Fantasy Wish List for Uptown

[atlrvr]

We'll see.....I'm not overly confident that the arts package will be financed this time either......regardless, the new museum is in the plans to accomodate all the ecological exhibits, plus many new ones, and Discovery Place wants to refocus on science and technology, with continually updated exhibits.

[krazeeboi]

I would like to see an aquarium in Charlotte.  Something that shows what lives in and around the fresh water areas and wetlands of NC.  Also including saltwater fishes and mamals in the NC waters.  It can go along with the Discovery Place. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's a nice idea, but I think I'd rather see something like that in Wilmington or perhaps even Raleigh, closer to the coast.

[charlotte_bon_vivant]

Speaking of Discovery Place, are they connected in any way with the new children's museum? Are they affiliates?

[atlrvr]

Nope....the new children's museum is afiliated with the public libary system, and is directly funded by the county.

The Discovery Place is affiliated with the Nature Museum, both of which are indirectly funded by both the city and county and an endowment.

[charlotte_bon_vivant]

Well, hopefully they'll bring traffic to one another instead of stealing it. I like the idea of both places, but not so close together. Unless, of course, they were working together. Thanks for the reply.

[atlrvr]

The children's museum (I assume you are referring to Imaginon) is actually designed to be a children's library and theatre (with set building areas, rehersal stages, blue screens, etc.) There should be little overlap with the Discovery Place and hopefully they will complement each other well.....

You did touch on a point that I've said a few times. We are clustering all our cultural ammenities within a 1/2 mile of T&T. My opinion is that we should spread them over the new tansit lines that we are building, as a way to hopefully increase ridership and have public investments throughout the city......not to mention being able to build them at a much reduced price due to land costs. I understand the need to build momentum in one place, but I think that momentum has been reached, and now it's time to add momentum to transit station areas.

[SmellyCat]

Well, hopefully they'll bring traffic to one another instead of stealing it. I like the idea of both places, but not so close together. Unless, of course, they were working together. Thanks for the reply.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Putting them close together is part of the city's 2010 vision plan of creating an "education quad" along that portion of the city which runs between 5th & 7th(?) streets (Discovery Place, ImaginOn Children's center, public library, future UNCC uptown campus)

[dubone]

i think we are 5 years away from a point where i'd feel like they should shift candy away from downtown to the transit spokes. it is still important to have those projects clustered downtown, because they haven't yet hit a critical mass, with people spending a day going to multiple places. I think in 5 years, though, when there the arts master plan is further along, and all the projects are uptown, along with all the new residents... and the transit line is actually running, then i think they should look to put some new projects at a certain transit stops, like in south end.

[cinco]

i agree with dubone. we are a few years off from being able to purposely locate culture palaces outside the loop. charlotte has tried that (albeit w/o new transit) many times. charlotte has begun to focus its energy on the center city - the momentum is great....i actually think this focus is the best thing charlotte could have done for it's future. this kind of center city growth is the main positive difference i see in comparing us to cities like atlanta. the transit corridors will develop on their own. besides, i think the majority of ridership will be those who are coming into DT - spending/making hard earned cash - then moving on.

[jb4563]

I think a market similar to Pike Place Market or the open air market in Charleston would be a great addition to Brevard Street leading towards the arena. Independent retailers selling art, flowers, jewelry, produce, trinkets, etc really creates a neat atmosphere....and combine that with a entertainment district that has nightclubs, sports bars, and independent restaurants.

[fulcrumsf]

i agree with dubone.  we are a few years off from being able to purposely locate culture palaces outside the loop.  charlotte has tried that (albeit w/o new transit) many times.  charlotte has begun to focus its energy on the center city - the momentum is great....i actually think this focus is the best thing charlotte could have done for it's future.  this kind of center city growth is the main positive difference i see in comparing us to cities like atlanta.  the transit corridors will develop on their own.  besides, i think the majority of ridership will be those who are coming into DT - spending/making hard earned cash - then moving on.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah when ever I go to a city I like to take the transit to one area then walk to all the attractions. I see the development of the lightrail corridors more for transporting people to different types of neighborhoods. Hopefully will add more character to Charlotte. Ex. In San Francisco you can take the MUNI N Line from Ocean Beach,thru Sunset, Cole Valley, Duboce, then Downtown,Embarcadero, then to the Giants Stadium. Each area has a different feel. But most of the Museums and attractions are centered either downtown,the Wharf, or in Golden Gate Park.

[atlrvr]

I guess what I have in mind is multiple tourist districts....something to give people a reason to stay more than a day here. Spend a day in Uptown, then spend the next day somwhere different, but be able to stay in a hotel along rail line.

[Sabaidee]

Charlotte needs more universities and colleges in downtown or around it. If it's near downtown, there should be some connectivity going towards downtown. Charlotte should look at how Midtown/Downtown Atlanta. With Clark Atlanta, Morris Brown, Spelmen, and Morehouse are all situated within an area adjacent to each other. They also share certain properties and venues. I think CPCC should upgrade itself into a four year college, it is one of best community college in the country, within the top 5, add some dorms, its enrollment bigger than most universities. JCSU should increase enrollment and connect to downtown via Trade Street.

[nyxmike]

Charlotte needs more universities and colleges in downtown or around it.  If it's near downtown, there should be some connectivity going towards downtown.  Charlotte should look at how Midtown/Downtown Atlanta. With Clark Atlanta, Morris Brown, Spelmen, and Morehouse are all situated within an area adjacent to each other.  They also share certain properties and venues.  I think CPCC should upgrade itself into a four year college, it is one of best community college in the country, within the top 5,  add some dorms, its enrollment bigger than most universities.  JCSU should increase enrollment and connect to downtown via Trade Street.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well your ideas will come true because both CPCC and JCSU will be connected to downtown and each other via a streetcar which ends up running down Trade Street. After CPCC, the streetcar will run down Central Ave. and onto Eastland Mall. UNCC will also be connected to downtown by the Northeast light rail line (which will have a station at NODA which I think will be a major stop)

[dubone]

Charlotte needs more universities and colleges in downtown or around it.

[spectacle21]

Charlotte needs more universities and colleges in downtown or around it.  If it's near downtown, there should be some connectivity going towards downtown.  Charlotte should look at how Midtown/Downtown Atlanta. With Clark Atlanta, Morris Brown, Spelmen, and Morehouse are all situated within an area adjacent to each other.  They also share certain properties and venues.  I think CPCC should upgrade itself into a four year college, it is one of best community college in the country, within the top 5,  add some dorms, its enrollment bigger than most universities.  JCSU should increase enrollment and connect to downtown via Trade Street.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I attend Morehouse....& us, Spelman, CAU & Morris Brown are under the same "system" called the Atlanta University Center...its like ONE big college.

But yea, I totally agree with you....Charlotte needs more college life in/near downtown. I kinda already see it manifesting with Johnson & Wales and JCSU. I know in Atlanta, the Atl Univ Center is just a few blocks away from the Georgia Dome & then around the corner from there....Georgia Tech sits w/ Georgia State being just a few shorts miles down the street. It really gives some extra/added character to Atlanta's downtown area.

[dubone]

out of curiosity, does anyone know of any community college that has a dorm system? i've often wondered whether CPCC would ever do that to build more of a collegiate atmosphere.

[atlrvr]

I think that was an original consideration of the Elizabeth Ave. plan, but the economics wouldn't work....there certainly will be lots of apts there though that could be rented by students.

[atlrvr]

Within 10 years there will be a tremendous amount of campus activity around downtown.

Along Elizabeth/Trade

CPCC.....serves about 25,000-30,000 with the Central Campus

JCSU.....serves a couple thousand

JWU.....will have about 5,000 students, and at least half are expected to live downtown.

Queens.....Will have a Law school serving a couple hundred students, and possibly the MBA program as well will be relocated.

Others inside the loop

Charlotte School of Law (opens next year, likely in downtown) will serve a couple hundred students.

Wake Forest MBA program (being considered to offer more programs than just the part time currently offered at SP)

UNCC.....building can accomodate upto 7,500 students per day.

This is a tremendous boost over what is currently there today. I think the most potential comes with Wake Forest. This is a top 50 program that will be opertain in downtown. They plan to expand the MBA program to offer more options for completion (possibly a normal full-time program as well) I can see Charlotte becoming the preferred choice over W-S for people wishing to earn a WF MBA, and this will bring top caliber MBA candidates to the city.

Additionally, I see no reason that UNCC would expland with a 2nd, or 3rd building if the first proves to be a success. Dorms...maybe not, but they will generate demand for apartments regardless.

And of course, JWU had only about 1/4 of their total impact....plus hopefully when students graduate they will stay and contribute to our hospitality industry.

[Sabaidee]

Another idea to the point I made, what Charlotte need is a more vibrant night life. More clubs catering to college students with JWU adding more students. But the demand for college age oriented clubs is in effect of party schools (WSSU, NC A&T, NCCU), the only school that I would even consider a party school in the Charlotte area is JCSU, but its enrollment is only 2000, compared to other party schools such as WSSU, NC A&T, and NCCU, all of which have enrollment approaching 5000 or greater. Only if all those HBCUs were all in Charlotte, just imagine how Charlotte's night life would be. Another thing, the gay night life is expanding in Charlotte, but it's not to the level it should be. I can't speak for other ethnic gay clubs, but from I've experienced, Charlotte shouldn't have one main gay black club, the Myxx, even there are a couple more, but the Myxx is the only one that is cater to college aged people of color. The couple of time I went to the Myxx, it had to shut down because it was overcapacity by like 300 people, that just show how Charlotte needs to expand its gay night life. Unlike Atlanta, Charlotte isn't known for it's nightlife and its party schools.

[Norm2]

People have tried expanding the gay night life in Charlote many times, but most of the clubs end up closing for some reason or another. ONly sccuessful ones have been Scorpios (been around for 30 years now), Velocity, and the Myxx. wish the Myxx would expand or move into a bigger building. They have awesome music and I love going there, but the building itself is very small and ghetto.

[Charlotteman]

Guess what, I was at the Scorpio during it's first week of operation in 1972...at the original location on South Blvd! I was 17 and underage....hee hee

I like the ideas about re routing a creek through Uptown, and about bringing a tourist attraction in.

But here is my idea: TRUMP PALACE CHARLOTTE. An elegant and enormous tower filling one of the surface lots near First Citizens. Perhaps 60-70 floors, with superlative architecture, splendid lighting...but the piece de resistance would be a super-star retail part of the project including Saks, Bloomingdales, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Belk, all under one roof! Restaurants, bars, clubs, work out facilities etc. Half residential and half hotel!!!

What does everyone think of that idea?

[graydog]

Not exactly nightlife, but how about canoe rentals along the creek with optional nature guides? If you check out the county website you can see there's quite a bit of nature hidden in plain site.

Where's the "All of the above" choice?

[Southernyank]

I personally have to live close enough to the water to see it. i think a water front brings a certain charm to a place as well as makes for a romantic setting or a cool place to hang out with friends. its also nice to see the skyline reflect off of the water at night, and it brings in a cool breeze during the summer time. Definately waterfront for me.

[Noneck_08]

I wish you could pick all the choices, but the one I picked was the water. Charlotte could really utilize a river or waterfront. You could have a nice little park like the one in Greenville, or a charming riverwalk such as Wilimington has. It would bring alot of charm to the city and would attract tourist to uptown also. A university would also be a big bonus. Look at USC affect on downtown Columbia.

O and Merry Christmas to everyone!!