nicholas

Lol I see Uruses almost everyday, there was a purple one at the mall last weekend.

Nope

I'm not saying giant billboards won't be distracting to some degree, but "about as bad of a distraction as you could have"...? Have you not witnessed any Charlotte drivers FaceTiming family/friends who are probably also driving? Or the iPads that have taken over the dashboard of most modern cars? Barring something unusually provocative, I doubt whatever ends up on the billboards will warrant more than a quick glance away from the in-car distractions consuming so many people these days.

I feel like Charlotte has been getting noticeably worse at small things like that. Some of the most poorly-timed lights I have ever seen have been in Charlotte, especially along Trade/Elizabeth, Tryon, South Blvd, and Graham St (no surprise there though). It not only sucks to walk/bike along most of those corridors, it also sucks to drive due to abysmal signal management and increasingly bad road conditions. I have gotten stuck at red lights on most of those roads for an eternity when there was absolutely no reason for the light to change in the first place. I also probably look like a drunk driver with how much I weave around trying to avoid massive potholes, manhole covers sunken several inches below the road (even on freshly-paved roads, wtf), general trash in the road, although I'm not rolling around in an pointlessly oversized truck or SUV that can dent potholes even farther into the ground without sustaining any damage. Maybe it is just me but I feel like there has been a significant step back in quality and attention to very basic aspects of governance compared to a decade ago.

There have been some absolutely brilliant traffic redirections through that area recently. Heading into uptown on Tryon, can't tell if a northbound lane is blocked off between Carson and Morehead or if that block has been closed during rush hour, but traffic has been backed up from Bland St to Carson Blvd on several recent evening commute drives. Mint St between Carson and Morehead has also been closed which has meant Church and Winnifred are the only streets connecting Carson and Morehead, and those have been completely clogged up due to gridlock on Morehead.

I couldn't believe how far of a walk I had to make through CLT to catch my flight to San Juan. The airline I was flying had their name at Zone A so I entered there, only to find that the sole open security checkpoint was past Zone E. Made the walk and got through security, then had to turn and walk all the way back and around and up to gate A29. Just under 3/4 of a mile by my rough estimate.

I think people tend to ignore the larger picture and think they've "found" a sort-of loophole when in reality the government just gets its share another way. Yeah your property taxes might be low but your income taxes and/or sales taxes are way higher, or vice versa. Unless the city/state isn't really providing anything, but these days many people won't tolerate such a lack of services. Of course then they complain about their taxes going up to fund increased services.

Yeah, but it crab walks. I've never been a truck person but I guess I hadn't really paid super close attention to how enormous they've gotten. The current generation trucks are just ridiculously huge. I drive a European coupe and the difference is glaring, like I cannot even see onto the hood of any new 1500 class truck from my driver's seat. And that's with those at the stock ride height, not even riding on a lifted suspension. Not to mention the passenger compartments that are now larger than the beds on almost every new truck sold in America, making for bestselling vehicles than barely fit within most parking spots. And why do we have 700+ horsepower Rams? Don't get me wrong I love speed, but like...it's a giant heavy ass truck that can't keep up with any mildly sporty car on a curvy road. Idk I know they have their use, but I so rarely ever see trucks actually being used as trucks until you get into the HD segment with F250s and the like, which I would argue is way overkill for most situations anyway. Honestly I wouldn't mind having a Tacoma as a second vehicle because there are situations where I need the utility that it offers, but I don't think Toyota even makes the configuration I want anymore (2 dr single cab with V6 and six speed manual).

Given the regulatory push towards electrification, and the reality that people are overwhelmingly buying trucks and SUVs over smaller passenger vehicles, what are everyone's thoughts of of the shockingly high curb weights seen on a number of recent electrics? Trucks in particular are already heavy vehicles, but the F150 Lightning weighs in over 6800 pounds and the smaller Rivian R1T somehow crests 7000. The new Hummer electric truck is a truly staggering 9,600 pounds and is also an absolute rocket in a straight line. On the other side of that coin, braking distances are getting pretty ridiculous in the wrong direction due to so much weight, and it concerns me that my vehicles will handily out-brake something of that stature. In fact I'm almost certain that my motorcycle, which has much less absolute stopping ability than any modern car, would stoppie to a halt long before the Rivian behind me. I wouldn't ever want to be run into by another car, but I would definitely rather be hit by a 2400 lb Miata than one of those monsters...

Nice separated bike lanes, too bad they couldn't have continued them onto Research and David Taylor (at least through the sections that will be widened).

With all of the businesses and intersections that were allowed to be constructed along 74 in Shelby, it's no more of a bypass than US 74/Andrew Jackson Hwy was through Monroe (bypassing Franklin St and Charlotte Ave) before the Monroe Expressway was built. I don't disagree with your point in general but if you are going to start a relatively straightforward road project, don't drag it out for close to two decades.

Is there any rational explanation for why this project has taken so long just to get to this point? I mean the Monroe bypass is about the same length and was completed in three years. Shelby has been a noticeable bottleneck for Asheville-Charlotte traffic for ages and construction on the bypass started TEN years ago, yet somehow we are still a looooooong ways away from completion. Looking at some of the active and proposed projects out there, I just have a hard time believing that building a loop around Winston-Salem, widening US 221 between West Jefferson and US 421, widening US 321 to six lanes from Hickory to Lenoir, building bypasses around numerous small towns and cities along US 70 between Raleigh and Morehead City, etc, is more important than finally finishing the Shelby bypass that currently essentially serves as an expensive highway to nowhere (and really shouldn't have been necessary in the first place if the original Shelby bypass had been built as a limited-access highway). I get wanting to prioritize projects fairly in consideration of traffic volumes and population levels throughout of the state, but I feel like connecting our biggest cities should be the highest priority especially since there is not a lot that still needs to be done at this point. We basically just need an Asheville-Charlotte-Wilmington interstate connection.

Historic districts are added in long after neighborhoods were built up (which greatly hampers future change), whereas HOAs are usually in place from the formation of subdivisions which are not intended to see much evolution anyway. I don't think anyone wants to see generic apartments take over Dilworth or Elizabeth, but since both neighborhoods are currently decently walkable it is a shame that they are currently filled mostly with SFHs.

I feel like a lot of fast food chains have become so watered-down and boring from decades past that it's not really fun to get fast food anymore. Look at how bland modern McDonald's stores are compared to the ones in the '90s. Not to mention food costs continuing to rise...last time I stopped by Cookout it was like $10 for a lone tray without a milkshake, and I love Cookout but at that point I'd rather spend another dollar or two and get something relatively healthy at Chipotle. Wonder if this means the Southpark store could be redeveloped soon....

Any potential owner in the Triangle would almost certainly want the team in Raleigh.

Can't remember if pics have been posted yet but the movie theater is gone.

Down in Waxhaw today. Looked like a couple of infrastructure projects going on, lots of people walking around. Noticed one vacant storefront on the north side of the tracks but everything else looked occupied.

Anyone see Jason Thomas's post? 382 unit mf with 21k sq ft of retail planned for Stadium View Dr and S Cedar St next to the Panthers practice bubble. No renderings yet but will include saving The Foundry building.

I've driven Raleigh to Charlotte and vice versa via 49/64 probably at least a hundred times. Going through Asheville was the worst part of the trip by miles. There are soooo many traffic lights and everyone there drives so damn slowly, and there's traffic literally 24/7. Always dreaded driving through there so was glad they finally built a bypass. Building the bypass to the north of the city would have been shorter for US 64, but considering the zoo is on the south side and so much through traffic follows NC 49 to/from Charlotte, it made a lot more sense to build on the south side. That said, I mainly stick to 85/40 when going between Raleigh and Charlotte now since the construction through Concord and Kannapolis has been completed. Although the stretch of 40 between the 85 split and Chapel Hill sucks and it looks like they're doing preliminary construction to finally widen that section.

Forgot to post but townhomes nearing completion on The Plaza.

Looked like a new crane section coming in by flatbed on Monday.

In South End on Monday at a resident UPer's office. Couple pics from apartments going up a block over.

Always nice to see the classics out and about. Jaguar E-Type in Birkdale. The roadster versions are considered to be among the most beautiful cars of all time and are more desirable, but I believe the coupes are actually rarer. This is a 'Series III' which was produced between 1971 and 1974 and came with a V12 engine which replaced the I6 found in Series I and II models. Interior looked to be in excellent shape and was trimmed in dark red leather, with the proper four speed manual shifter sprouting from the console. On the newer end of the spectrum, I noticed this very rare Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP casually parked in Uptown last week. This is a 2021 model which is identifiable by the paint scheme, and only around 330 of these Fireblade SPs were produced worldwide that year, with just 50 coming to America. Due to needless emissions requirements, the American market Fireblade SP is notably down on power compared to the European market model which I believe is the most powerful production bike ever.

Few more pics from today. Heard someone (think it was KJ) call Kannapolis the "suburb of the future". Hundreds of residential units currently under construction with even more in the pipeline, and don't think I noticed a single empty storefront aside from the brand new ones at Vida. A borderline unbelievable turnaround compared to how things were 20 years ago.

Around the corner at Woodlawn and Selwyn. Townhomes going vertical.