Plaza-Midwood Projects (Central, Commonwealth, The Plaza)

[DonkeyKong]

49 minutes ago, JeanClt said:

Hillsborough St. in Raleigh, don’t even have to go that far up north.

Or outside of Charlotte 

[SpiritOf76]

[SpiritOf76]

[Nathan2]

Anyone able to get an aerial shot of the giant hole that has been dug along the central Av portion of this project? It seems excessively large for what I am guessing is for utilities. It is slightly noticeable from independence. 

[SpiritOf76]

[SpiritOf76]

Walked around today. The building is set back from central a nice distance.  Looking forward to a wider sidewalk there. Took a shot over the fence trying to find that hole mentioned in previous post. And near the bridge - someone knocked down that little pole (circled). There is a wire attached that is sticking up like a tripping hazard. Looks to go through the sidewalk. Anyone know who can fix that? 

[hokiehigh]

3 hours ago, SpiritOf76 said:

Walked around today. The building is set back from central a nice distance.  Looking forward to a wider sidewalk there. Took a shot over the fence trying to find that hole mentioned in previous post. And near the bridge - someone knocked down that little pole (circled). There is a wire attached that is sticking up like a tripping hazard. Looks to go through the sidewalk. Anyone know who can fix that? 

Maybe call 311?  People are always knocking down those poles over here.   Right before the pandemic an arts group or someone was going to fix up that underpass with art and new lighting.  I wonder why that fell through?

 

[SpiritOf76]

I just reported two pole  lights out under the bridge. Duke rep told me the other lights mounted on the bridge wall were DOT responsibility. Wouldn’t mind having those wall mounted lights on both sides to brighten things. Hope the arts thing gains traction again.  As for that knocked down pole - I read on this forum that it is some kind of counter? How does that work and who owns them? Guess I just don’t really understand them … 

[SpiritOf76]

[KJHburg]

One of the few office buildings under construction in the city right now here is the marketing brochure for Commonwealth.

https://www.loopnet.com/common/viewer/?file=https://images1.loopnet.com/d2/AQU8wecjtXXOAkReMoLMLRvfDHSVBQZjWrm0CsxX4us/20220202CroslandCommonwealtheBrochureOFFICE.pdf

This looks great! 

[JRCLT]

One of the few office buildings under construction in the city right now here is the marketing brochure for Commonwealth.
https://www.loopnet.com/common/viewer/?file=https://images1.loopnet.com/d2/AQU8wecjtXXOAkReMoLMLRvfDHSVBQZjWrm0CsxX4us/20220202CroslandCommonwealtheBrochureOFFICE.pdf
This looks great! 

The number of crosswalks in that rendering is the number of crosswalks I wish some roads had…

[SpiritOf76]

Does look great, will be great yet still people complain about it 

And another water leak on central 

[videtur quam contuor]

I want more night photos of street level action of our urban spaces. I drive around South End occasionally at night to check the activity level and stroll ratios but Plaza, lower tuck, noda and so on are also interesting. The buildings are worth photos but so is the life.

[RANYC]

12 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

I want more night photos of street level action of our urban spaces. I drive around South End occasionally at night to check the activity level and stroll ratios but Plaza, lower tuck, noda and so on are also interesting. The buildings are worth photos but so is the life.

Around 1am on Sunday, February 12, 2023, a car is moving west on Morehead Street in the wrong lane on a collision course with cars heading east.  Thankfully, no other cars were around as this wrong-way car's headlights beamed down on me.  I veered into the westbound lanes of Morehead to avoid a collision.  There's street-level action for you.  Was quite the fright.  My sunbelt experiment might be over.  Back to NYC i come.

[JRCLT]

Around 1am on Sunday, February 12, 2023, a car is moving west on Morehead Street in the wrong lane on a collision course with cars heading east.  Thankfully, no other cars were around as this wrong-way car's headlights beamed down on me.  I veered into the westbound lanes of Morehead to avoid a collision.  There's street-level action for you.  Was quite the fright.  My sunbelt experiment might be over.  Back to NYC i come.

The last straw

[JacksonH]

On 2/11/2023 at 9:36 AM, SpiritOf76 said:

Does look great, will be great yet still people complain about it 

What's the complaint?  IMO, this is the best-conceived new urban project in the city:   It respects the historical structures on the property by thoughtfully repurposing them; it respects the character of the neighborhood in the design of the new structures; it creates a live/work/play environment, which contributes to more sustainable growth where driving is more of an option than a necessity; and it provides pedestrian-friendly, street-facing retail, which will enhance the liveliness and quality of life of the neighborhood.  It's win, win, win, win.

Edited February 13, 2023 by JacksonH

[CLT2014]

On 2/11/2023 at 1:04 PM, tarhoosier said:

I want more night photos of street level action of our urban spaces. I drive around South End occasionally at night to check the activity level and stroll ratios but Plaza, lower tuck, noda and so on are also interesting. The buildings are worth photos but so is the life.

I think the majority of the photos on here don't have people in them at street level because:
1.) Lots of sidewalks are usually dead, even in the more vibrant neighborhoods, especially during daytime hours when it is easiest to take a picture -> this is the #1 reason most of the photos don't show anybody. 
2.) It is winter, and Charlotte people run from their car to stores in the winter
3.) The streets are rarely busy enough to feel like you are just taking a picture of an anonymized crowd. Instead the 5 people on the sidewalk in Charlotte are looking back at you like "WTH you taking a picture of us?" It is hard to document activity without it feeling like a stalker and not the nicest thing to post a picture of people on the internet where they can be identified relatively easily. Very different than taking a photo of activity in Chicago, Boston, New York, San Francisco, et... where there may be like 50 people in the shot. Shop Small Saturdays in South End is one of the best times to get a "street vibrancy" photo and not feel like a stalker here. 
4.) Lots of pictures are from cars versus the sidewalk because a lot of the photos on here are drive-by pics. 

Edited February 13, 2023 by CLT2014

[KJHburg]

I personally do not want people in my photos for many of the reasons above.  Street level should be experienced and is hard to capture in a photo.  I could wait until there are few people in the shot and make it look underwhelming or wait until a building is emptying out to make it look unbelievably crowded.   I take photos of greenways all the time and most are very busy but you won't see it in my photos.  And posting photos of people that are easily identifiable on a public website like this is not something I want to do.  

[nicholas]

On 2/12/2023 at 1:56 AM, RANYC said:

Around 1am on Sunday, February 12, 2023, a car is moving west on Morehead Street in the wrong lane on a collision course with cars heading east.  Thankfully, no other cars were around as this wrong-way car's headlights beamed down on me.  I veered into the westbound lanes of Morehead to avoid a collision.  There's street-level action for you.  Was quite the fright.  My sunbelt experiment might be over.  Back to NYC i come.

Regular occurrence on Graham St, except usually with no lights on.

Partial joking aside, letting one drunk driver ruin your experiment is unfortunate.  I've seen drivers going the wrong way down exit ramps (!!!) in Raleigh, wrong way drivers on one way streets in Greensboro, etc.  It can happen anywhere unfortunately, even NYC!

[KJHburg]

1 hour ago, nicholas said:

Regular occurrence on Graham St, except usually with no lights on.

Partial joking aside, letting one drunk driver ruin your experiment is unfortunate.  I've seen drivers going the wrong way down exit ramps (!!!) in Raleigh, wrong way drivers on one way streets in Greensboro, etc.  It can happen anywhere unfortunately, even NYC!

exactly.  A deranged person mowed down pedestrians on a sidewalk in Brooklyn killing one and injured 8.  

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-haul-truck-strikes-multiple-pedestrians-bay-ridge-brooklyn-police/

[Reverie39]

On 2/10/2023 at 9:18 PM, KJHburg said:

One of the few office buildings under construction in the city right now here is the marketing brochure for Commonwealth.

https://www.loopnet.com/common/viewer/?file=https://images1.loopnet.com/d2/AQU8wecjtXXOAkReMoLMLRvfDHSVBQZjWrm0CsxX4us/20220202CroslandCommonwealtheBrochureOFFICE.pdf

This looks great! 

Beautiful. We talk a lot about designing projects that work at the human or street-level scale, and this one seems to do that pretty well. Should be a pleasant experience for pedestrians to visit or walk through.

[RANYC]

6 hours ago, nicholas said:

Regular occurrence on Graham St, except usually with no lights on.

Partial joking aside, letting one drunk driver ruin your experiment is unfortunate.  I've seen drivers going the wrong way down exit ramps (!!!) in Raleigh, wrong way drivers on one way streets in Greensboro, etc.  It can happen anywhere unfortunately, even NYC!

Followed up on this and I don’t believe this was drunk driving.  It was too “intentional and in control.”  Apparently, this might well have been a gang initiation.

[CLTdev18]

I was driving on 277 inner, just past the on-ramp to independence, at about 9pm a few weeks ago and a car with no headlights on was in the leftmost lane driving against traffic at about highway speeds. Luckily, there weren't too many people on the road, but just past that, two cars were pulled off to the side. I'm thinking they got in an accident trying to avoid the wrong way driver. I initially thought it was a drunk driver, but maybe it was a gang related thing like RANYC was saying.

[JacksonH]

On 2/14/2023 at 6:36 AM, nicholas said:

Regular occurrence on Graham St, except usually with no lights on.

Partial joking aside, letting one drunk driver ruin your experiment is unfortunate.  I've seen drivers going the wrong way down exit ramps (!!!) in Raleigh, wrong way drivers on one way streets in Greensboro, etc.  It can happen anywhere unfortunately, even NYC!

Yep.  About 18 or 19 years ago, someone at the place where I used to work in San Diego decided to go bar hopping one night and then, drunk, got on the freeway driving in the wrong direction and killed three teenaged girls.  It was horrific.

[SpiritOf76]