orulz

Looks like another apartment complex is proposed in the area east of Biltmore Village. This one is for a 208 unit 6-story building on London Rd. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1s8_2CUqSxCaFiaKEHGTmy1B8ERFg8cas This goes along with three others completed or proposed near here to make for a total of over 1000 units. All of these are within walking distance of Biltmore Village but it would be a stretch to call them walkable to BV, given the narrow roads and gappy/missing sidewalks they are located on. Really the whole area could desperately use some streetscape work. * River Mill Lofts (Thompson St; 253 units; completed 2017) * The District (Fairview Rd; 309 units; completed 2017) * Catalyst (Fairview Rd; 275 units; proposed 2023)

I haven't seen this announced or mentioned in any other media, but it looks like Kessler Collection, who developed the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Biltmore Village, is planning another hotel in Biltmore Village right next door. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Dn5R-xWSFKJiXlGkng-OPbS1Ul6H3eX3 New, generic downtown hotel proposals are a dime a dozen these days in Asheville, but this stands out as something a bit different, more in line with the ornate design of the Grand Bohemian.

If by commuter rail, you mean the red line - that platform has always been planned to be on the west side of the freight tracks, no? Same for the hypothetical connection from the P&N. Here is from the 2002 feasibility study. That said, what is built here differs significantly from what was apparently planned in 2002 so it is hard to say what has and hasn't changed.

I went to a few of their meetings more than 15 years ago when I was in my early 20s and I was certainly the youngest attendee by more than a factor of 2.

Where did you get the info that Mayor Baldwin has appointed herself to the GoTriangle board? I live in the Triangle and follow this pretty closely, and this is the first I've heard of it.

Did I miss discussion here of the ACWR's "passenger train venue" in NoDa that was announced back in September? https://www.wcnc.com/article/travel/train-noda-charlotte-aberdeen-carolina-western-railway-company-acwr/275-3386d0c5-926f-451f-9618-da1aeb3d522e https://www.acwr.com/passenger-train I'm wondering whether this train is a static venue, or whether you can book it and go for a ride along the tracks.

Some thoughts about the Piedmont corridor, not necessarily specific to Charlotte but perhaps of interest: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OMbWdRimol1KSxl3gu5sIrKrPklof6-xlCo-D6yPnd0

We have a winner, looks like that must be Chapel Hill. One of those cranes must be UNC hospital. The elevation works out perfectly for things to be like that. CH is about 15 miles away. away.http://up-bucket-0.s3.amazonaws.com/monthly_2022_03/annotated.jpg.79d39f759ee638f59b3e5912339e9b5a.jpg

At 5 minutes (= a train in either direction every 2.5 minutes) then the crossings will be probably be open more than half the time, and no worse, in practice, than a traffic light. IIRC the Blue Line's signal system was designed to accommodate something like 2 or 3-minute frequency? But once you get that frequent, the grade crossings can become a big issue. Can wind up closed for several minutes at a time, which can be quite a bit worse than a typical downtown traffic light.

Here are some mileposts and station spacings for a NCRR Mecklenburg-Cabarrus-Rowan commuter rail line: 46.5 miles, 13 stations (including Gateway, 14.) From 2.5 to 5 miles (4-8km) between stations for the entire line. With Diesel Multiple Unit trains and level boarding, trains could cover the distance to Spencer in about an hour? 0 Gateway (3.5mi) 3.5 Sugar Creek (3 mi) 6.5 Grier Rd (3.25 mi) 9.75 UNCC (4 mi) 13.75 Harrisburg (4.75 mi) 18.5 NC 49 (3 mi) 21.5 Concord (3 mi) 24.5 I-85 (4 mi) 28.5 Kannapolis (3.5 mi) 32.0 Landis (2.5mi) 34.5 China Grove (5 mi) 39.5 Peeler Rd (4.5 mi) 44.0 Salisbury (2.5mi) 46.5 Spencer Figure about 2 minutes saved for each station cut. Stations that can conceivably be cut: -Grier Rd -NC49 -Landis -Peeler Rd That gets the travel time from Salisbury maybe down to under 50 minutes, but you have to weigh that against the lost ridership from cutting the stations.

I think this is on the right track. I'd probably fit in a few more stations though. Under no circumstances should there be literally more than 5 miles between stations on this line. Concord probably gets 3 stations for example. NC49, Cabarrus Ave, and the bus depot by I-85. That's still at least 3 miles between each station. Maybe fit in another one between Sugar Creek and UNCC, Grier Rd perhaps. Although maybe that is not necessary if you can extend the Blue Line to connect with the commuter rail at Universit City Blvd.

The interlining option does make the most sense TBH. The Blue Line's route through uptown and south end is the sauce that makes the whole light rail line work. It's a fantastic route. Having a LRT rail route like this through a downtown with full preemption, gates and flashers at every crossing, parallel to, and *two measly blocks* removed from the city's main spine on Tryon? I mean that's basically unheard of. Most cities have to build tunnels to get a route that good. In a big way it's it's shame that only one line uses it for now. The grade crossings from 5th to 9th are kind of an issue, but are they *that* big of a problem? Who cares about car traffic capacity through there anyway? And if for some reason it turns out that the grade crossings *will* present a problem if train traffic doubles, then just elevate or trench this several-block stretch and call it a day. Not cheap, but still much less than it would cost to build the (obviously inferior) currently planned silver line route along the Brookshire. The LRT connection to Gateway is a red herring, IMO. Like rail to the airport, a nice feather in the hat, but of peripheral importance (at best!) for actual ridership. If Charlotte ever finally gets around to building commuter rail, the LRT-CRT transfers can happen somewhere else - Like Sugar Creek in the northeast, Archdale or Tyvola in the south, Summit Ave in the west, and so on.

NOW. If we wanted to talk about *moving* Carowinds to the Concord Mills/Speedway area. Right at the 85/485 interchange. That probably makes more sense than the current location, and it comes pre-loaded with the resort-like amenities. Really solidify it as Charlotte's version of I-Drive. Now that I could get behind? Do all the civil engineering, put in all the buildings etc to get it ready, while the old park is still open. Once it's all ready, during the off season, shut it down, and have a 9 month blitz while they disassemble and move the rides across town.

If every land use decision is to be made at the smallest-scale level possible, it is quite possible that an alternate use might generate more direct revenue or profits. However, given the obvious benefit (since you seem to be a real estate guy, in terms of INCREASED PROPERTY VALUES region-wide) that the presence of an amenity like Carowinds brings, I would hope the regional government would even go so far as to consider some degree of subsidy, such as property tax abatement for the park itself, if it ever came down to it, in order to prevent something like another damn office park and Amazon warehouse from taking over. If perhaps you haven't been since the Paramount days, I can see why you might be thinking that it's getting long in the tooth. But I think Cedar Fair has done a pretty good job with it. And while I appload Cedar Fair for focusing their work on the park itself, I think they should do more with the undeveloped land between the park and the interstate. Give people a reason to stick around overnight and spend more money. The season is nine months long, which is not too bad by itself - but think bigger: get some year-round amenities in place and turn it into a resort! The nicest hotel they have is a Spring Hill Suites at the back of the parking lot. Beyond that, it's the Comfort Inn and the Motel 6. I mean - come on! If the Speedway/Concord Mills area can pull it off, so can Carowinds. My family drives to Great Wolf Lodge from Raleigh all the time. We *love* Carowinds too, but we don't go as much, because the three hour drive puts it on the edge of day trip territory, and just booking a boring old hotel nearby doesn't really have the same magic. We'd go so much more often (and spend so much more money!) if we could stay on-premesis in something that's actually integrated with the park, and where you can get to the park entrance without the hassle of paying to park and trudging in from the parking lot. They have plenty of undeveloped land to do something really great. Time to get crackin'! If we're looking for more industrial land in this vicinity, what about this instead?

Charlotte begs to differ; I'd say it's a possibility. 25k is an odd size for a grocer though. There's Aldi, Lidl, and TJ's, who typically like stores in the 10-20k range, while Publix/HT etc very seldom go below 30k. So 25k is kind of a no man's land. Will be interesting to see how this pans out.