Skyways Over Tryon

[ilektronik]

why aren't there any? It is such a hassle crossing Tryon everyday at lunch to head over the the Atrium.

[CSP]

why aren't there any? It is such a hassle crossing Tryon everyday at lunch to head over the the Atrium.

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It would make sense to have one there considering it being a busy road.

[CLTurban]

It would make sense to have one there considering it being a busy road.

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come on people... this is a city in a great southern climate. It's fantastic to walk around downtown and see the street life - not build more climate controlled skyways through downtown.

I was wishing they would demo the existing Overstreet Mall that has ruined the possibility of retail on the street, not put up another skybridge over tryon!!! All the retail in the overstreet 'mall' is only catered towards 9-5 workers and has no street frontage whatsever.

/endrant/

There was a recent report (maybe in the NYTimes) that talked about the failure of skyway systems in many of the cities accross the country and the reasons why.

[ilektronik]

come on people... this is a city in a great southern climate.  It's fantastic to walk around downtown and see the street life - not build more climate controlled skyways through downtown.

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then they should build an open air bridge. my point was simply that skyways are quicker as I don't have to wait for the light. lunch break is very limited, and since i spend enough time waiting in line to buy lunch, the less time it takes to get there, the better.

[monsoon]

There used to be one across Tryon They tore it down. Personally I think the type of skywalks used in Charlotte are bad for the city and streetlife.

However open air elevated sidewalks can be very effective at stimulatiing pedestrian traffic. Here is a photo from Fujisawa japan. Fujisawa is small remote suburb of Tokyo (pop 450K) about an hour out of Tokyo. This was the first city that I saw in Japan and I was flabberghasted at how urban it was even at 9pm at night. These photos don't really do it justice.

Note the dual level sidewalks. They have effectively created a retail envionment on two stories and it works very well. A real city.

Most of this is centered around and connected the local train station which includes enclosed shopping as well as the stuff on the street. Both levels of the sidewalk system were connected to the train station. This is during midmorning.

[ilektronik]

that looks awesome!

[SmellyCat]

I like the concept of an open air skywalk also. Hey look at that subway...it's jammed!!

[A2]

I like the concept of an open air skywalk also.  Hey look at that subway...it's jammed!!

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Yeah, I noticed the same thing SC. The people do not look all that happy either, but who can blame em' being squished in subway like sardines.

A2

[monsoon]

They are probably happier than someone stuck in traffic in Charlotte.

BTW, it is a surface level train. Fujisawa is a small town and has not installed underground trains. They do have first class cars (called green cars) where you can sit down if you don't like to stand but it cost 3x as much to ride them.

[Dale]

I thought that skyways over Tryon was verboten; that an open vista down the street was sacrosanct.

[monsoon]

You can better see the platform in this photo. Fujusawa has about 10 lines running through its JR station. (no Shinkanzen however)

[monsoon]

I thought that skyways over Tryon was verboten; that an open vista down the street was sacrosanct.

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Here is a photo of the bridge that used to cross Tryon.

[SmellyCat]

Yeah, I noticed the same thing SC. The people do not look all that happy either, but who can blame em' being squished in subway like sardines. 

A2

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Yep...sort of reminds me of the Charlotte Trolley during rush hour.

[orulz]

There are plenty of places where I'd like to see more tunnels and skybridges solely for the purpose of crossing a street (in place of a crosswalk). They have lots of things like that in Japan. The bridges in Japan are almost invaryingly hideous, but they're convenient and functional.

I'm not too sure if you could convince an American to climb stairs to cross a street, though. I think we'd be far more likely to hop a fence and jaywalk.

[ilektronik]

wow there used to be a Belk uptown??

[bork]

There are plenty of places where I'd like to see more tunnels and skybridges solely for the purpose of crossing a street (in place of a crosswalk). They have lots of things like that in Japan. The bridges in Japan are almost invaryingly hideous, but they're convenient and functional.

I'm not too sure if you could convince an American to climb stairs to cross a street, though. I think we'd be far more likely to hop a fence and jaywalk.

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Vegas has them .. of course there's escalators and elevators to cross the street.

[Raintree21]

I'm not too sure if you could convince an American to climb stairs to cross a street, though. I think we'd be far more likely to hop a fence and jaywalk.

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Speaking of hopping fences and jaywalking, just look at Independence Blvd.

wow there used to be a Belk uptown??

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And an Ivey's.

[appatone]

There was a recent report (maybe in the NYTimes) that talked about the failure of skyway systems in many of the cities accross the country and the reasons why.

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It was the NY Times, I read it. I am with you on your rant.

[SmellyCat]

Rethinking Skyways

You will need to register on NYTimes.com

[monsoon]

Rethinking Skyways

You will need to register on NYTimes.com

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Or just use bugmenot. If you have firefox, it will fill in the pw and ID automatically with the bugmenot extension.

Interesting quote from the article.

"If you come here, people would think we have no retail at all," said Cheryl Myers, a senior vice president of Charlotte Center City Planners in North Carolina.

I tend to agree with this statement as for years I have taken people to downtown Charlotte and they quite often surprised the Overstreet Mall exists when the secret is revealed to them. They assumed the DT was just dead for retail.

[SmellyCat]

"If you come here, people would think we have no retail at all," said Cheryl Myers, a senior vice president of Charlotte Center City Planners in North Carolina.

I tend to agree with this statement as for years I have taken people to downtown Charlotte and they quite often surprised the Overstreet Mall exists when the secret is revealed to them.  They assumed the DT was just dead for retail.

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Yup, same here. In fact I've lived (but dont work) in uptown for over a year now and still don't utilize Overstreet Mall. I don't understand it or even know if it's open on weekends. I don't know where to enter it. I wish there was some sort of master directory with operating hours.

[ilektronik]

i am either at the overstreel mall or the atrium everyday for lunch, or just killing time till 5

[monsoon]

Unfortunately the Overstreet is mostly closed outside of business hours. That is another shortfall of such system. Most building owners don't want people in the buildings when business is closed, so they lock the doors.

[MZT]

Pedestrians in general will walk across a street rather than climb stairs to use a skywalk.

One of the best examples of this I can think of, is the bridge that crosses a busy street in Fullerton CA, with Fullerton college on both sides. You can climb stairs (but nobody wants to bother) or you can walk up the handicapped ramps (but its rather long, the entrances are too far away from the sidewalk). So, the most inviting option-- is to stay at street level and cross through a hole in the traffic!

FWIW, I like the overstreet. It doesn't have to go EVERYWHERE uptown, but it's a nice option to have during very wet, cold, or hot weather. We DO get some of it all.

[jb4563]

wow there used to be a Belk uptown??

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Yep, and there still is...insdie Founder's Hall