Learning from Other Places

[smeagolsfree]

I enjoyed the drive today Kevin. Glad I was able to give you the grand tour. Thanks for the kind words for the city and we do know our many flaws here as we discussed. As I told you, you were preaching to the choir on sidewalks and mass transit.

I know you took a lot more photos, so looking forward to more. Not sure if you even got to take your walk.

[KJHburg]

Charlotte and Nashville can learn things from each other that would make both cities even better.  Did not get to do my walking tour but will next time.  I know the local places to park now LOL. 

[East Side Urbanite]

On 9/19/2022 at 7:45 PM, KJHburg said:

Charlotte and Nashville can learn things from each other that would make both cities even better.  Did not get to do my walking tour but will next time.  I know the local places to park now LOL. 

We're looking forward to your assessment of Nashville, KJHburg — both the good and the bad.

Smeags said you are traveling, so I realize it might take some time. But I am curious.

 

[KJHburg]

1 hour ago, East Side Urbanite said:

We're looking forward to your assessment of Nashville, KJHburg — both the good and the bad.

Smeags said you are traveling, so I realize it might take some time. But I am curious.

 

will do on the road further west than Denver right now. 

[East Side Urbanite]

22 hours ago, KJHburg said:

will do on the road further west than Denver right now. 

Stay the course and enjoy!

[kayman]

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/mayor-says-atlanta-medical-center-cant-be-repurposed-after-closure/2YXUUF7EZZEJXLEETQQVCPQO4M/

One of the benefits of having a strong mayor-council of government, the ability of the mayor using executive orders to block rezonings or issue moratorias on land use zoning decisions for specific areas. I've seen the Atlanta mayor issues executive orders to protect historical properties such as the Fox Theater from being demolished for the former AT&T Tower in Midtown Atlanta.  So many on here talk about the Barringer Hotel building aka Charlotte Hall House being a historic property with a NRHP designation is  being demolished just because of its lack of historical designation within the City of Charlotte UDO. I think if the City of Charlotte had a strong mayor-council form of government that those who had lobbied the mayor's office could have gotten an executive order to issue a moratorium to the property to save the historical properties until a municipal historical designation was established.

Although this is a tangential issue, I truly believe Charlotte could benefit from a full-time city council and mayor who believes in issuing executive orders to stop certain redevelopment of key city-owned properties.  Also full-time staffers dedicated to informing the full-time mayor and city council members on pertinent city issues like rezonings, long range planning, affordable housing, transportation issues, and the airport. This is where having a part-time mayor and city council only being informed by what the city manager wants to inform them about is a huge liability for a municipality as large and dynamic as the City of Charlotte. 

[KJHburg]

Finally made it this project Post Houston which is the conversion of the huge main post office in downtown Houston into a retail, food hall and entertainment venue.   It is a must see when in H-Town.  They have a 5 acre rooftop park and entertainment venue.   The inside is stunning with the staircases and office upfits are ongoing in this new renovation.  They have concerts up on the roof along with events and venue rentals. 

Hmmm someone should see if our convention center roof could be used like this.  

Check out some photos here 

https://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/topic/121668-post-houston/

oh yeah the parking is what Optimist Hall should have done.   FREE 90 minute parking then it is $5 a hour paid by license plate reader when you enter the parking and when leaving.  You have to go to their website put in your license plate and it finds your vehicle and tells you how much to pay or if you are in the grace period.  

 

[DJ8hep]

Finally made it this project Post Houston which is the conversion of the huge main post office in downtown Houston into a retail, food hall and entertainment venue.   It is a must see when in H-Town.  They have a 5 acre rooftop park and entertainment venue.   The inside is stunning with the staircases and office upfits are ongoing in this new renovation.  They have concerts up on the roof along with events and venue rentals. 
Hmmm someone should see if our convention center roof could be used like this.  
Check out some photos here 
https://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/topic/121668-post-houston/
oh yeah the parking is what Optimist Hall should have done.   FREE 90 minute parking then it is $5 a hour paid by license plate reader when you enter the parking and when leaving.  You have to go to their website put in your license plate and it finds your vehicle and tells you how much to pay or if you are in the grace period.  
 

I loved POST Houston! That really was a marvel to see! I definitely agree we need something like this in Charlotte!

[KJHburg]

Hmm this would look good on some vacant land in First Ward think near or in place of the levine garage.   Dude it would be Perfect! 

https://www.connectcre.com/stories/dude-perfect-looking-at-north-dallas-for-100-million-theme-park/?

[KJHburg]

Learning from Others Transit Historical hotels edition from El Paso Texas. 

Saw the Bus Rapid Transit in El Paso and boy is it frequent.  Saw lots of the BRIO buses which is their name for the BRT and they have lines all coming from downtown ELP to suburban transit centers where local buses connect.  Plus they have restored streetcar too.  

http://sunmetrobrio.net/#home   check out that frequency even our Light Rail can barely do that.   Every 15 minutes 5 am to 745 pm   they have 3 lines running 4th one getting ready to start. 

All the old high rises downtown in El Paso have been renovated back into fine hotels check out those bar areas of 2 of them.  Hotel Paso del Norte now a Marriott Autograph collection and the Plaza hotel.  Old hotels renovated are charming (hello Charlotte?) (at least we have one the Dunhill)    https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/elpak-hotel-paso-del-norte-autograph-collection/overview/  The Plaza hotel was the first big hotel Mr Conrad Hilton built. 

and talk about regional marketing for economic development they have the Borderplex which helps brings jobs to 3 states (Texas, New Mexico the Las Cruces area and of course the largest city Juarez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua) with 2.5 Million in total Borderplex metro.  It is the largest bi-lingual workforce in North America. El Paso is 75% Hispanic.  https://www.borderplexalliance.org/  

Lessons for the much richer Charlotte think about BRT and old buildings can be renovated back to showpieces as they have done here.  It is very sad the old Hotel Barringer was not given that chance and I did hear hotel developers were interested but our city housing authority was not interested. 

Oh yeah the Mexican food was the best this side of the border.  Even Mexican based fast causal chains were packing them in there. 

 

Edited October 7, 2022 by KJHburg

[15895]

One thing I wish a lot of NIMBY’s in Charlotte could learn is allowing more density in your neighborhood doesn’t have to look like SouthEnd. And no offense to SouthEnd, I can’t particularly blame people not wanting SouthEnd Multifamily looking developments in their neighborhoods. I particularly wouldn’t want them in mine. Though I do like SouthEnd for what it is. Just not in my neighborhood either. 

Uptown has a density of ~11,000 people per sq. Mile. 

Below are neighborhoods with ~33,000 people per Sq. Mile

 

What happens when you get that kind of density? 

Areas in the neighborhood that can support book stores, flower shops, gemstone stores, toy stores, spice shops, local ran grocers etc. 

I would guess NoDa is around… 4,000 people per Sq. Mile or less? I would love for Davidson (which already has a fairly vibrant commercial zone) Matheson & Plaza be vibrant commercial areas (or basically Matheson & Plaza be a continuation of NoDa) and the neighborhood just filled with thousands of new residents. No SouthEnd/Uptown style. And buildings that fit the character of NoDa. It doesn’t have to be Mid-Atlantic New England style. GA & SC are close neighbors that have examples in Charleston SC, Savannah & Augusta of what dense housing can look like (though I’m not sure they’re Multifamily. I think NoDa should be filled with Multifamily and stay relatively affordable).

 that’s what makes this zoning ordinance change in Charlotte awesome! I hope NoDa (that’s the #1 area I want change because it seems appealing to multitudes of income brackets. Service workers, etc whereas say Dilworth or something seems skewed older, wealthier and I dunno. Not sure that’s gonna change )

It also is worth noting, it doesn’t have to be old to look good or mimic other regions. 

 

It’s also worth noting LKN communities actually already do this pretty well though it’s almost exclusively dense single family housing rather than Multifamily housing 

 

 

Edited October 7, 2022 by AirNostrumMAD

[KJHburg]

Examples of very high density houses in Houston in the EaDo and Heights neighborhoods both intown neighborhoods and of course there is no zoning in these neighborhoods.  Like the New Orleans look in the 3rd and 4th and 5th photos.  These are very high density SF homes.  Took these a couple of weeks ago.  

[KJHburg]

a couple of high density housing in Nashville.  they build these super skinny SF homes modern day shot gun houses usually 2 stories very deep in the lot. 

[rancenc]

Looks like New York City is facing a slightly different dilemma in terms of trying to get their mass transit ridership back up to pre-pandemic levels.

 

[videtur quam contuor]

Bernhard Goetz.

[Windsurfer]

2 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

Bernhard Goetz.

Spend billions on rail, then can't afford a few off duty cops.  

 

[LKN704]

LA just opened the K Line (formerly known as the Crenshaw Line) light rail project, designed to connect the present E (formerly known as Expo Line) Line with LAX and eventually connect south with the C (former Green) Line next year. A future extension (that I am particularly excited about) will eventually have the line tunnel north under WeHo and pass near the Farmers Market on Fairfax, and then terminate at the B Line (Red) in Hollywood.

There's a lot of issues with LA Metro (see below)  but they certainly know how to build nice infrastructure in terms of stations, although I don't like how some of those grade crossings lack crossing gates:

The LAX connector station is still under construction and will open next year, along with the LAX People Mover project. 

The K Line is part of a series of new projects that will open in the coming years to prepare the city for the Olympics by 2028, including an extension of the D Line Subway westward, the Downtown Regional Connector Subway project, a new light rail line in the Valley, a new BRT line connecting Hollywood and Pasadena, and an 11 mile extension of the L Line (former Gold) further eastward to the Foothills, to name a few. 

The issue with the K Line to the airport is that it is very much a band aid to say "yes we have rail to the airport" and really doesn't solve any major transit issues. I'm sure it will definitely improve the quality of life for people who live around the line, but it does nothing to ease the issue of getting to LAX for someone who lives in DTLA/Silver Lake/Echo Park/Los Feliz/Hollywood, or on the Eastern side of the city. Once open in 2024, someone in in Downtown will have to take the E Line to the Expo/Crenshaw Station, during which the train runs on street level in traffic clogged streets with little to no priority. You will then transfer to the K Line to the LAX Connector station, where you will then take a people mover to your terminal. 

Only transit lovers and those who don't want to pay for Uber/Rideshare will put up with those transfers and the amount of time required. As it stands now, the LAX Flyaway bus (which even takes TAP cards) is a faster and more direct way. I hope it isn't discontinued. 

Essentially, Los Angeles did a really good job at getting the masses to come out and vote in favor of increased taxes for transit plans. I think they have a stated goal to have everyone who lives within the direct Metro service area to be no more than a mile from a transit station. The issue is they are spending billions of dollars on low-ridership lines that were needed to entice people to come out and vote, rather than using that money on new lines that would have much higher-ridership in the core of the system. 

The result is a weird hodgepodge of transit lines that don't necessarily connect with each other and will ultimately lead to increased transfers and increased travel time. For example, the new light rail line in the Valley doesn't connect with any other rail lines...it connects with the G (Orange) BRT line. So to get downtown, one will have to take the new light rail line, transfer to the BRT, then transfer again to the subway at North Hollywood. 

This is an excellent video explaining the issues with LA's transit plans:

 

[videtur quam contuor]

 

(un)official motto of New Orleans. 

Magazine Street. Historic preservation as commercial improvement. Underground service is impractical due to high water table. Special case exception to my complaint.

10:30 am weekday. Some shops opening soon, restaurants and cafes still closed. Window shopping preserved.

Note living space above commercial. Some businesses have second level service and even tables on upper level galleries for restaurants.

Compere Lapin, Commanders Table, Gris-Gris (on Magazine). Highly recommend all.

[smeagolsfree]

On 10/7/2022 at 3:14 PM, KJHburg said:

Examples of very high density houses in Houston in the EaDo and Heights neighborhoods both intown neighborhoods and of course there is no zoning in these neighborhoods.  Like the New Orleans look in the 3rd and 4th and 5th photos.  These are very high density SF homes.  Took these a couple of weeks ago.  

If I didn't know better, I would have said this was Nashville and not Houston. Lots of this new stuff all over town. Kevin saw firsthand.  The 3rd & 4th picture is like Salemtown which we didn't go to, but the homes are carbon copies of what is there. Very NoLa like. 

The Modernist homes are all over Nashville. These are selling anywhere from 500k to 1.5 million depending on location. If they have a view like the ones we saw Kevin, they are 2 to 3 million in crappy neighborhoods. These same areas have been gentrified and are on the edge of some really tough areas. That is what is happening to the entire northside of Nashville.

This is one we passed on the hill on the Northside before we went over I 65 114B Fern Ave, Nashville, TN 37207 | MLS #2442680 | Zillow   There is another one in the hood for 4.5 million. Guys, the crime rate in this area is not good. Don't ask me why or how. I don't get it either. Most of these are Air B&B's. There are about 40k hotel rooms now with another 10k under construction or in the pipeline and another 7500 vacation rentals like this and the demand keeps rising. I guess that is why they keep building these ugly A$$ things here. 

The ones in pictures 10 & 11 are a lot like some of the new ones being built in E Nashville. Now a lot of these homes that are being built are replacing one home and building two or three in their place. The Nations where I took Kevin is in a situation where 80% of the older homes have been torn down in the last 8 years and rebuilt. However, with no building overlay in place, so anything went. 

Overall Nashville as Kevin noted to me is a really easy place to build. A developer's paradise so to speak, if you can afford the land now. Boutique developers have been driven out of the market; a couple I know have gone to Chattanooga. One to do some projects, the other just up and left to move there. That is another city that is about to take off to the moon.

[KJHburg]

^^^ The tourism boom in Nashville is unbelievable and they have so many hotels under construction.  Not to mention even Airbnb friendly apartment developments.  And that Nations neighborhood in Nashville is completely new neighborhood on former industrial and smaller home neighborhood.  Plus they have an old prison I think there are plans to redevelop in that Nations area right @smeagolsfree

Only thing missing in Nashville and they know is more  infrastructure more highways, sidewalks, mass transit options.  They face a similar problem as Charlotte does not much help from the state however that is odd to me as Nashville is the state capital.  The urban and suburban and rural legislators need to find a way to work better.  Perhaps  like our new job development grants which are tiered in terms of local economy and incomes and the more prosperous counties in the state contribute money into funds for infrastructure improvements in the poorer counties of the state.

https://www.commerce.nc.gov/grants-incentives/county-distress-rankings-tiers#AnswerstoFrequentlyAskedQuestions-496   so when a wealthier county like Mecklenburg or Wake gets a big job project with state assistance the money repaid is put in a pool of funds for the poorer counties for things like water and sewer improvements, land support for industrial parks etc. 

The big thing is the growth and prosperity of Charlotte benefits multiple multiple counties in NC as our labor shed is big just like Nashville supports economic growth all over Middle Tennessee.    New high paying jobs in Charlotte means a better economy for surrounding counties like Cabarrus or Lincoln and the same in Tennessee with Nashville supporting growth in Wilson and Sumner counties.  The city and suburban politicians must talk with and understand the needs of the rural areas and vice versa. 

[rancenc]

Speaking about Nashville, TN.....................................

https://rebusinessonline.com/tennessee-titans-local-government-agree-to-terms-for-new-2-1b-enclosed-stadium-in-nashville/

[smeagolsfree]

1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

^^^ The tourism boom in Nashville is unbelievable and they have so many hotels under construction.  Not to mention even Airbnb friendly apartment developments.  And that Nations neighborhood in Nashville is completely new neighborhood on former industrial and smaller home neighborhood.  Plus they have an old prison I think there are plans to redevelop in that Nations area right @smeagolsfree

Only thing missing in Nashville and they know is more  infrastructure more highways, sidewalks, mass transit options.  They face a similar problem as Charlotte does not much help from the state however that is odd to me as Nashville is the state capital.  The urban and suburban and rural legislators need to find a way to work better.  Perhaps  like our new job development grants which are tiered in terms of local economy and incomes and the more prosperous counties in the state contribute money into funds for infrastructure improvements in the poorer counties of the state.

https://www.commerce.nc.gov/grants-incentives/county-distress-rankings-tiers#AnswerstoFrequentlyAskedQuestions-496   so when a wealthier county like Mecklenburg or Wake gets a big job project with state assistance the money repaid is put in a pool of funds for the poorer counties for things like water and sewer improvements, land support for industrial parks etc. 

The big thing is the growth and prosperity of Charlotte benefits multiple multiple counties in NC as our labor shed is big just like Nashville supports economic growth all over Middle Tennessee.    New high paying jobs in Charlotte means a better economy for surrounding counties like Cabarrus or Lincoln and the same in Tennessee with Nashville supporting growth in Wilson and Sumner counties.  The city and suburban politicians must talk with and understand the needs of the rural areas and vice versa. 

The plans for the prison site are very under the radar. I know the developer but I cannot disclose as it was on their website but they quickly took it down. 

There are so many multi-acre projects either under development or proposed, it will take decades for all of these to build out now. As mentioned above the new stadium development is supposed to include hundreds of acres of redevelopment after the new stadium is completed along with another new bridge, spine road on the east bank, flood mitigation, probable clean up of the scrap yard and redevelopment, the new Oracle Campus, plus another larger development on the TA truck stop by RMR out of Boston, new parks, etc. That will probably be a 20 year build out. The area is being rezoned in area to 39 stories in places.

[Matthew.Brendan]

https://la.streetsblog.org/2022/10/25/culver-city-abolishes-parking-requirements-citywide/

[asthasr]

I’m back again, with another weird and aspirational analysis of a foreign city! This time, it’s Tokyo, inspired by my recent acquisition of the book Emergent Tokyo: Designing the Spontaneous City. One of the topics covered in this book is the phenomenon of the “Zakkyo building” (“multi-tenant,” in the most prosaic translation). You probably don’t know the term, but it’s likely that these buildings form a core part of your mental image of “Tokyo.” The intro scene of Lost in Translation features them:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSsNbFwePAE

 

More practically, this is a typical streetscape full of Zakkyo buildings:

 

 

You can also drop a pin along any street near a metro station on Google Maps and likely find something similar:

 

The distinguishing feature of these buildings is that they are narrow, deep, and feature small businesses. They typically also advertise via prominent outside signage (hence the neon or LED signs that characterize the most famous Tokyo streetscapes). Perhaps more interesting for cities that are trying to densify, though, they’re also tiny. This means that their development can be (relatively) small investments when compared to massive modern developments.

 

 

Let’s look at a particular example. I chose this at random, but serendipitously these three buildings happen to measure 22m across (about 7.3m each) and 20m deep. They are, of course, separate property parcels and independent buildings (although two of them share a wall).

 

 

Interestingly(?), this is easily compared to a piece of real estate in our fair city: the parking lot of “Design Within Reach,” immediately adjacent to the DFA building. The parking lot is actually slightly larger than this block of buildings.

 

 

Comparing this to the nearby DFA, you can see the potential scale of this type of density:

 

 

You could easily fit ten of these blocks into a development the size of DFA.

 

Why would you want to, though? First, as noted above, these are separate parcels. That means that the buildings can grow (or not grow) over time, as demand requires. Some could be one-floor steel frame buildings, others could be a couple of floors, others could begin to push the envelope (literally – vertically).

 

Second, the buildings are sublet to individual businesses. Conservatively, these buildings appear to contain at least fifteen businesses. This scale is similar to stacking a suburban strip mall into a 4,500 square foot footprint. The level of “cooperative competition” that can be achieved is incredible – can you imagine if Montford Drive was vertical? All of its restaurants would fit into five of these buildings comfortably.

 

This subletting also allows the district to be more robust in times of turmoil. Unlike office buildings, where a single tenant’s departure can leave tens of thousands of feet vacant and unlikely to be filled, a single departure in one of these buildings isn’t a surprise. It can be replaced quickly by another tenant of any type.

 

This is even a benefit for public safety: with five tenants in a small footprint, a building’s tenants can pool their resources to hire security guards during peak hours, and the effect of their presence will spill over to the streets – because the independence of these buildings means that they don’t lose their engagement with the street despite their verticality.

 

The primary drawback, from an urban planner’s perspective, is that they are hard to permit and administer. After all, if you have ten building owners in the space previously occupied by one, and five tenants within each building, that represents fifty stakeholders with a vote. From an economist’s perspective, on the other hand, the fact that the buildings are independent is “inefficient.” Each building needs an elevator if it’s more than one floor, each has its own plumbing, and so on.

 

I think that these drawbacks are easily outweighed by the potential benefits of resiliency, though, and the attractiveness of a district of this type. Can you imagine if Charlotte had just ten of these buildings along the rail trail?

[JRCLT]

Japan has a limited amount of space and so they treat land for what it’s value is there. They maximize the use of space.