Civic Design Forum tonight

[appatone]

huh?

[cinco]

well we aren't finding it in our older structures... cause we're tearing them down. i do think as we continue to grow - we are creating a new soul. i think charlotte's got along way to go but is getting there.

oh, yeah.... i don't really know what this thread is about? what is this civic design forum?

[monsoon]

This was an announcement about a design forum that was to take place in Charlotte tonight which we approved to be posted here. Unfortunately I don't have copy of it or I would repost it here. It was something at the Levine museum tonight. (I think)

[Vitamin_N]

Argh. I posted the meeting notice and clicked "submit", but it took a looooong time to process before giving me an error message. After that the site was really slow for me; I tried to check the message to make sure it had posted but I couldn't get any messages to load. Anyway, it's part of a series of public discussions on various topics held at the Levine Museum--I'll hopefully have better luck posting the next one.

[monsoon]

Unfortunately, due to an incorrect setting in the software, the site shutdown for a while yesterday during mid-day. You were probably affected by that. We apologise and please feel free to post any similar announcements here at UrbanPlanet.

[cinco]

there is another civic design forum tonight @ 5:30pm @ levine museum of the new south... evidently they will be talking about towers proposed in charlotte. thats what i gathered from the blurb on NPR this morning. could be a nice way to voice your opinion. also, the guy (forgot his name) who was talking about this forum on the radio said that there wasn't anything like this out there - i had to laugh.

EDIT: this is open to the public.

[graydog]

there is another civic design forum tonight @ 5:30pm @ levine museum of the new south... evidently they will be talking about towers proposed in charlotte. thats what i gathered from the blurb on NPR this morning. could be a nice way to voice your opinion. also, the guy (forgot his name) who was talking about this forum on the radio said that there wasn't anything like this out there - i had to laugh.

EDIT: this is open to the public.

I went to the Towers discussion. Actually it was more of a lecture from Tom Low (the man who was on NPR.) Furman also talked for a while. I had to leave for the Bobcats game so I missed the last 30 minutes.

It was very interesting to learn about the history of tower architiecture and to see how early design movements shaped our current skylines. Some of Frank Lloyd Wright's tower designs look very much like Courtside and Trademark.

Furman did take a direct hit from Tom. During the slide show, Tom used Courtside's parking deck facade as an example of how not to meet the street. Furman was real good about it. He did mention there will be additional work to enhance the sidewalk and the facade.

Someone else talked about how the new towers seem to mimic the suburbs. Entrances, elevators and hallways resemble highways, exits and driveways. Also, the private resident decks are similar to the parks in some subdivsions that are off limits to non-residents.

Furman thinks demand for tower condos at the current price points has peaked. He sees mid-rise projects as the next wave because of the cost. He still believes there are thousands of people ready to live in Uptown, but they are not willing to pay the $psf towers demand.

At the meeting Tom made the same comment about no other forum for this type of discussion. Either he hasn't discovered us, or he's dissing us. There's definitely plenty of room for both types of discussions. A lot of folks prefer the offline world.

BTW, the Bobcats beat the Rockets in double OT.

[dubone]

That is interesting about the peaking interest in high rise living due to costs. I wonder if that affects future projects like Wachovia's condos, TwoTenTrade, Citadin Towers, or even The Vue in a way.

It is good to see Furman back to his midrise ways, especially if he continues to do around 8 story buildings, as those add significantly to downtown.

[Miesian Corners]

I went to all of the Civic by Design meetings last year. In fact the last one I went to was Furman and his plan for Second Ward. I would have liked to have gone to this one. My first question to him would have been why he didn't do a better job on the back of Courtside.

Overall, it's a good forum. The difference between this and that is the face to face aspect. You can't hide behind a screen name there. If you make someone angry, you have to actually deal with it, not simply turn off the computer.

[appatone]

^^ Which is why everyone in the room probably would have cringed a little after you would have proposed that question to Mr. Furman. We would all want to know why though.