RugbyPike#11

I would have kept SunTrust, which is a great name for primarily southern bank. Or split the difference and go with Sun Bank & Trust (SBT), and adopt SunTrust’s better logo and color scheme. I was never a fan of BB&T’s brownish red.

You can take the CEO out of eastern NC, but you can’t take the eastern NC out of the CEO. Hopefully the Suntrust exec that succeeds the CEO is embarrassed enough to fix the sign.

Looks like an i8, starting at about $150 k.

Cunningham wanted to screw his public relations specialist, but ultimately, he screwed the entire country.

Ask and you shall receive. This version contains: Blue Line (with layer for extension to Ballantyne) Gold Line including future Silver Line Red Line commuter rail from Mt. Mourne to York County (connecting downtowns York, Rock Hill, Fort Mill, and Pineville) Green Line commuter rail from Kings Mountain to Salisbury https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1Aw7MbnDaGDMhoK5OXwbMUFPkg2-Zndjz&usp=sharing Since we're going wish list, I tried to extend the red line to Mooresville instead of stopping at Mt Mourne, but the system is being finicky this morning and not always saving changes. I'll have to noodle a little more on your circular connector idea, because now I'm trying to think if there would be a good way to connect the Southpark business district and mall by adjusting your route further south. If you're talking 2100 and we haven't destroyed the world, then these routes all seem plausible. I'm uncertain how self-driving vehicle technology will impact fixed rail. I think the most efficient system would be self-driving ride share services funneling people towards transit for longer commutes, but I think the vehicle manufacturers will be lobbying to suppress public transit so they can sell more personal and fleet vehicles. I wonder something similar about freight. Will freight train use decrease when you don't have to pay as much labor for your truck driver (I picture a future driver managing a convoy of mostly autonomous freight vehicles)? Or will there be some kind of automation where driverless trucks pick a container up off a train, and then are unloaded at sorting warehouses for final distribution? The answers could make all of this look different in the future.

I may have gone overboard. I consider this itch well scratched. Charlotte transit - https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1k6hMDX6QVUqsDa_z1fN5qlKOqucI4HAt&usp=sharing

I was bored yesterday and played with some drawings in Google Maps (you might accurately guess that I've been spending a lot of time at home lately) . Playing with the maps and looking at satellite images brings me back to the same conclusion. York County's long term plan should be commuter rail. Even if they have to lay new track on the NS right-of-way, it's probably the cheapest fixed rail option. The 13 year old recommendation for BRT might also still be the right idea. York County is just so far away from building real density that I don't think light rail will make sense in the next 10-20 years. Just for fun, I created a couple of Blue Line routes stopping in downtown Pineville, and then jumping over to 21. Once in Rock Hill, the Highway 21 route would logically continue down Rock Hill's Cherry Road. Cherry Road is mostly sprawling big box hell, but I think that will also make it ripe for redevelopment in the future. The 50-60 year timeline for light rail I mentioned in the previous post might be about right. That probably gives time for the TOD to continue up and down the existing blue line before needing some fresh new stations to develop around, and maybe York County's growth means that they'll have a need for something to better handle local traffic. As many have pointed out, however, commuter rail probably makes a lot more sense in the 10-20 year range. With either a commuter or light rail line, I added some stops that could make sense. Following the Norfolk Southern right-of-way, you go right through downtowns Rock Hill, Fort Mill, and Pineville, so stops would obviously make sense there. There is also plenty of undeveloped land near highways where TOD would make sense. The Panthers could have a rail connection between their practice facility and their future stadium site, though I don't see many players taking the train to the office. Just like a Saturday train to Columbia for USC home games would be cool, a Sunday train for Panthers games from Columbia would be cool (or all the way to Charleston! Alternatively, raise your hand if you'd take a Friday evening train to Charleston and back home on Sunday). To answer Norm's question about commuter train and blue line transfers, there are about five existing blue line stations that are right along the NS track (those stations are marked on the map as green stations). I don't think you'd put commuter train stops at all of them, but maybe 2 or 3. There's also a logical stop along the silver line for red line passengers trying to get to the airport. https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1kAKdUIXNnAWyLZK2tzyUNMueM7Iut8Lb&ll=35.082099786482246%2C-80.9423109&z=11 I might play around some more with the maps. Maybe take a stab at the silver lines and blue line extension to Ballantyne, or draw the red line all the way up to Iredell County. It's kind of like Sim City without the tornados, and hopefully less traffic.

Yeah, I think you could do transfers at any of the stops from Tyvola south. If you work in Gateway, hopping on the commuter train from a transfer station would be a better commute than hitting all of the blue line stops and then walking almost a mile from the uptown stop. I wouldn’t mind BRT, but I think a commuter train would be the best option for the 2050 plan. For the next 30 years (like 2070 or 2080), or if you can just get a dumptruck of Green New Deal funds, then you look at Blue Line extension. There’s a ton of empty land along highway 21 where York County could have some higher density corridors. The commuter train could help spur density in the downtowns and a few other areas along the way. I’ve spent a lot of time staring at the NS tracks and satellite maps.

York County is proceeding with its plan to update its long-range transportation plan and is holding two virtual public meetings on October 13 and 15, which should include some discussion of York County to Charlotte commuting. Their last study from 2007 (if I remember correctly) recommended BRT on a widened highway 21 corridor. It will be interesting to see what a revised study says about commuter rail or extending the blue line into York County. I believe the rail right-of-way is the same track as the commuter train plan going up to Mooresville, so rolling out both lines and sharing vehicles could allow for a continuous rate from Mooresville to Rock Hill, which would be kind of cool. On the other hand, if I'm Mecklenburg County, maybe I don't appreciate SC and York County peeling off companies like LPL with tax incentives so they'll move 10 miles south, and I tell York County to go pound sand. I think they'll also get some analysis for a light rail extension to Rock Hill, probably considering routes along highway 21 and the NS right-of-way, but I'm guessing those options would not be feasible from either a cost or commuting time perspective. http://www.rfats.org/rfats-2050-long-range-transportation-plan-update/?fbclid=IwAR15DXD2ilKV0_Vuywxu97LQRHyFkVlA9iArl8sXdVgfdRrWn66Mrf73O6I

I know at least one York County Councilman believes that the NS line is a non-starter, and would prefer a blue line extension to Rock Hill despite the much higher cost and what would be an excessively long commute from Rock Hill to uptown. He also seemed annoyed that one of his more progressive friends poo-pooed a blue line extension, and noted that the heavily GOP leaning council would need some convincing to attempt a multi-billion light rail project. They might still have an outside chance depending on how the November council election turns out, but I think YCC is shifting further to the right even as the spillover effects from Charlotte are making the residents shift slightly more progressive. At the very least, it sounded like they were going to order another YC to Charlotte transit study after the last one became stale, but with the way the primary shook out, I think that may be in doubt. All that being said, a light rail extension would really help YC create more density in pockets, even if it’s not that useful or efficient for commuting to Charlotte. A commuter train with fewer stops would be better for commuting and cheaper if NS plays along, and a continuous route from Mooresville to Rock Hill through Gateway, possibly with an airport stop, would add a lot of connectivity in the extended metro. If it’s true that Charlotte could benefit from even a small shift in preferences away from the highest density cities, we’re going to need to start moving people a heck of a lot more efficiently.

They should at least run a train between Charlotte and Columbia for home games during college football season.

How about Goliath vs. Galactus the devourer of worlds?

Yeah, Epic’s valuation is roughly $15 billion. It’s more of a story of Goliath vs. a much bigger Goliath. There’s really no David in this case haha.

Paris and Frankfurt are luring EMEA headquarters from London for institutions serving the EU single market. I’m not sure that Charlotte would be a great fit for somebody looking for a foothold in the EU single market. Charlotte has a lot of talent and advantages for financial institutions, and I’m sure the economic development folks are selling financial institutions on those advantages. Maybe another thread would be a better place to rehash predictions of demise for NYC so the people interested in banking don’t have to wade through those mostly unrelated political discussions.

True, I have heard from friends that they are poaching a lot of people from other comparably sized institutions. I spent 2015 at WF and try not to think about them after my year of hell there haha.

Trying to bring the thread back on topic (I had never felt the need to use the ignore user feature on urbanplanet as I have always found value in the diverse view in this community, but if there's somebody who is only here to troll, the ignore user feature works well unless other people quote that user). https://www.wsj.com/articles/regulators-prepare-to-reprimand-citigroup-for-failing-to-improve-risk-systems-11600107587 WSJ reporting that a risk management consent order is coming for Citi. I have seen others speculate that Citi may consider expanding to Charlotte, and while Citi already has a lot of distributed risk management personnel in DFW and Tampa, Bank of America has a lot of risk management experts who have been out in front of Citi since the financial crisis. If I needed to resolve a consent order, I would go after experts who have already implemented systems that meet FRB and OCC expectations.

I would settle for the Hurricanes playing an outdoor game once a year at BoA and a couple home games at Time Warner. I don't know how feasible an outdoor game would be in Charlotte when you can have the random 70 degree day in winter, but it would be nice to get some use out of BoA after the football season is over.

I had no idea that AvidXchange pulled $400 billion in funding. That is a mighty impressive typo.

Is anybody else concerned about what kind of animals and insects might be attracted to these ultrabright lights, and that we might be living in a bad reboot of Mothra?

It will amaze future generations that people used to manually drive cars everywhere, and we accepted that tens of thousands of people would die every year in car accidents.

I think a part-time law school option from one of the universities in the Carolinas would make a lot of sense. WFU, UNC, or even USC-East (business school has a Charlotte part time MBA) could set up a part time program. It’s much better, IMO, to leverage the reputation of an established law school than for Queens to set up a new school or for someone to try to set up a for-profit like Charlotte School of Law.

They'll make a killing selling chargers and earbuds when bored bankers accidentally leave their stuff at home.

How long will the Quiznos in the DC Charlotte Plaza stay open? And what will replace it when they shut down?

I'll throw Citizens Bank in the mix as a potential tenant. They've been hiring Corporate Risk/Compliance people in Charlotte but they don't have any office space.

I learned everything I know about urban planning by reading this forum, so feel free to add to or modify the following bullets, but I just wanted to help get us started with some simple talking points. Integrate existing buildings and businesses into the development, such as Common Market, that have been vital to the neighborhood fabric and redevelopment of South End.Re-orient ground retail structures to the street, particularly on Camden Ave, to fit in with the overall fabric of the Camden Ave stroll district.Develop all ground floor structures at a ceiling height where ground floor exterior can be retroactively reconfigured to meet future demand for retail as South End continues to become more dense.