Learning from Other Places

[KJHburg]

Florida has lots of parking decks and podium style buildings (those with parking and office or residential space above) however they seem more creative in screening them than here in Charlotte.  Of course in Miami garages have to be completely above ground and many of their podium style buildings there really screen them well.  But even in Orlando they screen their garages well.  As discussed in another thread they use a lot of green walls too on parking decks. 

Of course not all are good looking check the painted strip one with the truck backed in. 

First 10 photos from Miami all parking garages

Last 5   photos from Orlando area  including their Carvana Tower which is along Interstate 4 and their new massive Ferrari dealership that is getting ready to open (also on I-4)  Other garages at Lake Nona Town Center and Disney Springs. 

WCCL: what can Charlotte learn:   lets dress up our parking garages more than we are doing with green walls,  designs on them etc.  We can do better.  Photos 3/4 are the Wynwood garage in the Wynwood area of Miami and it has one level of office space on top. 

 

[videtur quam contuor]

Perhaps the most famous parking garage anywhere, certainly in the US is in Miami Beach. Herzog and de Meuron architects, 1111 Lincoln Road

https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/1111-lincoln-road/

https://www.archute.com/1111-lincoln-road-car-park-soul-herzog-de-meuron/

[KJHburg]

20 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

Perhaps the most famous parking garage anywhere, certainly in the US is in Miami Beach. Herzog and de Meuron architects, 1111 Lincoln Road

https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/1111-lincoln-road/

https://www.archute.com/1111-lincoln-road-car-park-soul-herzog-de-meuron/

ironically I did not go over to Miami Beach on this trip because it is expensive to park LOL.   Bal Harbour Shops have a beautiful green plant flowing garage too. 

[KJHburg]

Miami Nice edition:  things I saw in Florida that Charlotte could use more of including but not limited to 1. Green walls and living walls on parking garages.  2. Dramatic architecture especially of condo and apartment towers.  3.  Murals all over the place especially in Wynnewood. 

[KJHburg]

Miami Nice Part Two:

another Charlotte should have is a Ferris Wheel skywheel whatever you call it.  Atlanta has one, Miami, and it would be a good way to showcase our beautiful skyline day and night.   Plus they have a great outdoor mall Brickell City Center I wish we could have but Miami is unique in this with lots of tourist and international residents. 

Miami has a fantastic skyline but it is not lit at night like Charlotte's mainly due to most buildings are residential and LEDs running up and down is not as popular for the residents.

Notice all the cranes in the skyline.  

 

 

[videtur quam contuor]

Every city in France worthy of the designation has a carousel in a prominent location in middle of town; town square, waterfront, etc. Some are even double decker carousels with winding staircase to upper level of ride. Our sister city in France is Limoges and has one in their city plaza. We should try that also.

 

 

 

 

  

[KJHburg]

another huge expansion of North HIlls in north Raleigh.   This is in addition to the more work on the former JC Penney site on the other side of Six Forks Rd.  and all this the new North Hills Innovation District is next to the Midtown Exchange.

https://visitnorthhills.com/directory/nhid/   first up in an apartment complex and 18 story office building

https://visitnorthhills.com/kane-realty-unveils-plans-for-north-hills-innovation-district/

Midtown Exchange

https://midtownexchangenc.com/   first up here is half of the connected office buildings.  

Raleigh and Wake County is en fuego. 

Edited January 26, 2021 by KJHburg

[KJHburg]

It is okay to like Raleigh and the whole Triangle and still love Charlotte.  I would live in Raleigh any day of the week and twice on Sundays over a Nashville for example. 

Their road and highway system is fantastic (okay part of that is they are the state capital but their minor and major thoroughfare network is great)  They really work hard on connecting misaligned roads especially in Cary but really over the county.

Their parks and greenway trails are the best in the state no question.  Plus they have a new central park in planning and development at Dorthea Dix property. 

Raleigh does not have our skyline but their downtown has more a mixed height of buildings than ours does.  

Their inner beltway I-440 has many high rise high density mixed use developments by it.  North Hills, Midtown at North Hills and just starting Midtown Exchange.

1. new hospital in Holly Springs an exploding south Raleigh suburb   2. greenway trail over I-440 3.  Midtown at North Hills seen from I-440  4. 35 story apartment tower called the Walter tallest building outside of downtown halfway up.  5. Midtown at North Hills is the densest mixed use suburban development between DC and Atlanta. 6. Peace apartment tower with ground floor Publix at the entrance of downtown. 7. new 19 story office tower with anchor Pendo Software  8. Aloft hotel on Hillsborough St is a great design.  9. Urban Target also on Hillsborough. 

Not to mention their great train station ride up to downtown and walk around, Uber out to North Hills and visit some of their great NC taxpayer state museums 2 of which are downtown. 

 

 

 

[KJHburg]

things to learn from  once the largest city in NC  Wilmington.  (Never rest on your laurels as someone could overtake you.)  Small buildings downtown are just as important as tall buildings.  Keep your history.  Think outside the box and build a container village of homes.   Build a tiny home village for the homeless (not photographed but here is the link Eden Village – Wilmington | Tiny Homes for the Homeless

still think we need a Waffle House uptown like downtown Wilmington. 

If you have not been to the former #1 biggest city in the state and the largest coastal NC city lately plan a trip soon.  Like real soon. 

and why does Charlotte not have a Walk of Fame showcasing our famous Charlotteans?   Would not something like this be good uptown?   Oh why Frank Capra Jr?  Because he started the first major film studio in Wilmington.   For more photos check out the Wilmington UP thread I flooded it with new photos! 

Edited February 11, 2021 by KJHburg

[rancenc]

Another place will get to experience the deliciousness of Tupelo Honey!

https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2021/02/11/Tupelo-Honey-Station-Square-First-Ascent-South-Side-Gateway-Clipper/stories/202102110087

[rancenc]

Looks like the Boston hotel market is the worst in the nation!

https://www.bisnow.com/boston/news/hotel/bostons-hotels-look-ahead-after-brutal-revenues-in-2020-107631

[JRNYP2C]

I wonder how sturdy those container homes are when the next hurricane rolls through.  I keep thinking that they would be a little stronger than your normal beach home, but I guess I don't know enough about the construction yet.

[rancenc]

Recent aerial view of St Louis.   To me, the city has a very small downtown area compared to Charlotte.

 

[KJHburg]

On 2/12/2021 at 2:58 PM, JRNYP2C said:

I wonder how sturdy those container homes are when the next hurricane rolls through.  I keep thinking that they would be a little stronger than your normal beach home, but I guess I don't know enough about the construction yet.

depends on how they are tied down or what their foundation is.  

[Windsurfer]

On 2/12/2021 at 11:58 AM, JRNYP2C said:

I wonder how sturdy those container homes are when the next hurricane rolls through.  I keep thinking that they would be a little stronger than your normal beach home, but I guess I don't know enough about the construction yet.

The worst that cold happen would be flooding. They're pretty dang heavy.  Many boats are hauled out during hurricane season and fare pretty well, and they're just put up on stilts.

[Owenorange]

I wonder if the problems that have surfaced regarding Texas’ isolated power grid will tap the breaks on the corporate relocations and new manufacturing projects there.  It’s a once in several decades event probably, but it would seem to be a big risk, as well as a reputational hit if they keep production going when families are freezing in their dark homes.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/why-didnt-austin-energy-shut-down-some-of-its-biggest-customers-until-tuesday/

[KJHburg]

20 hours ago, Owenorange said:

I wonder if the problems that have surfaced regarding Texas’ isolated power grid will tap the breaks on the corporate relocations and new manufacturing projects there.  It’s a once in several decades event probably, but it would seem to be a big risk, as well as a reputational hit if they keep production going when families are freezing in their dark homes.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/why-didnt-austin-energy-shut-down-some-of-its-biggest-customers-until-tuesday/

doubt it.  this is the worst winter weather Texas has had since late 1800s.  also I do believe Texas will solve this with their standalone grid which was designed for hot weather in mind but not extreme cold.  Then with some of their supply taken off line including some wind energy which TX is #1 caused even more problems.  

[JHart]

56 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

doubt it.  this is the worst winter weather Texas has had since late 1800s.  also I do believe Texas will solve this with their standalone grid which was designed for hot weather in mind but not extreme cold.  Then with some of their supply taken off line including some wind energy which TX is #1 caused even more problems.  

Please do not parrot wind energy as being a major cause of the grid shutdowns, this is simply untrue even if small amounts of turbines did have issues with ice. They actually overproduced the amount of energy that ERCOT was expecting over the weekend, even with some of them being offline. The main issues all come from natural gas production, which should have been avoidable to some degree.

21 hours ago, Owenorange said:

I wonder if the problems that have surfaced regarding Texas’ isolated power grid will tap the breaks on the corporate relocations and new manufacturing projects there.  It’s a once in several decades event probably, but it would seem to be a big risk, as well as a reputational hit if they keep production going when families are freezing in their dark homes.

I actually do see this becoming an issue if major changes aren't made. We aren't even talking about once every several decades, there are published reports from ERCOT from the last time this happened (although not on such a large scale) in 2011. Unfortunately they did not follow any of the improvements that were suggested. 

Another thing to note, this is only going to happen more and more frequently in coming years due to the effects of climate change. There's plenty of evidence suggesting more frequent polar vortexes (the weather event causing this storm).

[elrodvt]

Screw texas. Their b.s. is shocking. I wish them what they deserve for their years of bullcrap not supporting disaster relief for other states.

[joenc]

1 minute ago, elrodvt said:

Screw texas. Their b.s. is shocking. I wish them what they deserve for their years of bullcrap not supporting disaster relief for other states.

Texas gets away with a lot. They do things like HB2 all the time, guess too many people are making too much money there.

[elrodvt]

1 hour ago, elrodvt said:

Screw texas. Their b.s. is shocking. I wish them what they deserve for their years of bullcrap not supporting disaster relief for other states.

@tarhoosier, please explain the reaction, thanks. 

[videtur quam contuor]

I wish everyone better than they deserve.

[elrodvt]

@tarhoosier, thanks, me too. 

[Matthew.Brendan]

https://theintercept.com/2021/02/19/deconstructed-texas-republicans-experiment/
 

A good listen on how Texas arrived at this point. 

[elrodvt]

35 minutes ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

https://theintercept.com/2021/02/19/deconstructed-texas-republicans-experiment/
 

A good listen on how Texas arrived at this point. 

No, no it's the winds fault.