MZT

One train I boarded, there was an someone (the driver?) announcing the stops in english and spanish, telling people to stay away from the doors, etc. I suppose they have that option, or will perhaps be trained to do that instead of relying on the automated voice. I noticed that when you are on a platform, a voice says "train approaching in 2 minutes" but you're not told from which direction. I'd like to see better use of the LED displays too. All they were being used for was to inform people that the trains would end at 12:30 AM.

What is interesting about this to me is how the concept of something being "on the line" makes it not particularly relevant where the destination really is. Imagine living at Scaleybark. You could get to either end of the line in 15 minutes, and anything that is a short walk from a station would seem to be "nearby". The next thing we need to work on is getting more business to stay open late. Charlotte is still kind of a drowsy place that like to close up at 9:00.

Things should settle down some at night. The paper said free rides would continue until 1AM. Maybe I'll even get on it again, just to get some donuts at East Blvd or something. The train is way cool! It will mentally knit the length of South Boulevard into one place.

I was amazed how packed it was. All I was doing was picking up a gallon of paint at the Home Depot on Woodlawn. And I thought "What the heck, I'll take a ride on it since I'm parked next to the station anyway.". Like everyone else's report, it was about an hour of waiting at 485 to get a northbound train back to Woodlawn. I knew nothing about the free Ipod or other enticements. The crowd did seem to take it all in stride. It was kind of like "Carowinds" lines to them for a free ride, I guess. I did see several neighbors walk up my street to test it out too, so I'm sure a lot of people living nearby were curious and gave it a try. I've ridden other light rail systems but I was impressed with the smoothness of the ride and the view from the cars. Charlotte does have some great new transit infrastructure. The Archdale and Tyvola stations are HIGH! You are above the power lines and the roofs of gabled two story buildings. It feels like looking out a 4th floor window. Also, the park and rides were jammed full of cars. Especially at Sharon Lakes. I think we will quickly hear about adding parking meters, or widening these lots.

Sounds like it will be less of an "Enclave" since it will be open to renters. Turnover in a rental community has to exceed any condominium complex. I'm sure that single buyer's contract will be axed. I can't imagine a judge enforcing it... Now, if 40% or so of the units had been sold, that would be more debatable. Then, a buyer is really stuck! You could even serve on the HOA and have no real influence, since the rental management has the majority vote... Seriously though. This is an example of what happens in a small town. (By that I'm implying that Uptown is still kind of it's own market that's supported by reputation and word of mouth.) I can't imagine many Realtors in Uptown being willing to steer buyers to there, after the Renwick fiasco.

Well, to be fair we've seen some decontenting like this in Furman's work too. The end result of these towers does seem trim back a little. It is more likely for the developer to look for cost savings than it is to find new ways to spend money. Remember the debate about the Nascar HOF and the details removed from it, that people begged to be re-included...

Smith would raze Lowes Speedway before selling it. I'm sure the demo costs are justifiable to him just to force anyone else to find construction financing. In fact, I suspect he's sell it off in parcels to prevent another track ever being built.

The additional light helps keeps drivers awake, -and I presume-, more attentive and safer. I wouldn't mind the dark so much either if it was everywhere, but what is weird is how the road is lit in some places and not in others. It's a jarring sensation.

I'm starting to think that may be part of the reason they've apparently decided to proceed with the tower, in a housing environment that has a lot of spooky stories nationwide about buyers dropping their contracts. It may take all the way to 2009 or 2010 before it's ready for occupancy. Maybe VUE thinks the whole bru-hah will have blown over by then.

These are well-worn shots for locals I suppose. But my father and I were on our way back from Wisconsin to Charlotte and we stopped briefly in Lexington. Unfortunately, Charlotte has been pretty thorough in removing cohesove historic blocks like these... I was able to take all of these in just an hour, strolling around.

Fatburger in NC is an event, kinda analagous to when Kirspy Kreme moved into California. It seems like a big deal to the locals, and expats just shrug at the hoopla.

My (outside) opinion, is that this project is beginning to twist in the wind. VUE gave themselves a lot of lead time when they said it would start in the spring of 2007 (has everyone forgotten how far in the future that used to sound?). It is frick'in fall 07 already. It's time to mentally move to Missouri. Show me.

I'm pretty stingy when it comes to shopping sprees, but $162 (includng the fat NC/Mecklenburg sales taxes) bought 4 pairs of pants and 8 shirts at Dillard's. I guess they just figure they need a clearance center somewhere... so it may as well be in an existing store. At least there are some solid colors available. Who the heck buys those racks of plaid? Yuckkk. That mall is soooo quiet on a Tuesday afternoon. The empty parking in front of the old Belk's, Harris Teeter, and Shell station is just plain sad. It won't be long, before we can begin the yearly "Will Eastland's anchors survive past this Christmas?" speculation.

Somebody's gotta say it. This will be another grassy lot, like Epicurean or the "C" site for years to come. VUE has missed the window of opportunity to for such a large project to be completed and absorbed into the market. Charlotte has held up pretty well, but the housing slump is gaining momentum. If something is built here it will not be a 50 story tower.

I've only been there 4 or 5 times but for me it has never felt as crowded as Carolina Place or Concord Mills do. I think Taubman did not calculate how much competition Huntersville could put on this mall. It will be interesting to see how much patience they have after 485 is completed, if things don't pick up then.

Dilworth Walk is being bricked in, now. We can get a much better idea of how it will really look, instead of relying on the website art.

It can feel very odd to walk by the EpiCenter site in the middle of the day. The sun is up, it's getting hot... but you can feel that cool, cave-like air drifing out of there. I guess all the mass of the concrete which chilled overnight, causes the effect.

Well it's about time. This thread starts in early 2005! Those waiting to see it take shape, have been verrrry patient. I think if we don't see earth turned before too much longer, the "wall of skepticism" will begin to build.

This statement sure sounds a lot like what was said in the thread for 'The Park' in Charlotte, for 2 years. The Forumers posting in that thread had become so jaded they just greeted fresh announcements with fat rasberrys. I think one Forumer (an Admin now) called it "The project we all love to throw darts at". It goes to show how as a plan grows old, it creates a tide of skepticism to overcome. The ultimate result being, ironically - that it did get built. But a conventional steel construction 20ish story condo, in a market with similar sized buildings that sold out, could attract the outside funding that it needed. Financiers aren't as likely to jump into the breach to build a "tallest ever".

The Sears feels like it's just limping along, by the sparse attendance it gets. Like Dillard's they may remain for a few more years, but just "going through the motions" of maintaining a store.

That certainly will be a great view of uptown, for anyone that bought a unit higher than the top of Fifth and Poplar. It's almost a 90 degree arc of towers.

EpiCenter is getting quite high. Stand in the skybridge between BB&T and the Omni Plaza, and look south. It's much taller than the transportation center. Hard to believe, last year it was such a huge hole!

A series of tunnels can be very dangerous. Stopped traffic is more deceptive in the alternating light and dark.

Brookshire reminds me of old 85 in Richmond or old 40 in Winston-Salem. Not quite as bad... but still, it's unfriendly to use... with short ramps, blind spots, and "this is your lane" arrows dangling overhead on 12th street.

One other thought, since the weight is mostly "dead load" this may not cost as much per square foot as a vehicle bridge, when tossing guesstimates around.