JerseyBoy

Everyone's entitled to their opinions about an area, as we all have differing experiences or expectations of what a city should be. But "no redeeming features" and "soul-sucking?" Really? I lived in Atlanta from 2016 to late 2019. While it definitely got old having to criss-cross town via car and deal with 30+ minute traffic jams just to attend an event or check out a cool restaurant, the city is fortunate to have a dense tree canopy; some of the most kind, pleasant residents around; and, I think, the nation's best food scene after NY and LA. Not to mention all of the amazing global contributions the city and its denizens have made to human rights, the arts and business over the decades. I wasn't in the right place in life to fully appreciate Atlanta when I lived there, but now, I'm proud to say I once called it home. Slogging through the 'burbs of northern Fulton, Cherokee or Gwinnett Counties isn't fun -- I'll give you that! But there are some really awesome people -- and experiences -- to be had in all of those locales if you're willing to dig a little, venture off the beaten path or hop out of your car.

You're not wrong. Construction started nearly nine years ago on the project. Originally, it was supposed to be a four-level stack interchange. Constructed started on that design, but the whole project was put on pause for a number of years due to funding if I recall correctly. During this time, the project was redesigned. The end result is what you have now: A scaled-back, cheaper, but still efficient (well, let's hope!) turbine-y interchange.

Actually -- and I'm really not trying to throw any gasoline on the fire here -- as someone who grew up in North Carolina (an hour away from Charlotte), lived in Atlanta and now resides in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic, I don't think this visitor of @RANYC is all that wrong. (For what it's worth, I'm white.) Let me just preface by saying, I love Charlotte. A lot. As a native North Carolinian, I'm so proud of what the city has become, and I try to visit at least several times a year to see all of the changes in person. During these visits, I've spent a lot of time in South End, admiring and observing the rapid transformation that's taken place there. I'll take extensive walks through the neighborhood, go to breweries and try out some of the new restaurants there. I'm saying this because my following opinion isn't based on one drive through or a quick visit. Each time I've visited South End, the neighborhood has felt, well, extremely homogeneous. As soon as you cross 277 into the district, I feel like you're automatically hit with a younger, whiter, perhaps more privileged and "bro-y" vibe. It's very reminiscent of some neighborhoods in Nashville or Atlanta's West Midtown district. I can understand, @carolinaboy, how observations like these might appear negative, but perception is a real thing for visitors to a city. Charlotte should be striving for inclusivity, equality and diversity. And if people of color from out of town who visit South End (or other parts of the city) feel like there isn't a place for them there or it's heavily segregated, they're more likely to go back to their friends and family and relay what they saw. Bad look for the city, IMO. (Note: I'm a journalist, so I operate off facts and statistics before coming to any judgment. I don't know what South End's demographics are like off-hand, so that's why I italicized "felt" and "feel." I don't have proof that my observations and feelings are rooted in fact.)

That's entirely untrue. Richmond is no Charlotte, but it's got a good, "cool" vibe with pretty well-known arts and foodie scenes.

Are you able to elaborate at all? Are you saying that this deck was built with the intention of it being a temporary structure so that a third tower could be constructed on this land?

Jaguar!

Will Charlotte have plans to automatically tow a vehicle when an incident like this happens? In D.C., the city has stationed wreckers up and down the H St. streetcar corridor that are quickly dispatched when a vehicle is blocking the tracks.

Not super surprised about HTs in DC. Sure, they have three stores in DC proper, but there are also around 25 others in the greater DMV (including Baltimore). They also have a distribution center in Fredericksburg, Va., too, I think.

Can we not, please?

Thanks for the pics! I really wish Cintra/NCDOT would've (finally!) reconstructed the full I-77/85 interchange during this project. I realize that would've likely made the project cost prohibitive, but it's likely these new express lane bridges and ramps will have to be torn up when the time comes that patches on this junction will no longer be sufficient.

Actually, if I recall correctly, the Garden Parkway was to be routed south of Gastonia where it would intersect with I-85 somewhere in the vicinity of the I-85/US 74/Business 74 junction near Kings Mountain.

I could be wrong, but I believe lights that illuminated the sign were mounted on the walkway. NCDOT has ripped out many of these old lights in the past decade as signs have been replaced with more reflective ones.

Wonder if this was their inspiration?

Was there a similar concern when the Vue had a banner, advertising apartments for rent, hanging from it? Perhaps there was, but I can't seem to recall it.

Count the floors in the renderings Crescent has published on the Tryon Place website. I counted ~35 floors.

Fitting for a dying newspaper industry, don't you think?

Correct.

Hmm...this couldn't be that exciting if it were just a new luxury boutique/store. New addition to SouthPark and a certain upscale NY department store anchor from Macy's Group Inc. possibly?

These are a few photos I took yesterday while in Uptown with a new lens of mine:

Lucky Man by The Verve Thanks!

Hey guys, some of you may remember I made a video tour of Uptown at night a few pages back. Well, I just finished another tour of some of the inner core neighborhoods like part of Myers Park, Midtown/Metropolitan, and South End. I'm also planning on doing a tour of Myers Park, South Park, and Ballantyne during the day and NoDa at night. Hope you enjoy!

I was in Charlotte this weekend and decided to test out my new camera around the Uptown area. I realize they're pretty standard shots, but I enjoyed walking around photographing all the new structures that have popped up since the last time I did a thorough photo tour of the city.

Eric, those are fantastic! Did you take the second photo of the new Bank of America tower from the Ritz Carlton's pool area or the Holiday Inn deck?

I don't believe traffic levels on 52 between Salisbury and Wadesboro are high enough to warrant a wider road. I used to travel that road once or twice a year to Rockingham and Darlington to photograph races and there was hardly any traffic.

Some of you may remember I did an amateur looking video tour of Uptown about a year or so ago, but since then I've upgraded cameras and taken film much more seriously. I was in town a week ago and decided to take a break from the road videos that I usually do on my travels and re-film Uptown in HD. I thought this turned out pretty cool since many projects like the Duke Energy Center, Wells Fargo CC, Nascar HOF, and Ritz/Bank of America have all been completed since I last filmed and are featured in this video: Yes, I know I ran two traffic lights in this. My apologies if any of you were driving alongside me and assumed I was an ***hole driver. I've got a limited amount of HD recording time on my camera that I use and tried to make the first one and didn't see the second one due to the CATS bus. And, many thanks to InitialD for his awesome photo used in the opening. As a photographer, I am greatly envious of that shot.