Plaza-Shamrock - Corner of PM and NoDa

[archiham04 434]

Plaza-Shamrock, roughly bordered by Matheson, The Plaza, Sugar Creek, Eastway and the Charlotte Country Club is changing fast.  The area is under development pressure from the south by Plaza-Midwood, the East by Country Club Heights, and the West by NoDa.  Tear-downs are becoming more frequent and recently the local elementary school lost almost half a grade when an apartment complex raised their rents.  Is there a new front line of gentrification in Charlotte?  The locat TV news recently did a short piece on this.

Edited October 13, 2014 by archiham04

[Third Strike 314]

What did they cover on the news? I missed it.

 

This area is in a good location. Next door to Plaza-Midwood and NoDa, and a short distance away from the BLE. Would love to see more retail fronting the Plaza, though.

[southslider 394]

Yes, the hodge-podge commercial corridor of The Plaza from Parkwood to Sugar Creek could definitely use some reinvestment.

[tozmervo 2528]

It's an oddball area that carries a lot of traffic from the northeast and is affordable for folks that can't otherwise afford P-M or NoDa propers. Particularly around Matheson and Plaza I could see some interesting things happening. A new bar (Hatties) just opened up near there and has had what looks likes good crowds. 

[archiham04 434]

What did they cover on the news? I missed it.

 

This area is in a good location. Next door to Plaza-Midwood and NoDa, and a short distance away from the BLE. Would love to see more retail fronting the Plaza, though.

I think this was probably from spring 2013  not sure.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/rebound-home-sales-reinventing-some-charlotte-neig/nZmqR

[KickinChicken23 9]

Yes some of the folks who live in this area have seen and heard the discussions that connecting PM and NoDa is the goal. Makes sense. I was at Hatties on Saturday and they had a nice crowd, good mix of what I would expect from PM bars and NoDa bars.  

[archiham04 434]

This article made me think of Plaza Shamrock: http://www.governing.com/topics/health-human-services/gov-suburban-poverty-gentrification-series.html

Edited February 6, 2015 by archiham04

[Spartan 707]

http://www.governing.com/gov-data/charlotte-gentrification-maps-demographic-data.html

This is the link to the Charlotte report. The census tract that Plaza Shamrock is in doesn't make the cut for gentrification based on their criteria (which is fair). I think Plaza Shamrock will take off after Belmost and Villa Heights pick up steam. The location is great but the neighborhood retail there along The Plaza and Eastway is lacking. It's an easy drive to NoDa and Plaza Midwood but not super walkable to either.

I think that's a challenge that the east side in general has to deal with more comprehensively... Great neighborhoods surrounded by crappy suburban retail development. If the retail can improve it will only help the residential areas in terms of value and desirability.

[archiham04 434]

This from Eastland mall thread:

 

This bit relates more to the Central/Albemarle/Shamrock area as a whole, but Charlotte has launched a new interactive website that allows users to pin ideas within the corridor, and rate other user submissions. This is very important, as money was awarded for the CIP, and apparently they are looking for feedback as to what projects they should fund. Some ideas I like so far:

 

Briar Creek Greenway extension

Campbell Creek Greenway extension

Shamrock complete street/road diet

 

If you have the time, please check out the website, and submit your feedback (you can sign in with Facebook or Google). The CIP was awarded $20 million, so that should give you an idea as to what kind of projects they could fund.

 

http://charlottenc.mindmixer.com/improvements-in-east-charlotte

 

Edited May 13, 2015 by archiham04

[southslider 394]

Would be nice to see some streetscape along The Plaza between Parkwood and 36th. This artery between NoDa and Midwood lacks inviting sidewalks and comfortable crossings. The corridor should function more like a connector than a barrier.

[archiham04 434]

^ put it on the map!

[rjp212 208]

With a lot of re-development of older apartment complexes, does anybody think the Plaza Terrace Apartments will be re-developed?  It's a fairly large piece of land.

[EnyoPhase 25]

http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/planning/Rezoning/RezoningPetitions/2016Petitions/Pages/2016-093.aspx

Giant car wash to replace gas station across from the Giant Penny. Neighbors aren't too happy about it.

[SgtCampsalot 966]

1 hour ago, EnyoPhase said:

http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/planning/Rezoning/RezoningPetitions/2016Petitions/Pages/2016-093.aspx

Giant car wash to replace gas station across from the Giant Penny. Neighbors aren't too happy about it.

If ever there was a Case Rezoning to display auto-oriented businesses being denied to a street that needs to turn ped-friendly as a matter of necessity, this will be interesting to watch.

[archiham04 434]

What is even more interesting is that NoDa Vision calls for this street to remain auto oriented.  I think the larger debate is whether there is space or need for an auto oriented corridor in this part of town.  North Davidson and Central are pushing for ped.  should Plaza follow?

[SgtCampsalot 966]

23 minutes ago, archiham04 said:

What is even more interesting is that NoDa Vision calls for this street to remain auto oriented.  I think the larger debate is whether there is space or need for an auto oriented corridor in this part of town.  North Davidson and Central are pushing for ped.  should Plaza follow?

It's smaller in all ways than Central Ave; and it has to.

The City's actually looking at what to do with it. Let's hope they do more than add crosswalks and medians.

[Vitamin_N 105]

Last night I drove on The Plaza between NoDa and P-M for the first time in a while. It was striking how little that road has changed over the last decade, especially compared to how much the Noda neighborhood has changed during the same time.

[southslider 394]

^Central only visibly changed in the last 5 years, when the surrounding residential had rebounded 10 years prior.

[UrbanGossip 75]

2 hours ago, archiham04 said:

What is even more interesting is that NoDa Vision calls for this street to remain auto oriented.  I think the larger debate is whether there is space or need for an auto oriented corridor in this part of town.  North Davidson and Central are pushing for ped.  should Plaza follow?

PM wants to push Central Ave towards ped oriented and rightly so.  NoDa needs North Davidson to remain ped oriented and rightly so.  So if you think about it, without Plaza there would be no N/S auto corridor between N. Tryon and 74.  CDOT will say there needs to be one.  If there is to be one, it needs to be Parkwood - Plaza in my opinion.  I would speculate that's where NoDa Vision is coming from.

[archiham04 434]

So, Parkwood-Plaza funnels down to a light rail stop.  Traffic calming is being demanded to address unsafe conditions all along Parkwood.  If CDOT keeps pushing Plaza to be auto oriented and planning starts pushing the light rail area to be traffic tamed.  Are we headed for a disaster?

[SgtCampsalot 966]

1 hour ago, archiham04 said:

So, Parkwood-Plaza funnels down to a light rail stop.  Traffic calming is being demanded to address unsafe conditions all along Parkwood.  If CDOT keeps pushing Plaza to be auto oriented and planning starts pushing the light rail area to be traffic tamed.  Are we headed for a disaster?

Yes.
The NECI project on the first portion of Parkwood Ave is retro-fitting the existing 4 lanes by adding left turn lanes, and widening sidewalks, including that multi-use path. But literally every single meeting I attended made the assumption that they were keeping the 2 GP lanes each way. The problem with the rest of Parkwood/Plaza is that there is no more room for widening. This first portion makes sense- it also feeds to Brevard St and N Davidson St, but for the rest, the status quo won't work.

Yes, Parkwood/Plaza is an auto-corridor heavily used by commuters (what street isn't?), though it's dead the rest of the day, but it also does not go into other counties or states like the other two corridors that are being looked at in the same study as the Parkwood/Plaza study (South Blvd, S Tryon St). It goes to WT Harris, and continues as a minor road until ending at Rocky River Rd, with a dozen or so subdivisions along the way.

The crazy thing is there are plenty of people in the neighborhoods along Parkwood/Plaza that I've spoken to that are very opposed to anything that might affect rush hour traffic, when they're the ones that would benefit the most from a pared down re-design. There are plenty of ways to not hurt "traffic flow" while slowing down cars. Getting rid of some traffic lights and narrowing the lanes would help.
 

Edited June 15, 2016 by SgtCampsalot

[UrbanGossip 75]

CDOT and Planning...  Right Hand, I'd like you to meet Left Hand.

[archiham04 434]

I kind of go back and forth on whether Plaza should be auto oriented or pedestrain oriented.  It has some real potential on the pedestrian front, but it is my commuter route from PM to uptown and my 4 minute access to the interstate.  I also feel like there needs to be a place nearby for neighborhood oriented entrepreneurs to start a business.  No parking lot can be a risky endeavor for a hardware store or a bottle shop.  I also need a drive through every once-in-while.

[SgtCampsalot 966]

21 minutes ago, archiham04 said:

I kind of go back and forth on whether Plaza should be auto oriented or pedestrain oriented.  It has some real potential on the pedestrian front, but it is my commuter route from PM to uptown and my 4 minute access to the interstate.  I also feel like there needs to be a place nearby for neighborhood oriented entrepreneurs to start a business.  No parking lot can be a risky endeavor for a hardware store or a bottle shop.  I also need a drive through every once-in-while.

You're not alone. Every time I accidentally find myself there at rush hour I'm crawling out of my skin with annoyance. And every time I need to get to I-277 in a hurry for any reason, and it's clear, it feels like a magical red carpet taking me straight there. But then when I'm taking the bus or walking to the corner stores it seems downright inhumane to keep it this way. It's tricky.

Edited June 15, 2016 by SgtCampsalot

[archiham04 434]

Magic.

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