Learning from Other Places

[Matthew.Brendan]

Have you ridden our streetcar? I’m desperately hoping the modern cars will help in some way. At least with the optics if nothing else. Hopefully the trip will be faster? As it stands now I have to call it woefully lackluster. 

[Cadi40]

9 hours ago, KJHburg said:

They are still talking about you over there in Nashvegas LOL 

Didn’t believe you until I read it. God they make me very angry. Get thicker skin if you don’t want my criticism of your city. It’s been about 5 days since my visit and they’re still rambling about it. The worst thing I said is that Nashville seems 20 years behind in some spectrums, Which is what locals Nashviller’s have said. 

Edited July 6, 2018 by Cadi40

[Cadi40]

 

Visiting a city comparable to Charlotte’s size, Kansas City. Recently, Kansas City has been noted to have a growing tech sector as well as a diverse culture. Kansas City is growing quickly, However not at Charlotte’s rate. The city has a MSA population of 2,159,159 as of 2015, Compared to Charlotte’s 2,474,314 as of 2016, Both according to Wikipedia. Kansas City’s density is roughly 1,400 compared to Charlotte’s 2,457 per square mile. 

 

Kansas City has two major league teams, Those being the Kansas City Royals and the Kansas City Chiefs. 

 

Kansas City has many historical areas of the city, Including the River Market, Which fronts the Missouri River. The River Market is a complex of historic factories and box buildings converted to lofts and retail centered around an outdoor market with local merchants. Another notable area with historical buildings is the Downtown area, It’s filled with buildings that range more than a century old while remaining balanced with new developments.

 

Kansas City has a growing nightlife and dining scene, With many old buildings converting their vacant first floors into thriving retail markets. Kansas City has notable museums as well, Such as the National World War 1 museum with a memorial monument overlooking Downtown and the beautiful Union Station. Which is a historic train station converted into a science museum. Kansas City has a large amount of green space, Commonly filled with a water feature. 

 

A notable suburb of Kansas City is an area called “The Plaza”. It’s comparable to Southpark, But filled with historic midrises as opposed to more modern structures. “The country club plaza” Is a shopping center in the Plaza that has ground floor retail in historic buildings. Retailers such as The Northface, H&M, and Forever 21 are scattered throughout the complex of the old structures. 

 

Charlotte is missing a street that Kansas City has in the Plaza, We don’t have a dedicated street for retail and dining, Let alone a street with retail in older buildings. 

 

Kansas City has a new streetcar that travels 2 miles throughout downtown. It’s stops are planned out well to where it will actually benefit some of the GP living in downtown. Kansas City also has the usual city bus, Par for its size. In addition to a growing transit system, Kansas City has a large amount of interstates that surround the city including 29, 35, 435, 470, 49, 670, and 70. 

 

Overall, Kansas City is a growing destination and an upcoming technology/entrepreneur powerhouse. I really enjoyed my trip and I’d honestly prefer to visit Kansas City rather than other mid-sizes cities like Nashville or Atlanta. 

 

[QCxpat]

What Charlotte Should Try to Avoid -- An  SOS from San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver troubled by homeless camps and exorbitant rents.       

Excerpt:   "A family of four earning $117,000 a year is now classified as low income in the San Francisco area.  This threshold, used to determine eligibility for federal housing assistance, is the highest in the nation and no surprise." ... "Walking the streets of San Francisco can be a frightening, demoralizing, even unhealthy experience for residents and tourists alike.  This comment came not from the medical association that just pulled its convention because its members no longer feel safe in a city of 7,500 homeless people.  It came from the woman just elected Mayor of San Francisco, London Breed." 

London Breed, just elected Mayor of San Francisco, has vowed to remove homeless encampments from the city within a year.   Photo Credit Jim Wilson/The New York Times

New York Times, "Down and Out in San Francisco on $117,000 a Year," by Timothy Egan, July 7, 2018.   Link:  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/06/opinion/san-francisco-housing-homelessness.html

Edited July 8, 2018 by QCxpat
Intro - What Charlotte Should Try to Avoid

[Matthew.Brendan]

Cadi40, terriffic photos and write up of KC! Thank you. I look forward to visiting sometime. 

[Cadi40]

Thank you, I was bored and it was late. My pictures are from my cousins car, sorry if they’re blurry.

[cjd5050]

On 7/7/2018 at 10:07 AM, QCxpat said:

What Charlotte Should Try to Avoid -- An  SOS from San Francisco

 

There is a handful of driving factors that is causing California, especially the Bay Area, to be so expensive.

1. Prop 13 has essentially delivered feudalism in that it's landowners v. renters.   Prop 13 was created as a way to prevent people losing their homes due to property tax increases but has morphed into a system where properties are kept off the market and handed down to avoid rate adjustments.   Background
2. Rent control fueled the gentrification of San Fran and removed a massive amount of rental units in an effort to avoid the controls.  Background
3. 'Environmental' reviews created kangaroo courts where NIMBYs could block new development on a whim.   Can't tell you how many projects were blocked by just a handful of lawyers in my time in San Diego all leveraging these tools.  Background

As long as North Carolina or Charlotte doesn't jump into the deep end with similar shortsighted policies I think we will be fine.  Then again, never underestimate the willingness of idiots to repeat history....

 

[deleted]

On 7/6/2018 at 10:45 PM, Cadi40 said:

rather than other mid-sizes cities like Nashville or Atlanta. 

Atlanta is a mid-size city...learn something new every day.  That said, great pics.  KC is a great place and the people I know who live there love it.

[Windsurfer]

7 minutes ago, cjd5050 said:

There is a handful of driving factors that is causing California, especially the Bay Area, to be so expensive.

1. Prop 13 has essentially delivered feudalism in that it's landowners v. renters.   Prop 13 was created as a way to prevent people losing their homes due to property tax increases but has morphed into a system where properties are kept off the market and handed down to avoid rate adjustments.   Background
2. Rent control fueled the gentrification of San Fran and removed a massive amount of rental units in an effort to avoid the controls.  Background
3. 'Environmental' reviews created kangaroo courts where NIMBYs could block new development on a whim.   Can't tell you how many projects were blocked by just a handful of lawyers in my time in San Diego all leveraging these tools.  Background

As long as North Carolina or Charlotte doesn't jump into the deep end with similar shortsighted policies I think we will be fine.  Then again, never underestimate the willingness of idiots to repeat history....

 

1) make it so that homes can't be transfered without a new evaluation.

2)We'll soon see rent reductions from over supply, no?

3) We could've saved quite a few historical buildings around here if we had any environmental laws with teeth.

I think N.C. is at the opposite end of what you just described. Somewhere in the middle would be fine by me.

[Cadi40]

52 minutes ago, JBS said:

Atlanta is a mid-size city...learn something new every day.  That said, great pics.  KC is a great place and the people I know who live there love it.

My bad, Thanks for pointing it out...

[Vitamin_N]

Not sure if this belongs here, but here's a very interesting graphic.  Charlotte is apparently an outlier in terms of street orientation. And who knew Boston was Charlotte's twin?

[elrodvt]

24 minutes ago, Vitamin_N said:

Not sure if this belongs here, but here's a very interesting graphic.  Charlotte is apparently an outlier in terms of street orientation. And who knew Boston was Charlotte's twin?

I don't think it is accurate though. It's been 5 years or so now but I am sure I remember always being confused by Denver's off kilter layout. Maybe that is just downtown though? Cool chart though.

Edited July 11, 2018 by elrodvt

[videtur quam contuor]

I was born and raised in Indianapolis. Indy was a planned city with a strict grid from the beginning. There was no river and it is flat so perfect for the system. Surveyors went to this virgin property and laid out streets with a north/ south meridian named Meridian Street and an east/west compass street crossing called Market street. The perfect mile square was bounded by East, South, West, and North streets.Each block was one tenth of a mile. The city then grew from there in the same pattern with all streets to the north numbered and to the south named. There is no topographical or geographic reason for adaptation of the original plan. As I grew I quickly learned my city from the back seat of my father's car since it was so simple. All directions are straightforward and understandable. To find 1600 East 50th street one goes five miles north and turns right to go 16 blocks.  I assumed it was the same arrangement for other cities until age 10-12 when I realized how bizarre it was.

This design was the pluperfect conception of the Northwest Ordinance from dear Mr. Jefferson. Oh, you do not recall the Northwest Ordinance? Well then, you did not go to grammar school in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois or Michigan, did you?

[tozmervo]

10 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

I was born and raised in Indianapolis. Indy was a planned city with a strict grid from the beginning. There was no river and it is flat so perfect for the system. Surveyors went to this virgin property and laid out streets with a north/ south meridian named Meridian Street and an east/west compass street crossing called Market street. The perfect mile square was bounded by East, South, West, and North streets.Each block was one tenth of a mile. The city then grew from there in the same pattern with all streets to the north numbered and to the south named. There is no topographical or geographic reason for adaptation of the original plan. As I grew I quickly learned my city from the back seat of my father's car since it was so simple. All directions are straightforward and understandable. To find 1600 East 50th street one goes five miles north and turns right to go 16 blocks.  I assumed it was the same arrangement for other cities until age 10-12 when I realized how bizarre it was.

This design was the pluperfect conception of the Northwest Ordinance from dear Mr. Jefferson. Oh, you do not recall the Northwest Ordinance? Well then, you did not go to grammar school in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois or Michigan, did you?

Is that all real, or are you playing SimCity?

[Cadi40]

Everyone that plays city building simulators know the struggle of trying to build a road network that isn’t just made of grids.

[videtur quam contuor]

All of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin is divided thus. But I digress.

The 1785 ordinance laid the foundations of land policy until passage of the Homestead Act in 1862. The Land Ordinance established the basis for the Public Land Survey System. The initial surveying was performed by Thomas Hutchins. After he died in 1789, responsibility for surveying was transferred to the Surveyor General. Land was to be systematically surveyed into square townships, 6 mi (9.7 km) on a side, each divided into thirty-six sections of 1 sq mi (2.6 km²) or 640 acres (260 ha). ^]

 

[KJHburg]

See our sister coastal city of Charleston has areas just like Charlotte. Wentworth Mansion in Harleston Village near Colonial Lake. 

Charleston's Web vs Charlotte's Web 

[QCxpat]

Moved to Charlotte Area Ring Cities - Chuck McShane's story re: new developments in Albemarle, NC, in the August 2018 issue of Charlotte Magazine.

Edited July 20, 2018 by QCxpat
Moved to Charlotte Area Ring Cities - Albemarle, NC

[KJHburg]

Couple new interesting buildings in Atlanta proposed.  Atlanta has been much slower in new office development than Charlotte since the great recession.

Love this at the Battery in Cobb County!  https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/07/26/thyssenkrupp-to-build-state-of-the-art-tower.html?ana=e_atl_bn_breakingnews&u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&t=1532623341&j=82928141

Midtown Union in well Midtown nice design.  This "Union" label must be the in thing in naming developments now.  

https://whatnowatlanta.com/metlife-midtown-union-moving-forward/

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

^That Thyssenkrupp tower will have the best elevators in the city lol.   Although I appreciate the density of the recent construction boom, I hope Charlotte can get a little more unique architecturally speaking.  UNCC Uptown made an effort (stack of books), I just don't like the glass they used.  I have high hopes for the Intercontinental.  DEC2 has a real opportunity to make a statement and be something special too.  

[NCMike1990]

6 hours ago, CharlotteWkndBuzz said:

^That Thyssenkrupp tower will have the best elevators in the city lol.   Although I appreciate the density of the recent construction boom, I hope Charlotte can get a little more unique architecturally speaking.  UNCC Uptown made an effort (stack of books), I just don't like the glass they used.  I have high hopes for the Intercontinental.  DEC2 has a real opportunity to make a statement and be something special too.  

You're right about the glass on the UNCC building. I don't like it either, but I believe it'll look better once other buildings go up around it. Right now it sticks out like a sore thumb over there in no-mans land.

[jtmonk]

The glass is my favorite part about the UNCC building uptown, wish we had more of it around town.  Different strokes for different folks I guess.

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

17 minutes ago, jtmonk said:

The glass is my favorite part about the UNCC building uptown, wish we had more of it around town.  Different strokes for different folks I guess.

I mean, it's not bad...I've seen some great pictures of it from some Charlotte Instagrammers (usually during golden hour though, the glass looks more reflective and rich looking).  I think the green glass is a little too light/dull/translucent.  If they were going for that see-through look, I love the way One Bank of America tower executed it.

[NCMike1990]

5 minutes ago, CharlotteWkndBuzz said:

I mean, it's not bad...I've seen some great pictures of it from some Charlotte Instagrammers (usually during golden hour though, the glass looks more reflective and rich looking).  I think the green glass is a little too light/dull/translucent.  If they were going for that see-through look, I love the way One Bank of America tower executed it.

If the UNCC building had the same glass as 615 S. College, then it would look much better, IMO.

[jtmonk]

I do agree that the glass on both 615 S College and One BofA look pretty good.  The thing about the UNCC building is that I like the light, translucent look that it has,  its a breath of fresh air from all the highly reflective glass in most of the buildings currently being built, it gives the City some much needed variety.