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Patrick Cannon...Charlotte's new --> old mayor


cltbwimob

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I share Urbanity's concern that Peacock is not viewing the Streetcar wholistically. If Charlotte desires to continue its impressive growth it must become more urban, this will require a high capacity (and highly visible) east-west transit route. The absence of an east-west rail link means that the LRT system will merely serve as a means for suburban park and riders to get to work or Hornets games. A more robust rail network (which will have to include connections to PM/ Central and Five Points) has to exist before car-free lifestyles can reach the mainstream here. Given that the largest generation since the boomers is just about to make their decisions about where to live Charlotte has a limited time to capture the benefits of having a robust transit network.

 

I understand that the streetcar is an expensive way to provide this mobility (vice buses) but the development opportunities (particularly beyond Five Points and the corner of Belmont around Hawthorne Mill) opened up by rail transit counterweight some of the capital costs to a degree that buses can never accomplish. Don't forget, the Blue Line triggered massive development only in the area where it moves at streetcar speed.

 

The assumption that the Streetcar is a 'frill' (due to its speed) is inappropriate in my opinion. Until their are viable alternatives to streetrunning proposed I see the streetcar as the best of our current mobility options. I see Peacock's lack of support for the streetcar as a foolish embrace of the sprawling status quo. Until he is able to suggest alternative solutions to this mobility problem I can't support him. 

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While I support an east-west streetcar long-term, I do feel that the Ballantyne crowd's wishes shouldn't be ignored entirely and the streetcar issue is a pretty contentious issue. If Peacock is elected, it may quiet their calls for secession. While Charlotte doesn't NEED Ballantyne to prosper, it would certainly be a black eye to the city and a large revenue blow. 

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I share Urbanity's concern that Peacock is not viewing the Streetcar wholistically. If Charlotte desires to continue its impressive growth it must become more urban, this will require a high capacity (and highly visible) east-west transit route. The absence of an east-west rail link means that the LRT system will merely serve as a means for suburban park and riders to get to work or Hornets games. A more robust rail network (which will have to include connections to PM/ Central and Five Points) has to exist before car-free lifestyles can reach the mainstream here. Given that the largest generation since the boomers is just about to make their decisions about where to live Charlotte has a limited time to capture the benefits of having a robust transit network.

I understand that the streetcar is an expensive way to provide this mobility (vice buses) but the development opportunities (particularly beyond Five Points and the corner of Belmont around Hawthorne Mill) opened up by rail transit counterweight some of the capital costs to a degree that buses can never accomplish. Don't forget, the Blue Line triggered massive development only in the area where it moves at streetcar speed.

The assumption that the Streetcar is a 'frill' (due to its speed) is inappropriate in my opinion. Until their are viable alternatives to streetrunning proposed I see the streetcar as the best of our current mobility options. I see Peacock's lack of support for the streetcar as a foolish embrace of the sprawling status quo. Until he is able to suggest alternative solutions to this mobility problem I can't support him.

Remember though, the area that has seen the most development is also directly adjacent to downtown so the correlation between streetcar speeds and the ability to promote development is not as clear as you suggest. In fact, atlrvr and I have both suggested that Streetcar will work in those areas one to two miles from downtown. However, because a slow speed streetcar may work in the densest part of town doesn't mean that it will work as It eanders up to 5 miles away in a blighted portion of town. You can not extract speed from mobility, especially as you venture further from downtown. Average streetcar speeds of 8-10 mph are increasingly undesirable the farther away from downtown you travel. The implication there is that if people are less likely to ride the streetcar farther away from downtown, then the less likely it is those areas will benefit in terms of redevelopment. These are not inappropriate concerns as you have suggested.

As I have stated also in other forums, you can not discount the commuters either. Although its not the lifestyle with which you agree, I imagine you would be surprised to know that a recent study suggested 65% of the riders on the Blue Line are those commuters which we so often disparage (10k commuters to 6k locals per day) In fact, if it wasn't for the commuting population, the Blue Line and the BLE may have never been built because they would have likely not met federal funding criteria.

At any rate, all this may be a moot point, as there are new proposals being circulated about potentially combining the Silver Line Corridor and the Central Avenue streetcar into a single corridor. I do not know how advanced the idea is, but I do know it has been discussed at least on some small level as a breakthrough solution. If carried out, one potential method would be to run LRT in the central lanes of Central Ave and Sharon Amity in an exclusive ROW then follow the proposed silver line alignment to Matthews. The vehicles used would likely be S70 ultra shorts or some comp vehicle capable of being coupled into 2-3 car trains but also capable of running in street. Like I said I do not know how far these discussions have gone.

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^^ cltbwimob is correct on my general views of street car, and that said from someone who owns a house only 3 blocks from a proposed extension stop. 

 

Transportation is expensive, and we tax all county sales to support it, which is why we give all county municipalities a voice, and based on those discussions, we prioritized projects.  Blue Line, Red Line, Blue Line Extension, Silver Line, Street Car.....already Red Line has been moved down due to costs and NS negioations.  Blue Line extension is moving forward, and Silver Line has been put on the back burner. 

 

Just because the city at some point decided that it would lay rails as part of the Eliz Ave pedscape does not provide justification to disregard a concensus MTC view. 

 

I fully support Phase 2 of Streetcar, and from what I can tell, so does Peacock, just after BLE and Red Line.

 

What most people on here may/may not be aware of, was that the prioritization of the streetcar was a "promise" by select Democrats back in 2007 to entice the west-side voters to the polls to fight the referendum on repealing the transit tax.  This was never officially endorsed by the city council at the time, and certainly not by the MTC, both of which didn't want to publically fight a transit pitch during the referendum, but behind the scenes were aghast at the audacity of that "promise". 

 

Fast forward to a couple of years ago, and Democrats who were on the council back in 2007 believe that promise bound them to circumvent the MTC.

 

The streetcar has never been about optimizing transportation dollar, but always a political pay-off to the west-side community leaders that organized getting voters to the polls during an off year.

 

Is it important?  Sure it is, and I hope its built at some point (or at least JCSU to P-M)  But just because the current candidate for mayor thinks we should work within the priorities set by the MTC, I don't think that makes him a representative of the "Party of No".

 

Lastly, even if I thought extending the streetcar 2 miles was the #1 issue affecting this city (and as I pointed out, I stand to gain financially if it is extended), I still would never vote solely on a pet project.  Charlotte local politics (ok, the city, not Meck county) was a stand-out example of moderate, cross-partisan solutions for many many decades, especially in a part of the country where that concept barely existed.  In the last 4 years, it has devolved to the point where there aren't even inter-partisan solutions.  I'm voting for the candidate I think who recognizes this, and will do his best to repair it. 

 

I would argue that if we are in a critical point in Charlotte's future as one poster surmised, that a broad willingness to rebuild concensus is more important than the timing of streetcar completion relative to other transportation projects (And I dream of subway tunnels through uptown 1 day :)  )

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^ That would take like 50 years

How did you come up with that figure? Sure it will take some time to go through the engineering phase,and I understand this is Charlotte, but to say it will take 50 years...you are grasping at straws on that claim. You do realize that it's only been 15 years since the sales tax was first approved and we already have one completed line to the south and another under construction. Furthermore, if the 2 lines are combined, the ridership numbers will likely increase and will increase the importance of the line to a level niether would be able to attain on their own merits. With the current model one line would potentially cannabalize the other considering the silver and streetcar lines are approximately 1 mile from each other. Under this model, there is no canabalizing because there will only be one line vice 2 per the MTC2006 plan and 3 under the ULI plan.

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I fully support Phase 2 of Streetcar, and from what I can tell, so does Peacock, just after BLE and Red Line.

What most people on here may/may not be aware of, was that the prioritization of the streetcar was a "promise" by select Democrats back in 2007 to entice the west-side voters to the polls to fight the referendum on repealing the transit tax.

Is it important? Sure it is, and I hope its built at some point (or at least JCSU to P-M) But just because the current candidate for mayor thinks we should work within the priorities set by the MTC, I don't think that makes him a representative of the "Party of No".

I think the link to JCSU and the higher speed rail at the airport (and center city) are the most important for the city.

He may not be a candidate of no, but his affiliation speaks volumes about who he listens to for advice (such as think tanks and political leaders). I don't have a dog in the race, but if I lived in Charlotte , I'd be very hesitant to vote republican, because the party does not have a strong urban plan. There are individuals on the more conservative side that are strong urbanists. Peacock may be one, but if I lived in the city I'd want to see more proof before I could vote for him.

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I think your last assertion is a little unfair. Just because some on this board are either ambivalent or opposed to the streetcar project does not mean that they have voiced their opinion in a manner consistent with those from the comments section on the Observer. It is by no means fair to suggest that the valid concerns of some on this board regarding the streetcar should somehow be grouped with those commenters from the Observer who shamelessly expectorate diarrhea of the brain upon the masses of CO readers.

 

You are right and I apologize.  That was said out of frustration.  

 

I've been giving some thought since I wrote my last post and read some of the replies (Thank you Kermit for getting my main point) and it boils down to the point that there is very little differences between the two candidates outside of nuances.  While that is great in the sense that neither is extreme - I guess I'm a little frustrated that neither is very thought provoking or inspiring either. 

 

That said I have a feeling I'm voting for the elephant in the room (ha ha) this election simply because of an earlier point I made that he is willing to buck his own party; that says something to me when I can't discern much differences otherwise between the candidates.

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I think the link to JCSU and the higher speed rail at the airport (and center city) are the most important for the city.

He may not be a candidate of no, but his affiliation speaks volumes about who he listens to for advice (such as think tanks and political leaders). I don't have a dog in the race, but if I lived in Charlotte , I'd be very hesitant to vote republican, because the party does not have a strong urban plan. There are individuals on the more conservative side that are strong urbanists. Peacock may be one, but if I lived in the city I'd want to see more proof before I could vote for him.

 

As a Democrat I'm feeling really torn right now.  I thought that it was clear I would vote for Cannon but given that I can't get any read from him (website) about his vision for Charlotte, I'm strongly leaning towards Peacock.  I'm VERY worried about this same thing (party affiliation) and said the same thing about McCrory when he was voted in as Governor (something that's come true).  But given the way the City government works I'm not quite as worried.  I do think it's helpful to have some balance in the city government - look at cities like New Orleans, Detroit, Birmingham, etc. to see what happens when one side runs the show and spends too much money on the wrong priorities.

 

Peacock's opposition to Amendment 1 is what really makes me be able to support him, as it tells me that not only does he not prioritize social issues, but he's actually slightly liberal there.

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I've said it before and I'll say it again, if Peacock can assure me that he won't bow to the pressures of the big GOP money AND enter the 21st Century in regards to social issues (why the GOP is so hell-bent on being anti LGBT is beyond me), I might be persuaded to vote for him.  Until then, I refuse to be part of propping him up to be the next Pat McCrory, (a/k/a Gov McPope).  

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The Observer is basically calling the election already for Cannon based on early voting so far and past early voting patterns.  I agree about the math component but I hate these kind of articles/opinion pieces.

 

Edit:  And then I see the CBJ article trying to add some class to the race.  :whistling:  She gave $100.  Big whoops!   Imagine if Peacock was single - this would have turned into a sex scandal!

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As a Democrat I'm feeling really torn right now.  I thought that it was clear I would vote for Cannon but given that I can't get any read from him (website) about his vision for Charlotte, I'm strongly leaning towards Peacock.  I'm VERY worried about this same thing (party affiliation) and said the same thing about McCrory when he was voted in as Governor (something that's come true).  But given the way the City government works I'm not quite as worried.  I do think it's helpful to have some balance in the city government - look at cities like New Orleans, Detroit, Birmingham, etc. to see what happens when one side runs the show and spends too much money on the wrong priorities.

 

Peacock's opposition to Amendment 1 is what really makes me be able to support him, as it tells me that not only does he not prioritize social issues, but he's actually slightly liberal there.

I'd consider myself morally a democrat, but fiscally a republican. And I think that is basically what Peacock is based on what I've read - definitely not far to the left on the moral/social issues, but slightly left of center. At least that's how I've interpreted it. So that is why he is probably going to get my vote lest someone sway me otherwise.

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He's a politician which do you think it is?  Honestly I expect a politician to puff himself up a bit dishonestly and be a bit fuzzy on the details about how awesome he is (see Al Gore; basically the major political backer of the internet, "inventor / creator" of the internet he was not).  I'm gonna go with he's willfully dishonest with himself about his own awesomeness.

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I'd consider myself morally a democrat, but fiscally a republican. And I think that is basically what Peacock is based on what I've read - definitely not far to the left on the moral/social issues, but slightly left of center. At least that's how I've interpreted it. So that is why he is probably going to get my vote lest someone sway me otherwise.

 

You might be fiscally conservative but don't ever confuse that term with a fiscal republican.  The GOP is definitely socially conservative but fiscal conservatives? I thought McCrory would be somewhat more moderate and I've lost all confidence in the bunch to be independent thinkers or practice centrist point of views.

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If Peacock can't win, I don't see any republican ever winning Charlotte again. At least not unless we see a huge demographic shift in the city...or the city gobbles up the area around Mint Hill, but annexation is pretty much out of the question these days is it not?

I don't agree with that at all.  Peacock suffered from a general malaise that is still hanging over The GOP in general with the Federal shutdown and their seemingly lack of focus on anything outside of Obamacare.   

 

Southslider makes a point, but the straight party ticket issue really only favors the lower races vs. the big one or top one.   People went to the polls primarily to vote for the mayor.  Cannon would have won even if the straight party choice wasn't there.

 

Edit:  BTW Voter Turnout was as stinky as can be:

Registered Voters: 654,462 
Ballots Cast: 115,611 
Voter Turnout: 17.67%
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GOP malaise makes sense to me.  Logically, the other side of that coin would be Democratic outrage, right?  But looking at the results, it seems like the outrage did not flood the polls:

 

Cannon 50,968.  Peacock 44,970.

 

To circle back to my earlier post:

Two years later, Foxx beat Stone 56,252 to 26,985

Four years ago, Foxx beat Lassiter 55,265 to 51,931

So unless there's some trunk of uncounted ballots out there, Cannon received far fewer votes than Foxx did in either of his elections.  And those elections occurred before the federal shutdown, NC legislature craziness, etc.  

 

Turnout yesterday was obviously very low, but it wasn't raining, and there were school bonds on the ballot.  

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