1000 Room Convention Center Hotel

[Cadi40]

Charlotte isn’t bland. An aquarium wouldn’t fix that if we were bland. I think Charlotte needs an It street for the locals, we don’t really have a street dedicated to shopping, dining and nightlife like many other cities have. 

[Spartan]

1 hour ago, Cadi40 said:

Charlotte isn’t bland. An aquarium wouldn’t fix that if we were bland. I think Charlotte needs an It street for the locals, we don’t really have a street dedicated to shopping, dining and nightlife like many other cities have. 

Which street should that be?

[deleted]

4 hours ago, Cadi40 said:

Charlotte isn’t bland. An aquarium wouldn’t fix that if we were bland. I think Charlotte needs an It street for the locals, we don’t really have a street dedicated to shopping, dining and nightlife like many other cities have. 

We have North Davidson, South Boulevard, East Avenue, Central, Tryon and Stonewall, etc.  I don't personally want a street of honky tonks like Nashville's lower Broadway.  

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

1 hour ago, JBS said:

We have North Davidson, South Boulevard, East Avenue, Central, Tryon and Stonewall, etc.  I don't personally want a street of honky tonks like Nashville's lower Broadway.  

The idea from Brevard would have been perfect for the location of this. It still could be. 

[Hunted]

I make references to Denver quite a bit since I’m mildly familiar with it, but Denver’s 16th Street Mall would be a great reference tool for Charlotte to take cues from. It’s a pedestrian-only (with the exception of a free bus that goes up and down) street that is exclusively retail. No crappy concrete either. It’s worth looking into. 

I agree, Brevard is probably the best candidate for this. It’s a barren enough street for us to revitalize it.

[JorgiPorgi]

I love walking or riding my bike on the rail trail. There is a lot of pedestrian traffic there. I think we really have something if we build shops and outdoor restaurants on the trail itself. Like Futo Buta, etc. 

[BullDurhamer]

18 hours ago, Hunted said:

I make references to Denver quite a bit since I’m mildly familiar with it, but Denver’s 16th Street Mall would be a great reference tool for Charlotte to take cues from. It’s a pedestrian-only (with the exception of a free bus that goes up and down) street that is exclusively retail. No crappy concrete either. It’s worth looking into. 

I agree, Brevard is probably the best candidate for this. It’s a barren enough street for us to revitalize it.

16th street mall in denver only really appeals to tourists and visitors.  it's blocks and blocks of chain restaurants.  the walkability is nice, but the livability part is less than great.    the epicenter isn't that unlike what denver has.  

 

i applaud the idea to open a pedestrian friendly retail corridor, but i also hope we can do better than having rows and rows of chilis, rock bottom breweries (oops, already one in place), chipoltes, and the like.   

 

there's are loads of interesting areas in denver, but the 16th street mall is only something i'd use as a model in the very big picture.    it is interesting in that it resulted from a destructive urban renewal plan, so maybe there is something clt can get from it. 

 

as locals though, i'd look at this surrounding districts that are popping up with breweries, shops, and other things like that.  that's where you'll want to be.  

 

i say this understanding this is about bringing tourists into the city.   i'd just wish we could do better than just having a collection of the worst restaurants on earth. be better than the rest charlotte.  

Edited May 20, 2018 by BullDurhamer

[elrodvt]

Actually we spent a  fair amount of time there since it was close. There are a lot of non chain places if you look. But I agree with your general sentiment and would instead look at lower Larimer / Blake area when they're closed to traffic. very nice. But there are a many areas that are nice and we could learn from. Many aren't on the LRT either. Bike lanes makes a big difference there. 

On 5/19/2018 at 10:12 AM, Cadi40 said:

Charlotte isn’t bland. An aquarium wouldn’t fix that if we were bland. I think Charlotte needs an It street for the locals, we don’t really have a street dedicated to shopping, dining and nightlife like many other cities have. 

ummmm yeah it is. Denying it is why we can't fix it. Not sure what an aquarium does for bland. Bland = chains / tourist spots to me and it's not like I would go to an aquarium very much. Still that and a zoo are a major city check mark.

Edited May 20, 2018 by elrodvt

[KJHburg]

Some conventions like to come to "bland" cities as some  places have TOO many distractions like Vegas, Orlando etc.  People on conventions like to eat out at interesting  local places (check) shop to they drop (check check) and stay in nice hotels with hospitable people (check check check)   I met a family at the Concord Walmart supercenter visiting from Charleston (plenty to do there and they said this is their annual trip here) and staying at the Great Wolf Lodge.  Carowinds packs people in.  And NASCAR may not attract them like they used but my friend is hosting a family from New Jersey outside of NY City for the race, they like to visit the race shops, Speed Street etc.   We have some good museums, a gold mine nearby, beautiful and I mean BEAUTIFUL lakes (do an Airbnb search on Lake Norman rentals  if you dont believe me on that tourism hot spot)   Conventions and trade shows do thrive here.  Plus we have a few breweries have any of you met someone from out of town there?  I bet you have.   Short of building a casino uptown and huge Ferris wheel I am not sure what some of you want.  Aquarium we have very good small one called Sea Life and since the price of admission included the back tank tour I got very upclose to their exotic fish.  Never done that in Atlanta or Chattanooga, or Monterey or Corpus Christi where I have been to others. I wish we had a Bernie Marcus who donated the money to build the Georgia Aquarium but to say we have no attractions and bland is just not true.  Our concerts and special events are well attended by people from outside of the area.  I would encourage you to leave your zip code and explore. Oh yeah a whitewater rapids in the county.   A historical plantation Latta, a great birds of prey rescue center and this is just off the top of my head.    

People or their companies pay a lot to attend conventions and they want to get their moneys worth.  

 

[Matthew.Brendan]

Shop? What are they taking Uber’s to South Park Mall???

[KJHburg]

^^^ Yes they are and to Concord Mills too.  If there is a will there will be a way.  

Some numbers from CRVA 

http://www.crva.com/news/visitors-spent-67-billion-charlotte-region-2016-nearly-52-billion-mecklenburg-county

Edited May 20, 2018 by KJHburg

[KJHburg]

Check out this visitor profile and look at our peer cities like Atlanta, Raleigh  and look what the visitors like to do

http://www.crva.com/sites/default/master/files/Visitor_Profile_Presentation.pdf

[QCxpat]

19 hours ago, elrodvt said:

ummmm yeah it is. Denying it is why we can't fix it. Not sure what an aquarium does for bland. Bland = chains / tourist spots to me ....

Let's face facts and not deny history; a number of prominent Americans, including some of the local great and good, have basically suggested that Charlotte is bland.   Among them:

(1)  President George Washington.  "In May 1791, Washington heads out on a tour of the South.  Near Charlotte, he remarks on the rich land that played such a pivotal role in the Revolution, saying it is 'very fine, of a reddish cast, and well-timbered.'  But he doesn't have much else to say about the town.  'Dined with General (Thomas) Polk ...,'  Washington writes in his diary as he heads up the road to Salisbury,  'Charlotte is a trifling place ..."

(2)  Daniel Augustus Tompkins, a Gilded Age baron who helped build at least 250 cotton oil mills, 150 electric plants, and 100 cotton mills, and was the owner and publisher of The Charlotte Daily Observer.  Tompkins grew up in Edgefield, South Carolina.  He arrived in Charlotte "... in 1883 as an engine salesman for the Westinghouse Company on Fourth Street.  Charlotte evenings, Tompkins says, are "intolerably dull,"  so he spends his time working, saves his money, and plans for the future.  By 1884, he's saved enough to buy a cottonseed oil mill in Charlotte.  By the late 1880s, Tompkins and his business partners are building mills throughout the South.  In Charlotte, they make plans for three mills on the edges of town, just inside the city limits.  The mills all rise by 1889 - the Alpha Mill on the northeast side of the city; the Ada Mill on the northern side; and the Victor Mill, the tallest of the three, casting shadows over South Cedar Street."  Tompkins is buried in Fourth Ward's Elmwood Cemetery.

(3)  Hugh McColl.  Former CEO of NCNB and NationsBank.   As a bank trainee in the late 1950s, McColl found Charlotte to be the "most boring city."  Even so, the bank's home (now, Bank of America) occupies a 60 story building on Independence Square in the heart of Charlotte.

So what if Charlotte is bland?  I currently live in the Boston metro area,  but spent most of my working years in the legal profession in NYC.   I wouldn't give you a plug nickel for either Beantown or Gotham.   Assuming, arguendo, that Charlotte is the most boring major city in the country, I still love the Queen City with every fiber of my being anyway.  I live in Cambridge (just across the Charles River from Boston) because my husband's family is here.   But my heart will always be in Charlotte.  To me, it is the loveliest, friendliest, sweetest,  most beautiful, guileless and unpretentious city that I know.  I'm proud to call Charlotte my home town, and every time I set foot back home, I feel such a deep, abiding attachment to this blessed patch of red clay soil.

Links;

(1)  http://www.charlottemagazine.com/Charlotte-Magazine/April-2015/The-Story-of-Charlotte/  --  Charlotte Magazine (April 2015), "The Story of Charlotte," by Chuck McShane, Part 2: A Fighting, Trifling Place (for Pres. George Washington's quote); Part 7: Bills of Rights (for Daniel Augustus Tompkins quote); and Part 12: Blotting Out the Sun (for Hugh McColl's quote).

(2)  http://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/tompkins/bio.html  --  Documenting the American South, "Daniel Augustus Tompkins, 1851 - 1914," from DICTIONARY OF NORTH CAROLINA BIOGRAPHY, edited by William S. Powell. Copyright (c) 1979-1996 by the University of North Carolina Press.  

(3)  https://www.ncpedia.org/washingtons-southern-tour  --  NCPEDIA, "Washington's Southern Tour," by Thomas J. Farnham, 2006.

Edited May 21, 2018 by QCxpat
Add link for Daniel Augustus Tompkins

[tozmervo]

On 5/18/2018 at 8:27 PM, TheOneRJ said:

No one outside of elementary and middle schoolers know what the Discovery Place is. 

The uptown location by itself had a half million visitors last year, without a "blockbuster" exhibit like dead sea scrolls

[TheOneRJ]

10 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

The uptown location by itself had a half million visitors last year, without a "blockbuster" exhibit like dead sea scrolls

Those half a million visitors were more than likely made up of elementary and middle school field trips. 

[15895]

29 minutes ago, TheOneRJ said:

Those half a million visitors were more than likely made up of elementary and middle school field trips. 

I say it all the time. Better we have things residents can enjoy than visitors. Rays Splash Planet, Frazier Dog Park, Whole Foods, etc. Things visitors wouldn't care about but it's such a great asset to the locals.  Obviously we have things and continue to make things visitors will enjoy, Epicenter, Legacy Union's retail portion stadiums, etc. But we can't dismiss our local things. Maybe you grew up in Charlotte too, but a field trip to the discovery place was one of my most fondest memories from when I was younger. 

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

40 minutes ago, TheOneRJ said:

Those half a million visitors were more than likely made up of elementary and middle school field trips. 

You say that almost in a negative way?  Any attraction wishes they could have that type of sustainability year round.  Unlike other attractions that you may visit once and never return, Discovery is fortunate to have those type of calculated sales per year.  More than likely those kids have a blast and return with their families at a later date too.  It's not just a Charlotte thing either... I know teachers in Winston and Greensboro who have had field trips to Charlotte just to go to Discovery Place.  I love science...wish we had another science museum geared towards an older crowd or maybe the Discovery expansion could fill that void a little.  

[CLT2014]

My heavens! A museum for families and children... I thought everything was supposed to cater to just one segment of the population between 20 and 35 and have craft beer.

[HighRiseHillbilly]

7 hours ago, CLT2014 said:

My heavens! A museum for families and children... I thought everything was supposed to cater to just one segment of the population between 20 and 35 and have craft beer.

Almost everything I read about what's wanted and what's coming sounds like it's geared to that demographic. I took my 4 year old nephew uptown twice and now he always wants to go. ALWAYS. In a few years he and his obnoxious teenage friends will want things to do up there.

My parents are both in multiple, large social organizations that get together frequently. Those old people have a lot of time and money on the hands. They like to do things as well.

And I know that when I'm even more old & decrepit than I am now that I'd love to wait for death on my daily stroll through a fancy aquarium. 

[TheOneRJ]

10 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

I say it all the time. Better we have things residents can enjoy than visitors. Rays Splash Planet, Frazier Dog Park, Whole Foods, etc. Things visitors wouldn't care about but it's such a great asset to the locals.  Obviously we have things and continue to make things visitors will enjoy, Epicenter, Legacy Union's retail portion stadiums, etc. But we can't dismiss our local things. Maybe you grew up in Charlotte too, but a field trip to the discovery place was one of my most fondest memories from when I was younger. 

I feel like my posts are being taken in the wrong context. There is nothing wrong with the Discovery Place. The tread topic in which I was replying to is about the lack of tourist attractions in Uptown that would assist in filling the rooms of a 1,000 room hotel when there are no major conventions. There is no need for residents of Charlotte to stay in this hotel, therefore the destinations to locals are irrelevant (the Discovery Place). 

Edited May 22, 2018 by TheOneRJ

[NcSc74]

I still say replicate an old german town square complete with a huge carousel.  Why not, plenty of space for beer gardens and the like and there is an obvious link to Germany itself.

[Dale]

20 hours ago, CLT2014 said:

My heavens! A museum for families and children... I thought everything was supposed to cater to just one segment of the population between 20 and 35 and have craft beer.

And fish tacos and bike stations.

[15895]

10 hours ago, NcSc74 said:

I still say replicate an old german town square complete with a huge carousel.  Why not, plenty of space for beer gardens and the like and there is an obvious link to Germany itself.

 

Mecklenburg Park/Square

[Durhamite]

14 hours ago, TheOneRJ said:

I feel like my posts are being taken in the wrong context. There is nothing wrong with the Discovery Place. The tread topic in which I was replying to is about the lack of tourist attractions in Uptown that would assist in filling the rooms of a 1,000 room hotel when there are no major conventions. There is no need for residents of Charlotte to stay in this hotel, therefore the destinations to locals are irrelevant (the Discovery Place). 

3 things in no particular order....2 for locals (regional) and 1 national tourist attraction:

1 (local): Sizeable aquarium...needs to happen, could be part of Discovery Place expansion or stand alone

2(local): Urban zoo of some sorts, play copycat from other cities, see big bro ATL for (1) and (2)...neither has to be as big, just part of city amenities.  The NC Zoo should've been located on the outskirts of Greensboro....nothing against Asheboro, but it's a bit out of the way.

3(national): Sizeable downtown aviation museum (expansion and relo of Carolinas Aviation Museum to play on NC Flight history and history of Piedmont Airlines)...this  should be big, one of a kind regional/national draw versus the smaller Carolinas Aviation Museum...attendance could possibly exceed 500k and bolster NHOF attendance with combo tickets.  I went to the one in Seattle, nice.  I'm still surprised that none of the larger metros in NC has a large Aviation Museum. I think this is Charlotte's best shot at creating a destination tourist attraction that would appeal to the masses.   

I don't think it's one thing, but smaller draws plus something (big) to complement the NHOF which is more of a niche thing without mass appeal.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2018 by Durhamite

[NcSc74]

11 hours ago, Durhamite said:

3 things in no particular order....2 for locals (regional) and 1 national tourist attraction:

1 (local): Sizeable aquarium...needs to happen, could be part of Discovery Place expansion or stand alone

2(local): Urban zoo of some sorts, play copycat from other cities, see big bro ATL for (1) and (2)...neither has to be as big, just part of city amenities.  The NC Zoo should've been located on the outskirts of Greensboro....nothing against Asheboro, but it's a bit out of the way.

3(national): Sizeable downtown aviation museum (expansion and relo of Carolinas Aviation Museum to play on NC Flight history and history of Piedmont Airlines)...this  should be big, one of a kind regional/national draw versus the smaller Carolinas Aviation Museum...attendance could possibly exceed 500k and bolster NHOF attendance with combo tickets.  I went to the one in Seattle, nice.  I'm still surprised that none of the larger metros in NC has a large Aviation Museum. I think this is Charlotte's best shot at creating a destination tourist attraction that would appeal to the masses.   

I don't think it's one thing, but smaller draws plus something (big) to complement the NHOF which is more of a niche thing without mass appeal.

 

 

 

 

Love the aviation museum idea. There has to be a UPer with some access to city council or someone eho does that can pass along these ideas.  Hell email the new Panthers owner to donate some funds for it.  The city ahs the land I am just waiting for someone the vision and cojones to pull it off.  And you are correct about the NC zoo.  I am sure it looked like a good idea at the time but Charlotte does need a city zoo.  Hell, Tulsa and OKC both have zoos and they are 2 hours apart.