Learning from Other Places

[asthasr]

Found this gallery of before/after changes in street view, where road diets and other pedestrianization projects have been enacted. It's really amazing how hideous places can become beautiful places...

[KJHburg]

why don't some of our new uptown office towers have food halls?  we have one uptown at the 7th St Market but this is way to have non chain retailers come uptown in small spaces.  from Atlanta Georgia  this new Norfolk Southern Tower in midtown

https://atlanta.curbed.com/2019/3/25/18280627/norfolk-southern-midtown-atlanta-headquarters-construction

[KJHburg]

Read this.     NC needs to visit many of these companies and recruiters need to contact people out there to come east and south.

44% of the Bay area wants to move out.   all is not well in Silicon Valley and San Fran.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2019/03/26/bay-area-residents-leaving-cost-of-living-svlg.html?ana=e_ae_set2&s=article_du&ed=2019-03-26&u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&t=1553638608&j=87466401

[Matthew.Brendan]

13 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Read this.     NC needs to visit many of these companies and recruiters need to contact people out there to come east and south.

44% of the Bay area wants to move out.   all is not well in Silicon Valley and San Fran.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2019/03/26/bay-area-residents-leaving-cost-of-living-svlg.html?ana=e_ae_set2&s=article_du&ed=2019-03-26&u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&t=1553638608&j=87466401

The OCD part of me wants to make a PSA to everyone that you can remove all the gobbledygook in links after the .html like so 

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2019/03/26/bay-area-residents-leaving-cost-of-living-svlg.html

Now to the topic: of course all those smelly liberals want to flee San Francisco where the Free Market has driven cost of living sky high.

[KJHburg]

This is documentary from Seattle called Seattle is Dying.  It is hour long and it took me several days to watch the whole thing.  But there are many lessons for Charlotte.  We can not allow drug addicts to take over our streets like what has happened there (and in San Fran too)   Most of the homeless there 90% are addicts and probably about the same here in Charlotte.   our leaders on city council should watch it too.  and don't think it could not happen here either.    there are things that can be done for these addicts and it is quite hopeful at the end with an example from Rhode Island.    Seattle with all its wealth and powerful companies at the most basic level is not taking care of many of its people.  And the entire city is suffering from it.  

https://komonews.com/news/local/komo-news-special-seattle-is-dying

what the local politicians had to say about it 

https://komonews.com/news/local/local-officials-react-to-komo-news-special

Edited March 28, 2019 by KJHburg

[SgtCampsalot]

Learning from the 1960s...

 

[Windsurfer]

On 3/24/2019 at 8:11 PM, asthasr said:

Found this gallery of before/after changes in street view, where road diets and other pedestrianization projects have been enacted. It's really amazing how hideous places can become beautiful places...

I liked your post and pictures.  That said, most of the places that were converted are in very dense places.   I cannot, for the life of me, understand why we'd want to convert, say Statesville Ave, or any other major artery, into a narrow single-laned road.  I work and spend 90 % of my time on this road.  On a good day, you'll see 5 bicyclists.   Meanwhile, the aggravation of traffic backed up for blocks is infuriating. I've mentioned it before, throw in city buses stopping in the single inbound lane  and you have what would normally be a 10 minute drive to uptown into a 20-30 minute hair-pulling event.  Many of my employees who used to go uptown for lunch, just run out to UNCC areas now. 

[asthasr]

2 hours ago, Windsurfer said:

[...]most of the places that were converted are in very dense places. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why we'd want to convert, say Statesville Ave, or any other major artery, into a narrow single-laned road [...] On a good day, you'll see 5 bicyclists.

So here you've hit upon a chicken and egg problem. Development is driven by infrastructure. You can see that in the development of South End around the light rail stations or in the far-flung exurbs along our interstates. In our case, we have a situation where almost all of our infrastructure favors cars and low density development, and it would be a good idea to change that for various reasons (public health, environmental concerns, economic concerns, etc.). Things like road diets, even of major arteries, are part of that equation. Undoubtedly it's painful, but what should happen is that bicycle trips become more frequent as people begin to "price" the traffic into their travel plans and as people and businesses make their decisions based on the infrastructure.

Honestly, these types of "arteries" are, in my opinion, the worst roads in our built environment, because they try to be all things to all people. South Boulevard, 51, Park Road, and so on--all of them are combinations of street and road and serve neither function well. I expect that we will see further road diets on some of them, or else the gradual control of access to them (similar to independence), depending on how important they are. There's an awful neologism for them that Strong Towns came up with, "stroad." They have an article and video here.

[asthasr]

On 3/26/2019 at 8:28 PM, KJHburg said:

44% of the Bay area wants to move out.   all is not well in Silicon Valley and San Fran.

As a software developer, when I get a recruiter calling or emailing me I always ask:

1. Is this company located in the Bay Area?
2. (if yes) Is the company open to remote work?
3. (if yes) Is there a location-based salary adjustment?
4. (if yes) What is it?

The number of times that recruiters have practically begged me to consider relocation is... probably surprising to people outside the industry. Google recruiters email me once a year to ask if I still won't move (apparently there's a note in my file).

People see "high" salaries and they simply don't understand the amazingly high cost of living in the Bay Area, and many Bay Area denizens don't understand the relatively low quality of life that cost of living buys them. There's a lot of propaganda (self-directed, more than organized) about California weather and the California lifestyle that, frankly, is pretty damn irrelevant when you're paying $2800 for a 2BR apartment and still have a 90-minute commute sitting in the dust and smog on 680.

[Windsurfer]

1 hour ago, asthasr said:

So here you've hit upon a chicken and egg problem. Development is driven by infrastructure. You can see that in the development of South End around the light rail stations or in the far-flung exurbs along our interstates. In our case, we have a situation where almost all of our infrastructure favors cars and low density development, and it would be a good idea to change that for various reasons (public health, environmental concerns, economic concerns, etc.). Things like road diets, even of major arteries, are part of that equation. Undoubtedly it's painful, but what should happen is that bicycle trips become more frequent as people begin to "price" the traffic into their travel plans and as people and businesses make their decisions based on the infrastructure.

Honestly, these types of "arteries" are, in my opinion, the worst roads in our built environment, because they try to be all things to all people. South Boulevard, 51, Park Road, and so on--all of them are combinations of street and road and serve neither function well. I expect that we will see further road diets on some of them, or else the gradual control of access to them (similar to independence), depending on how important they are. There's an awful neologism for them that Strong Towns came up with, "stroad." They have an article and video here.

As I was sitting at the light on Woodlawn and Old Pineville Rd. at lunchtime I was pondering....why hasn't the development caught up with this station?  It's an awesome opportunity;  I have to admit I was glancing around for some For Sale signs...  Cities have to have some 'undesirable' industry AND arteries.  My warehouse is on Statesville.  And, like several other employers I know along this stretch, we are being priced out.  That's fine. I'm all for gentrification, but does it have to always be microbreweries and 6 story apartment buildings?   We  provide a huge number of local folks jobs. Jobs that they won't find in the new economy.

While many do want to live in urban settings (I tried it myself at The TradeMark but found it too noisy especially at 2:00 AM when the bars let out), there will always be a HUGE segment that commutes via cars and trucks. Statesville Ave still has a substantial amount of heavy truck traffic.  I-77 is turning out to the ONLY main artery these days.  When there's an accident on 77, the traffic on Statesville becomes gridlock.  Name an alternative running north-south.  Perhaps I-85 then, over via 485.  But, again, have you seen 85 in the evenings?

You expect to see further road diets... and so do I.  I'll go another one on you:  I expect further sprawl of traditional development like Arrowwood and Amazon warehouses buildings in our precious open spaces. Car dealers will continue looking for cheaper land closer to the suburbs.  I myself will probably tap Concord sooner or later.  I'm disgusted by the thought, but what other alternative will a warehouse that needs a four lane 'artery' have?   Putting a choke hold on a city by limiting traffic will backfire. Unlike Portland, Oregon, Manhatten, Miami,  SFO, we don't have a body of water or mountains to limit the city's boundaries.

[asthasr]

57 minutes ago, Windsurfer said:

I expect further sprawl of traditional development like Arrowwood and Amazon warehouses buildings in our precious open spaces.

I do too. However, given our population growth, this is the better option in my opinion. Warehouses and other businesses that require external mobility should be on the edge of the city, that's their function. The areas closer to the dense core (and I'm not that familiar with Statesville but I note that it's within 2.5 miles of Trade & Tryon as far up as Atando) should encourage people to live within it. That way they can live in townhouses, duplexes, condos, or apartments and use something other than a car to get to their jobs. To me, this seems more like "traditional" development than the sprawl that we've built to this point.

1 hour ago, Windsurfer said:

Putting a choke hold on a city by limiting traffic will backfire.

On the contrary, I think that unbounded accommodation of traffic backfires. For one thing, maintenance comes due, and we have some vast amount of infrastructural maintenance that will never be funded. Development sprawls out infinitely, until a tipping point occurs where traffic is so bad that even temporary band-aids are no longer available, and the city starts to choke on it. (Look at Los Angeles and Atlanta.)

Transportation is a hard problem: there is no solution that is going to make it possible for everyone to be happy. But there's value in recognizing that a simple status quo approach simply cannot work (once again, LA and Atlanta), so new approaches need to be investigated and tried.

[Windsurfer]

32 minutes ago, asthasr said:

I do too. However, given our population growth, this is the better option in my opinion. Warehouses and other businesses that require external mobility should be on the edge of the city, that's their function. The areas closer to the dense core (and I'm not that familiar with Statesville but I note that it's within 2.5 miles of Trade & Tryon as far up as Atando) should encourage people to live within it. That way they can live in townhouses, duplexes, condos, or apartments and use something other than a car to get to their jobs. To me, this seems more like "traditional" development than the sprawl that we've built to this point.

On the contrary, I think that unbounded accommodation of traffic backfires. For one thing, maintenance comes due, and we have some vast amount of infrastructural maintenance that will never be funded. Development sprawls out infinitely, until a tipping point occurs where traffic is so bad that even temporary band-aids are no longer available, and the city starts to choke on it. (Look at Los Angeles and Atlanta.)

Transportation is a hard problem: there is no solution that is going to make it possible for everyone to be happy. But there's value in recognizing that a simple status quo approach simply cannot work (once again, LA and Atlanta), so new approaches need to be investigated and tried.

As a reminder,  2.5 miles from downtown USED to be the edge of the city.   And, there are still a lot of empty areas, some of which are brown fields, that could handle light industrial.   

Even those microbreweries require big trucks to haul around their beer.  Uptown is not immune to needing arteries.  It isn't an island.

[KJHburg]

NFL is insisting Nashville cut down mature cherry trees for their upcoming NFL Draft Party.  Lesson for Charlotte:  when this event comes to Charlotte eventually this will not be tolerated here.

https://www.inquisitr.com/5368726/nashville-to-cut-down-iconic-cherry-blossom-trees-to-make-way-for-nfl-draft-stage/

[SgtCampsalot]

On 3/29/2019 at 10:51 AM, asthasr said:

People see "high" salaries and they simply don't understand the amazingly high cost of living in the Bay Area, and many Bay Area denizens don't understand the relatively low quality of life that cost of living buys them. There's a lot of propaganda (self-directed, more than organized) about California weather and the California lifestyle that, frankly, is pretty damn irrelevant when you're paying $2800 for a 2BR apartment and still have a 90-minute commute sitting in the dust and smog on 680.

This is fascinating because I had always assumed the expensive parts if the Bay area, etc, we're also multi-modal Utopias. You're telling me it reaches to the suburbs as well? Oof 

[videtur quam contuor]

1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

NFL is insisting Nashville cut down mature cherry trees for their upcoming NFL Draft Party.  Lesson for Charlotte:  when this event comes to Charlotte eventually this will not be tolerated here.

https://www.inquisitr.com/5368726/nashville-to-cut-down-iconic-cherry-blossom-trees-to-make-way-for-nfl-draft-stage/

In 1977 Wendover was a two lane road wending through magnificent shade trees with fine homes on each side. An "improvement" was to widen the road and take many of the fine mature trees to do so. This led to resistance from the neighbors and one owner and his seven year old son tied themselves to their street trees and refused to be taken. This led to tremendous publicity and the trees were saved by narrowing the lanes and right-of-way a bit to allow four lanes while maintaining the trees. We should thank Mr Cochrane for his fine example. His story is told here briefly. (page 6 & 7)  His is an example to follow. 

We should learn from other places and also other people from other times.

https://treescharlotte.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/TreesCharlotteNewsletter_Web.pdf

Edited March 31, 2019 by tarhoosier

[asthasr]

On 3/30/2019 at 8:09 PM, SgtCampsalot said:

This is fascinating because I had always assumed the expensive parts if the Bay area, etc, we're also multi-modal Utopias. You're telling me it reaches to the suburbs as well? Oof 

The vast majority of "Silicon Valley" is suburbia taken to its logical extreme. If you haven't been there, I posted somewhere in this thread about it. Most of the area is cheek-to-jowl single family homes and single use zoning, of course with no meaningful transit, punctuated by a large-scale grid of four to six lane "arterial" roads that connect, in turn, to controlled access freeways:

Checking Zillow quickly, most of the estimated home prices in this area seem to be around $2 million. One is for rent:

This palatial 4 BR, 1500 sq. ft. house is listed as renting for $4300 a month.

[KJHburg]

they might not build them tall in Raleigh or Durham for matter but their midrise office buildings are really nice.   Check out this one next to the brand new One Glenwood which is almost all leased and not opened yet   In downtown Raleigh's Warehouse district Glenwood South. 

Check out the video and that courtyard and tenants lounge area Nice.

https://bloc83raleigh.com/

[Desert Power]

On 3/30/2019 at 6:57 PM, KJHburg said:

NFL is insisting Nashville cut down mature cherry trees for their upcoming NFL Draft Party.  Lesson for Charlotte:  when this event comes to Charlotte eventually this will not be tolerated here.

https://www.inquisitr.com/5368726/nashville-to-cut-down-iconic-cherry-blossom-trees-to-make-way-for-nfl-draft-stage/

This is pretty ridiculous, wow.

[KJHburg]

San  Fran has the best new tower in the world the Salesforce Tower see the other winners of new high rises.

https://www.bdcnetwork.com/top-skyscrapers-2019-salesforce-tower-named-best-worldwide-ping-finance-center-best-supertall?eid=438388781&bid=2418116

[Matthew.Brendan]

https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/4/9/18300797/barcelona-spain-superblocks-urban-plan

One of my favorite cities in the world. 

[KJHburg]

This broke ground today the tallest building in Cobb County NW ofAtlanta the 420 foot tall ThyssenKrupp elevator test tower with event space on the top 2 floors.

This is a great project now if we could convince Otis Elevators to build one of these even taller in Charlotte.  (They do have an elevator plant in Florence SC) and their parent United Technologies is very familiar with Charlotte.  

https://www.cobbcounty.org/economic-development/news/elevators-bring-rise-economic-development-cobb

[CTiger]

Did anyone else notice how impressive Nashville was last night with the NFL Draft in town?  The streets were absolutely packed with people (100k+), even with the horrible weather.  They have something truly special there with Broadway.  Looked like a massive party.

[KJHburg]

Cursed architecture Twitter feed I will have to sign up LOL

https://archpaper.com/2019/04/cursed-architecture-twitter/

[KJHburg]

this is interesting from the ATL a massive 3000 space parking garage in Midtown to help the area urbanize.  (actually it makes sense to get rid of surface lots in an area like Midtown Atlanta)  But read the entire story and it all makes sense what Emory is doing there. 

https://atlanta.curbed.com/2019/4/26/18516721/emorys-urbanize-midtown-hospital-new-parking-deck

and SoNo is the moniker for South of North Ave LOL 

Edited April 30, 2019 by KJHburg

[tozmervo]

Fwiw, I believe the new Charlotte TOD parking maximums would prohibit this. Emory can bend over backwards trying to justify it, but it's just more parking right on top of heavy rail transit in Midtown. That deck's existence is not what is preventing the surface lots from getting developed