Ryepow

The 772 seems like overkill on that route. The 787-8 seems more logical but haven't seen any signs they want introduce the Dreamliner to CLT yet for some odd reason.

I used to frequent Connolly's often but haven't had the chance to in a while. Connolly's doesn't serve food so they have to offer a membership card. If you don't have a card, they charge you a cover. I don't know what a membership fee is these days, but when I got mine it was $10 for a lifetime membership. I only remember because I was the 12th member to sign up right after it opened. LOL. I always carry my Connolly's card in my wallet, you never know when you might end up there. Im sure I will be there St. Patricks Day.

Now that Joseph-Beth Booksellers has announced it's closing. This could be a great location for H&M to snatch that space.

BofA lit up in Orange for the Bobcats. Sorry for the blur. They literally shut the lights off seconds after I took this and I didn't get another chance to take another. I figured after tonight it will go back to white so tonight was my only chance to get this and I barely made it in time. The orange doesn't stand out as much as the blue, for the panthers but it still looks nice.

I agree. There is a railroad line that currently runs from the airport beside WIlkinson BLVD into Uptown passing next to BofA stadium. It then curves beside the Brookshire Fwy. and intersects the future north line. It continues down parallel to Monroe Rd all the way pretty much to 485. It looks like it continues on to Monroe from that point on. Having stops off of Monroe Rd instead of Independence Blvd would be serving roughly the same people. That seems like the most logical place to upgrade rail lines or add lines next to them to me, but I don't really know much about this kind of stuff. I think the biggest problem is there are a lot of houses, especially in the Chantilly/Elizabeth area extremely close to those tracks. My cousin lives next to the tracks in Chantilly and you definitely know when a train is coming.

I don't think it's a weird idea. I think it's a great idea and was thinking the same thing. Someone pointed out that it would be ridiculously expensive, but look at the proposed alternative. The cost of a monorail may be cheaper then turning Independence into a freeway, adding bridges at major intersections, putting RBT down the middle of Independence BLVD, plus the financial impact as a result of this complex project for businesses along Independence. A lot will need to be bulldozed in order to make it work. Instead they could have the tracks at ground level beside Independence until Albemarle Rd and then elevated in most places but not all from there to 485. For Independence BLVD they can keep it as is, but perhaps add a HOV lane in the median in the future. Replace the empty car dealerships with some new retail and call it a day.

I can't wait for the CLT-FCO flight. I will be booking tickets for this flight as soon as I can. I just hope customs will be ready to handle all of these new international flights. That area is not designed to handle to many more people. It's tiny compared to other airports I have been in. I'm lucky that I am in no rush when I arrive from an international flight into CLT. All I have to do after immigration is pick up my bag and catch the shuttle bus to my car. Most people are making connections and are choosing CLT to avoid the hassle of larger airports or the volume of traffic in the northeast. If they get delayed long enough and miss their connection because it takes to long to clear immigration, retrieve their luggage, recheck their bags, go through security and make their way to their next gate, then people are likely to avoid making the same mistake twice and avoid connecting from a international flight in CLT in the future.

A random group of pictures. After the Panther game last week. Catalyst reflecting of the new Mint Museum Knight theater

Does anyone know if an actual date has been set for the opening of the new runway? I've got to imagine it's getting close as I remember they thought it would be open for visual flight rules in November, and fully operative by February.

I noticed while going to the Panthers game on Saturday there was lights on inside the Carolina theater and they were blasting "Phantom of the Opera" in there. You could hear it from about a block away. There was a guy standing at the doorway, but I couldn't ask him what was going on because I was with a group of people. Anyone know anything about it? It was interesting, if it was just a stunt to try and get attention, it worked because everyone was looking in the theater's direction as they were walking by.

This is interesting news. Perhaps we should add 300 S. Tryon to the list as well. I hope it's 210 Trade though. It is so ugly the way it looks today.

A pilot can make a request to use a certain runway, and if it's not busy they will try to accommodate their needs. Otherwise, it's up to the ATC to decide which runway they want the aircraft to use. I've heard pilots requests denied many times and sent to the other side of the airport from their location. A taller tower would money well spent due to the location of the new runway. A fourth parallel runway would be over kill for the forceable future. If they build a couple more terminals and second airline creates a hub here as Delta and Airtran have in ATL, then yes it would warrant a 4th parallel runway. I wouldn't go to all the expense for one airline that is always on the brink of bankruptcy. It's to bad that land in between 18C and the new 18R was not already accounted for. If a new runway beyond 485 was built far off in the future, I could imagine a mega airport facility with two parallel runways on each side of it, much like ATL today.

I kind of hope they don't change it to a standard Home Depot. There is already one 4 miles away on Wendover Rd. It's like a 5 minute drive between the two of them. At least the Wendover location has a outdoor garden section. I just can't imagine people lugging bags of mulch thru that parking garage.

I am disappointed, I really liked that store. It was very unique to the city. I am sure the space would do fine split as a Bed Bath & Beyond & Old Navy or whatever but chances are whatever it may be it won't be as special as the Expo to make the trip worthwhile from Matthews, Pineville and surrounding areas since these stores are already established in these areas.

quick, put a shovel in the ground before something else happens to try and stop this from happening!

We need a bigger apple store. It's always hot in there with all the people and electronics on. It has to be the most popular store in the mall, not that this means people are actually buying stuff while they are in there. I have seen it full with people in the middle of a week day when everyone else has one or two people shopping in them at the most.

I think if gas prices continue to rise as they have been, living within walking distance of work will be more appealing.

I love the buildings, although I am shocked it doesn't have a ten story "TRUMP" sign attached to the top. Maybe the spire is really a massive flag pole.

Wow,Great building! They must be close to an official announcement I would think. I'm looking forward to seeing more renderings, one in daylight and a skyline view. It's style will go perfect with the new Wachovia building. I hope they build it.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. CLT is an established fortress hub with little low fare competition. American isn't going to pass up 75 gates currently controlled by US, maintenance facilities, training centers, large hub airline customer base, four runways etc... for 15 to 20 gates, big low fare competition, incomplete terminal and baggage system designed for O&D passengers, no on-site facilities and two runways at RDU. They may offer a decent amount of regional jet service still but American and Raleigh would have to invest a ton to get it back to a full fledged hub comparable to CLT. American would use CLT as a large domestic hub. Honestly, there is such a huge cost difference between MIA and CLT it would be interesting to see what they would do. MIA is certainly safe as a Latin American gateway though. I'm thinking it would look similar to Eastern Airlines back in the 80's when they had large hubs in MIA and ATL. If we are talking US/UA, again I don't see any reason to give up CLT since it's basically the only major answer to DL/NW in ATL. A US/UA marriage could really mean big things for CLT in my opinion especially to Latin America and one stop service to places like Sydney. Of course anything could happen in the airline industry however, I feel confident CLT will remain a dominate hub for someone. Even if that means US Airways goes at it alone or merges with someone other then the above airlines. The only thing keeping the hub from being a certainty in the future would be if Southwest demands a large amount of gates at CLT in order to compete with these mega mergers. It's a long shot since Southwest is already in RDU and doesn't seem too interested in fighting for CLT.

If Airbus was to help finance US Airways a better offer for Northwest it's return would be future orders when the the combined carrier begins to standardize it's fleet which undoubtably will be all Airbus. Northwest already has a large fleet of narrow body Airbus and A330's that compliment US Airways A330's perfectly. US Airways has a large order for A350's on the books. Northwest has a large order for the A350's competitor, the 787. By helping US get NW, the could be canceled in favor of more A350's...$$$. Northwest also has a large fleet of 747 which if US remained completely loyal to Airbus could result in future A340 or even A380 orders which would mean big bucks for Airbus. Now am I saying all of this is going to happen... hardly but it wouldn't surprise me.

When it comes to mergers, nothing is set in stone especially if you're company is the one being acquired. However, CLT's timing for it's fourth runway to open is extraordinary. If US Airways was to announce a merger very soon, it would take roughly a year to approve the process. Is this all just a coincidence?... sure it could be, but it could be much more then we hoped for as a hub for CLT.

Perhaps Airbus will help finance again. If there is anyone that does not want to see US Airways left hung out to dry it's going to be Airbus since US Airways is a huge customer which has a large order on deck including the A350. Airbus potentially will lose two very large customers if Delta and Northwest merge and Continental and United merge together. While the two combined carriers will keep the Airbus for the time being, eventually they will begin to standardize their fleets to save money which heavily favors Boeing considering both Continental and Delta are all Boeing carriers. A US/NW or a US/UA combo would heavily favor Airbus for many years to come.

If US wants to get involved with another merger, they could always present a counter offer for Northwest if and when United and Continental announce a merger of their own. Delta's is offering $3.1 Billion for NW, US was able to get financing for $10 Billion in it's attempt to take over DL back in January. Perhaps a $4 Billion offer may throw a wrench into this merger for DL and NW. If US doesn't get it, at least they increased the bid DL will have to pay for NW. If DL calls US Airways' bluff, a NW/US pairing would not be a bad combo in my opinion.

Looking at the webcam it looks like it has been exactly two months now that nothing has been done to the tower portion of 210 Trade. I wonder if they will replace the floor they stopped on since the wood has been subjected to the weather for so long? I feel bad for the people that bought condos here and have to sit through such a long delay. Maybe since the EpiCentre is nearing completion and Aloft is topping out soon things will move very quickly on 210 because they are only concentrating on one building. That is if and when it ever gets approval to do so.