NYtoCLT

We build parking for Black Friday (actually more, since even on Black Friday there is usually open parking), while we build pedestrian spaces only if there is anything left over. If there were a crisis where we needed parking, we would wonderfully positioned. Unfortunately, in the current crisis when we need places where pedestrians can safely be without overcrowding, we are highlighting how little public space we really have. Even in our "walkable" neighborhoods, we have narrow sidewalks that don't allow for passing while being 6 feet apart. A lot of neighborhoods don't even have sidewalks so I guess at least there's that? Given the lack of traffic, there is no reason not to close a series of streets to through traffic and open it up to pedestrians.

It could but I've been let down enough times to know not to expect anything positive regarding timelines.

An optimist!

I hear that it has a lot of industrial sites nearby, but (1) there are definitely homes/neighborhoods nearby (some directly across the street on Auten Road!) and (2) the character of the neighborhood today does not necessarily reflect the character tomorrow. If something half as nice as some higher profile reservoirs were to be put in place, I would guess developers would be willing to do what is necessary to make some of those sites OK for residential use given the proximity to uptown. Also, it would be way cheaper to do things when the surrounding area is what it is today as opposed to what it might be in the future. As for comparing it to Latta plantation, I think looking at these things in terms of zip code is way too broad -- the closest point of Mountain Island Lake is over 4 miles away from the reservoir as the crow flies (let alone driving). That makes this almost half-way between uptown and Latta. That is far. Also, the area around the lake is wealthy and white. The neighborhoods around this are not. Maybe I am missing something but I don't see why the reservoir water being used for the treatment next to it would impact the ability of people to be near it as a greenway. The water in that reservoir isn't treated yet, right? I am not an engineer but I am guessing it is storage before being treated. How does this make that water any different than the water in Mountain Island lake where people have access?

Has there ever been any conversation in Charlotte about beautifying and building a trail around the Reservoir? It is an amenity that is almost treated like a blight that needs to be hidden. The reservoirs in two of the places I've lived -- Chestnut Hill, MA (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnut_Hill_Reservoir) and NYC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Kennedy_Onassis_Reservoir) -- are both cherished community assets. We have a serious shortage of parks and trails and this feels like something that would be relatively easy to turn from eyesore into cultural attraction. Especially for a city without much water, this feels like an opportune way to incorporate water into our park space as we look to address our parks problem. For people who haven't been, the surrounding neighborhood has a lot of industrial sites close by, but it is pretty close to center city with incredible views of the skyline over the water (but without so much as a sidewalk on the side that would allow for this view).

There is almost no chance this ends in 2-3 weeks. Governor Cooper has seen the below graphic and based on the below he can't reasonably lift the order.

Do you know the address of the exact house?

It finally felt like something might happen with this site. Given the current market, I would guess there is a decent chance this gets shelved again. Sigh. That said, (I agree that) the entrance/exit on East would be god awful. Maybe with the passage of time the Jersey Mike's lot will be made available and the whole block can be developed consistently and we can avoid having an entrance/exit on East (instead have one on Kenilworth and one on Scott).

I noticed the lack of movement recently as well. They are trying to blame supply chain because of Corona, but that is BS. They saw a potential scapegoat and took it. They also knew it would be less followed news with every outlet reporting on Corona 24/7.

This is infuriating. That is a year and a half behind schedule. Where are our government officials? I understand that the contractor is largely to blame, but how they can not provide any oversight? This level of incompetence is unbelievable.

I would occasionally ride the streetcar before it got shut down, but pretty rarely because of how unreliable it was, even though the 2 ends more or less were my home and work. I find the ridership numbers suspect since there was rarely anyone on those streetcars. That being despite the fact that it was totally cost free (which it won't be when it reopens). The line is more useful now since it actually extends to some areas where people live, but even so, the odds of this being successful are low. The real question is how to mitigate against it being a totally catastrophic failure. In order for it to have any chance of being successful: (1) The city needs to make sure it runs frequently enough where it is actually reliable. (2) It is synced with traffic lights where it can go through to decrease wait times. (3) Development is encouraged to be relatively dense around the ends (Hopefully the pool suppl on Hawthorne and Central gets built up soon and the area around French St. sees more density pop up).

Any idea on height/number of stories? Also, that looks like a small layout for the building versus the garage.

I can't speak to the political process here or how these things work in practice in NC in particular but I have worked on a number of large transformative projects in other cities financed by TIF (Tax Incremental Financing) to pay the debt service on bonds for large development projects. This is one method of making sure you have the revenue allocated to pay back the bond holders. For the uninitiated, the basic idea is that you sell bonds to investors and use the proceeds to fund public improvements (and/or sometimes going to developers for private infrastructure, but that is more controversial). Then, the area around where the bond proceeds are invested is designated a special improvement district or some other term of art, where any increase in tax revenue over the previous assessed value will be specifically allocated to pay back the bonds. For example, by building a beautiful park the surrounding parcels will go from being worth $100 to being worth $150, so taxes on the extra $50 will be used to pay back the bonds. If the TIF proceeds aren't enough, there is usually a mechanism for levying special taxes on the parcels above what would otherwise be due. In theory this makes it so the City doesn't see any decrease in its tax revenue to the general fund since the only funds being used to pay the bonds were created specifically because of the increase in value caused by the investment. That is a simplified break down, but hits the broad strokes. A couple of things though. First, every State/City will have different authority/structure so it is not clear this is something Charlotte could necessarily do as of right. I have no knowledge of NC/Charlotte processes. Second, the biggest obstacles in getting this done is usually political. Even though, as described above, there should be no "free money" given to developers since you aren't using general tax revenue, but just increased value, explaining that to voters is not easy. This is often viewed as a hand out to the rich because land owners around the improvements see an increase in value because of government money. In my experience, getting this done is extremely hard because of voters.

The powers that be for the silver line clearly didn't think things through. They see the blue line as successful because of all of the development along the line in the south end. They think that means if they build a new light rail line, development is guaranteed to pop up around it. What they fail to realize is that a line needs to be useful for people to want to live near it -- i.e. for development to occur around it. The Blue Line goes straight through Uptown so it is effective at getting a lot of people to work. People realized they could live near it and not drive/park uptown. Apartments went up around the line. The proposed silver line? How many people are going to use it to get to North Tryon? Even if there is some development there is a 0% chance it will be as dense of a business corridor as South Tryon where Stonewall is the new center of town. Silver Line would be 100000% more useful/successful if it hugged the southern border of uptown where vastly more workers are going to need to commute to. The Belk is either empty or so gridlocked that it doesn't move. It is not helpful for traffic flow. That combined with how it breaks up South End to Uptown? Get rid of it. Being able to have a light rail ROW in an extremely useful location without having to condemn anything? Seems almost too good to be true.

Thinking more about it, the ramp parcels just off of College and South Blvd would be incredibly attractive to investors given they would be directly adjacent to park space and a short walk to Uptown. That sale alone would go a long way to funding removal/park creation. Not even considering that those parcels would generate significant tax revenue.

If you make are trying to fund it with TIF proceeds while making the entire Belk lightrail/park space, the improvement district would need to be pretty large since you wouldn't be creating any new taxable parcels. Funneling off that large of a portion of tax revenue for bond payments might not be super popular (even if you argue that the increase in tax revenue is directly attributable to removal). If a portion of the Belk is sold to developers (even if a small part), it would likely make coming up with the money a lot easier both because (1) any profits from the sale could be used directly to fund it and (2) you would be creating new taxable lots with 100% of the tax revenue going toward bond payments (since 100% would be above what they previously were assessed at -- $0). That would allow you to make the improvement district just the immediately adjacent parcels, as opposed to having to make it a pretty large district.

I was pretty adamant in my survey that I was firmly against PSLs and would use it as a factor in deciding on whether to get season tickets. Others should too. If the survey responses are overwhelming it could influence decisions by the powers that be.

Manhattan Institute/City Journal are libertarian, not conservative, but it is definitely not a lefty publication.

Hawthorne and what?

I think the point about the gap between Legacy Union and projects south of 277 is why the Silver Line should run across the South of Uptown (ideally removing the Belk) as opposed to the northern border of Uptown. Stonewall is about to replace Trade as the certain of town. If the City designed the Silver Line to be a people mover getting people to work as opposed to a hopeful catalyst for economic development in North Tryon it would be far more beneficial for the City and its growth.

Should Belk be capped or removed? Yes Should it happen now if the resources would otherwise be used to acquire potential park land? No. It is getting harder and harder for park space to be acquired and preserved but is still currently possible. In 15-20 years? Next to impossible. The Belk is land that is already set aside. In an ideal world the land is used to move the Silver Line from bordering the north of uptown to instead go south and create park space/rail trail around it. That is ~10-15 years out realistically though. Also, for anyone doubting whether capping it would be worth it. The Big Dig in Boston was fraught with constant cost overruns and took way longer than expected. It is still referred to negatively when people talk about public works projects. DESPITE THAT, it is almost definitely one of the most important things Boston has ever done and in hind sight was maybe a bargain? You cannot walk around the North End and imagine a pre-Big Dig world anymore. I think removing it altogether would be ideal, but addressing it in some fashion is priority 1. Capping versus removing? That is more of a primary debate versus general election matter.

I think latest time given on the bridge was March 22.

Pedestrian shaming in a thread on pedestrian shaming. So meta.

Has anyone on here had any interactions with a historic district in CLT? Does anyone have any strong feelings toward historic district designation one way or the other? Given that this forum is populated with people who are often both pro-development and pro-preservation, I am curious what the general consensus is.