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Uptown Charlotte Project Rundown


dubone

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The map also shows how the majority of condos actually disect the intersection of Trade and Tryon. It's also nice to see there is still hope in Berkman, and that other lesser-known projects are being slightly revealed to the public, Blvd. Centro's condo around the arena and the condos that are #14 on the map, i forgot the name, but i was new to that one.

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It is an interesting point about the distribution. There are three towers each in 2nd and 3rd Wards and four towers each in 1st and 4th Wards....pretty even.

By units (based on this map and info from this site).

1st Ward - 701

2nd Ward - 561

3rd Ward - 577

4th Ward - 1616 (though about 160 units will demolished at the Citadin site)

Besides 4th Ward, the number of new high-rise units is pretty well distributed.

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It is interesting that they didn't include the Renaissance Place tower. I think those distribution numbers will even out even more when Novare announces their plans for third ward, and when Chetrit announces their plans for second ward.

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A personal observation of the lack of pedestrians---

I get real homesick sometimes, being thousands of miles away from Charlotte. So daily (sometimes several times a day) I check out WBT's cam site. It shows a 30 second old cam shot of the skyline from two angles, as well as a cam shot from the Square.

It's a delight to see my hometown so close up, any time I want. But I'm really surprised almost everytime I look, there are just a few people walking around the Square. Even at 4:30-6:00PM!

What gives????

On Saturdays and Sunday there is more foot traffic, but I would expect it to be busier during weekday business hours ??)

My current home, Bremerton Washington (pop.38,500) has more foot traffic downtown from what I've seen. And Bremerton is considered the Puget Sound city with the "weakest" downtown.

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This seems to be a re-occuring theme around here - why no pedestrians downtown? Well, I think the reason why outside of lunch time during a weekday you don't see as many people as would be expected in downtown Charlotte is because of several reasons. First of all, of the some 60,000 people that work downtown there are actually only 10,000 people that live downtown, and this is outside of Trade and Tryon at the moment. Second, other than some restaurants/bars and a couple of museums (all of which I have been to recently) why would anyone from outside of downtown go in? There isn't really any retail shopping - the overstreet mall is a disgrace; take some cues from Indy.

Think of it this way - would you drive from where you live to Fort Mill to go walk around Main St.? Probably not, because there isn't really anything there worth the trip. The same could be said for downtown Charlotte. The times I see downtown the liveliest is at night when people are out and about doing the bar crawl, reinforcing the idea that all downtown has are restaurants/bars.

There is hope, though. there are several things that can be done (some of which are being done) to increase the amount of 'pedestrians' in downtown. First of all, you need some sort of population there - 10,000 people isn't a large enough base to draw the majority of your business from. Luckily, this is happening with all the condo projects being constructed. This in turn is going bring new retail and entertainment options because you don't have to try and rely on bringing in people from outside of downtown. Second, if you do want to bring in people from outside of downtown you need to provide a reason to go downtown. Other than sporting events and the occasional festival I really don't go downtown that much because I can do most of that stuff near my house. I have a bar and a couple restaurants across the street from where I live and Carolina Place mall or Southpark is where I do my shopping. This too is beginning to take shape with the NHOF, House of Blues, etc. Thirdly, as much as some might disagree, public transportation actually plays a role as well. It allows people to move around town without having to worry about parking, finding the car, traffic, etc. And once again, this is being implemented in the new street car lines that will encompass downtown.

Just give the pedestrians some time. Perhaps in four years we will all be discussing about how lively downtown has become.

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Also, if all the residents of downtown are walking around Trade and Tryon after work, then you have a deadzone out in the wards, where they live.

The arena, as controversial, and deadzonish as its reputation is, has provided exponentially more pedestrian activity off hours than used to exist.

People do not walk just for the hell of it. Most people finish work around that time, and go home. You will see a lot of people walking to their car or their residence after work, and then, they'll be going home. Then, you'll start to see people walking to restaurants a couple hours later, but not most of the Tryon restaurants are between 5th and 8th, so they wouldn't show up on the webcam. Then if there is an arena event, they won't be at the square, but more likely around the arena, or in the core nightlife district, which is the square bounded by 7th, 5th, Tryon and the tracks. That area is packed on weekend nightlife hours. Then after that, and on weekday nights, the main people you'll see are homeless people, because let's face it, regular americans are watching TV, and urbanites are on UP at that time. :)

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So what I'm hearing is that areas nearby are relatively busy with pedestrians sometimes, but usually not the Square itself.

That's a shame, as the Square used to be the livliest part of Uptown years ago. It's obvious why---three corners of the Square are office towers with little street appeal or retail. The other corner has a small park which is nice, but does it really attract very many people?

With all the lovely flourishes---- trees, decorative lighting, and public and private statuary/sculpture, the Square sounds like it's currently just a space to walk through or drive through, to go somewhere else. that's a shame.

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The real answer:

- None of it is comparable to San Fran or even Seattle

- North Tryon is exponentially better than South Tryon

- During the day, lots of people walk up and down Tryon for work and lunch, so you will see a lot of people crossing the Square (when a preacher is yelling at people, you'll see fewer)

- During the evenings, it is a) better than most would expect in Charlotte b) worse than Metro would expect.

- During the nights, there is a lot of pedestrian activity north of 5th on Tryon. Much of it is related to arena events, nightlife, and Hall House po'peeps.

- The residential section of the wards have a lot of people walking home and walking around with their dogs or their significant other between 4 and 7. That is when people are in the home mindset.

- There is never ever ambient pedestrian activity near the parking seas of 3W, 2W or 1W, except during big sporting events.

There is never consistently crowded sidewalks anywhere in this city, possibly in this state. Pedestrian activity is about destinations, and the Square is not a destination. Maybe it would be if cars were blocked, and it became a human-oriented plaza, but for now it is just an intersection with four office buildings around it. So the webcam on the square will always see more activity during the business day.

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Yeah, I see the crowds of office workers walking thru uptown every day at lunchtime and uptown looks bustling. I always try to think WHAT DOES THIS PLACE NEED to get more people (other than workers) down there during the day or night? Some very cool tourist attraction or district needs to be added to keep a flow of visitors coming to uptown. NASCAR HOF? maybe. But i think we need more. I'm constantly stumped by what it could be.

I personally just enjoy walking around uptown seeing all the urban development that's going on - but that's not going to appeal to many as a tourist attraction aside from UP'ers, right?

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The answer is much simpler than a tourist attraction.....it's retail (though possibly harder to attract than a tourist attraction).

Getting national brands such as Gap, Barnes & Noble, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, and some upper end Jeweler's, then you create a huge pedestrian presence.....I still think that Charlotte will be waiting until at least 2011 to get this retail presence (except for maybe B&N).

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The answer is much simpler than a tourist attraction.....it's retail (though possibly harder to attract than retail).

Getting national brands such as Gap, Barnes & Noble, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, and some upper end Jeweler's, then you create a huge pedestrian presence.....I still think that Charlotte will be waiting until at least 2011 to get this retail presence (except for maybe B&N).

Well, I know of one uptown residential building that is CONSIDERING putting in a Barnes & Nobles in it's retail space. :thumbsup:

I work uptown on the wknd and during the day it can be pretty dead. My co-workers and I always have a tough time deciding where to go and grab lunch because we feel like there's nothing open.

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The answer is much simpler than a tourist attraction.....it's retail (though possibly harder to attract than a tourist attraction).

Getting national brands such as Gap, Barnes & Noble, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, and some upper end Jeweler's, then you create a huge pedestrian presence.....I still think that Charlotte will be waiting until at least 2011 to get this retail presence (except for maybe B&N).

Aside from a Wallstreet meltdown, the QC will be extremely close once the NHOF is completed. Too many people in the area with the-little-train-that-thought-it-could attitude and a LOT of money. In terms of retail, I think it's going to be nibble share with the flood gates opening around 2010 if the city continues the current growth pattern.

Mark my word, if the Wachovia arts package gets finalized, the NHOF is completed and the land swap deal gets a thumbs up, those parking lots will start to disappear like Grandma/pa's teeth. And for icing on the cake, light rail. The next 5 years will probably be the largest transformation in the city's history.

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dx was bored tonite...so dx did this. it's been done before, but what the hey...

On a hazy afternoon, as the MSA gets bigger, traffic gets heavier, light rail coming, sprawl slowly creeping in, uptown population gets denser, look how much different the skyline will be in a year or two.

Charlotte now:

1156328441088_charlotte_org.jpg

Charlotte in the near future:

1155073365089_charlotte2.jpg

man this will be awesome :yahoo:

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  • 2 weeks later...

I guess this relates best to this topic best...

Does anyone know how to find out how many units are still available under each project?

I'm most interested in MetMidtown... Is it sold out? What units remain?

I don't see the information on www.metmidtown.com

But I'm also curious about all of the projects listed here.

Which ones are sold out and which are "struggling", if any?

Is there are summary website somewhere? If I were to build one, where would I

even get the information to build it?

Thanks!

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  • 3 weeks later...

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