthews to be the focal point rather than CPCC. That town could evolve to the perfect walkable urban yet suburban community if light rail is connected to the correct location. I know it would just be estimates but it would be helpful if they put some numbers out on what each of the transit points have in terms of density and tax revenue today compared to projected transit oriented development.

I think the FAA has your back on this.

Maybe I am one of the few who is actually looking forward to this project. I think that no matter what happens Uptown is going to continue to develop density in both housing and office space. So if you look at Charlotte over the next 30 or 50 years, I think it's very important to build 'urban centers' along the Beltway. Ballantyne is one. University is another. This will be the third. The good news for the University area is it's going to be unlocked by light rail. Ballantyne is unlikely. I think for this area, light rail is the key. I think we can all agree that extending rail service to the airport would have some amazing benefits. Not just on how Uptown functions but also unlocking all of the development between Uptown and the airport. This project is just past the airport and it appears they want to cluster the office space next to the 485. If CATS, the City and County are to get ahead of this, they should start by quickly developing plans for how light rail will access this area. Even just planning right of ways can have a tremendous impact on how the office parks will be laid out. I would think the developers would be in favor of this as having light rail to the front door of their 8mm s/f of office space would increase the value without a cost to them. I understand that there are many existing residents who already life down there. They may eventually need to move..if they want. But I think it's safe to say that the value of their property is going to go through the roof. Either by people purchasing the smaller homes to build river mansions or developers looking to build out density. It's better than putting in some sort of industrial zoning is my point. It could be worse.