SgtCampsalot

I'm referring to the cascading whirlpool (if you'll forgive the contradicting terms) of back-and-forth that never gets anywhere, and always has the unique ability to become crude mud-slinging from any given side in an instant.

Let's not start this back-and-forth again (and again).

Fair points. My parents moved here during the first Charlotte boom, and my siblings and I grew up here. We had a very confusing identity of "southern but not really, northern but not really." And we viewed Charlotte as identity-ambiguous. I believe the true "identity" of Charlotte, at least in decades past, was made up of the following: -Inner city, and older rural areas (that subsequently had the suburbs grow around them... think Hickory Grove, or Derita): These people, white and black, knew their identity, and knew what Charlotte was (albeit from their own perspective), and they didn't feel the need for Charlotte to "find itself." The influx of people changing things made them feel as though Charlotte was losing its soul (still do, when you find them). Same thing happens with the small towns in the metro. -Suburbs: consisting mostly of transplants, did NOT have a Charlotte identity. They made up larger numbers, and held most of the wealth, so their voices were loudest in proclaiming what Charlotte "is/was," and they are the ones who presented the narrative (which was true to them) that Charlotte had no culture, had no identity. When, in reality, Charlotte did have culture, it just wasn't the affluent kind, or the easily-recognizable kind.

Honey the whole NCGA and NCDOT are literally generations behind lots of people.

Without getting NIMBY or stick-in-the-mud about it, you're justified in feeling that way. Just logistically: we are getting all of this built-environment growth because people from all over the country are moving here. That means tens of thousands of people with their own unique hometown experience, all being mushed up together in a new place. In a way, that is its own kind of unifying force, but if you've spent more than [x] years here, that can seem a bit alienating, even if you (or your parents) moved from somewhere else.

Classy corner-articulating apartment building a la Faison apts in Elizabeth.

World Class by any means necessary!

Parkwood Ave, from Belmont Ave to Brevard St, will be re-done via the North East Corridor Improvement plan (NECI) projects, they are slated to begin around 2019 or so. They are fully funded via bonds. The original plans here were to add a turning lane at the necessary spots, but keep two lanes per direction, and add a wide multi-use path from the Brevard ped connector up to N Brevard St. The link posted above will be funded by the Transportation Action Plan (TAP) funding via bonds (I forget whether those bonds went through yet), originally pushed by residents petitioning the City. That will involve reducing lanes to one lane per direction, plus turning lane, plus (protected) bike lanes up until the Hawthorne intersection. Since the ^above events, last I heard from City staff is that the first primary stretch of Parkwood Ave under NECI is supposed to adopt the same one-lane-per-direction w turning lane and bike lanes design, since they will be tearing up the street anyway.

Whew! That's wild. Really turns the souther city idea on its head. The local police were the ones breaking their windows, go figure!

Fully agreed. This is exactly what should be happening in our building boom. What's more, when you have more incremental buildings like this, an uglu/boring architecture design is less impact full to the overall feel of the area.

^I saw yesterday... that's a restaurant; it's ideal for sidewalk patio space!!! But it's nearly 100 ft of flat windows.

A nice little article by Charlotte's own Tom Lowe, architect, about the lack of distinguishing characteristics in Charlotte's high rises and office towers. CNU.org, "Top-Hat Buildings"

^^^Charlotte definitely has four preeminent mural artists right now whose work stands out above the rest: 1, 2. Matt Hooker and Matt Moore (who are doing the above mural). 3. Nick Nopalitano (the new Solstice mural, and the amazing Women mural on 11th St/N Tryon) 4. Osiris Rain (long-time NoDa artist, owns NC Art Academy off 36th St... the Stella Artois mural, and dumpster behind it... buy his work at Pura Vida!)

Fun shot I found: from Skyhouse's rooftop gym (that angle, specifically) you can see through LU's floors in between Independence Tower and [that other high rise].

Based on Siggy's experience/portfolio, I think she's one of the few "nicer" restaurateurs who would succeed in Belmont right now. Being from Europe, and then Manhattan, she seems to understand city neighborhoods; how they change, what distinguishes one place from another (she cited the pedestrian-friendly "village" atmosphere that led her there), and she generally seems to know what she's getting herself into. Also, considering she has a fully-operational restaurant in New York right now, I'm sure she has capital to burn. She purchased the property (from a local guy who also owns the two-story brick building at Pegram/Belmont) outright, including the teal house behind the store. So she is invested. And lastly, the two other corner stores that were just rezoned by the new owner will begin reno soon. They are estimating opening w tenants a few months after Siggy. That property's rezoning from late last year has already been approved (for mixed-use office/retail). They are starting renovations soon and trying to lease-up. The owner also owns several other small properties around Belmont, OP, Camp Greene, and seems to prefer owning squat brick buildings, or more unique residential (he sold Siggy her store); so he seems to be a cut above the rest, at least in terms of understanding value.