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The I-85 mini skyline


gs3

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Does "effective mass transit" come to mind for anyone else? ;)

I think have two cores will definitely help the case for mass transit. Hopefully one day, the walkability of downtown will lead you to hopping on a LRT train and visiting the 85 core and getting out and walking to your destination. These two areas need to eventually flow fluidly. That way people can make deliveries, pick ups, and go to meetings at the other locale without it being a big hassle. Come on Greenville!

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I think have two cores will definitely help the case for mass transit. Hopefully one day, the walkability of downtown will lead you to hopping on a LRT train and visiting the 85 core and getting out and walking to your destination. These two areas need to eventually flow fluidly. That way people can make deliveries, pick ups, and go to meetings at the other locale without it being a big hassle. Come on Greenville!

The great news here is.....1. Greenvilles downtown is highly walkable and pedestrian friendly 2. This new core along 85 is also planned to be interconnected and highly walkable (bike lanes also). Two walkable areas, connected by light rail....perfect. The tracks that the city / county has talked about for light rail run right through the middle of this new core (and remember, ICAR kept the tracks with upgraded crossings / arms). I think the pattern of development is headed directly in the right direction.

The thing I've always loved about Greenville (city) is it formulates a plan and sticks with it. It doesn't just allow development haphazardly. Vision 2025! :thumbsup:

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I think have two cores will definitely help the case for mass transit. Hopefully one day, the walkability of downtown will lead you to hopping on a LRT train and visiting the 85 core and getting out and walking to your destination. These two areas need to eventually flow fluidly. That way people can make deliveries, pick ups, and go to meetings at the other locale without it being a big hassle. Come on Greenville!

This would be super! Without that flow from one area to another, Greenville would be making a big mistake. Going between these two entities should be seamless, otherwise it will feel like two distinct cities.

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This would be super! Without that flow from one area to another, Greenville would be making a big mistake. Going between these two entities should be seamless, otherwise it will feel like two distinct cities.

I know the rail line is already there, but can anybody else here see Laurens Road completely renovated with a beautiful new silver LRT train with purple and green trim running down the middle between Downtown and CU-ICAR? Utility lines burried completely underground, underneath wide concrete and brick sidewalks. Trees lining both sides of Laurens Road, their trunks wrapped in wrought-iron fences. Old-fashioned lantern-style street lamps. Traffic signals hanging from arms instead of strewn between utility poles. Cars driving back and forth, running on some alternative fuel such as Hydrogen Cells. Crisp, clean air.

Perhaps the old rail line would be best used as a bike/jogging trail and the new LRT lines could be put down the medians of a couple of major roads? It'd be more costly than using exisitng rail lines, but it would send an outstanding mass transit message to drivers in their cars each day, something that LRT on the existing rail lines wouldn't necessarily do. :thumbsup:

:wub:

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I know the rail line is already there, but can anybody else here see Laurens Road completely renovated with a beautiful new silver LRT train with purple and green trim running down the middle between Downtown and CU-ICAR? Utility lines burried completely underground, underneath wide concrete and brick sidewalks. Trees lining both sides of Laurens Road, their trunks wrapped in wrought-iron fences. Old-fashioned lantern-style street lamps. Traffic signals hanging from arms instead of strewn between utility poles. Cars driving back and forth, running on some alternative fuel such as Hydrogen Cells. Crisp, clean air.

Perhaps the old rail line would be best used as a bike/jogging trail and the new LRT lines could be put down the medians of a couple of major roads? It'd be more costly than using exisitng rail lines, but it would send an outstanding mass transit message to drivers in their cars each day, something that LRT on the existing rail lines wouldn't necessarily do. :thumbsup:

:wub:

I see it! I agree, the visibility would definitely help! When the cars stop at a redlight and are passed by a train full of commuters then they think: "I should ride the _______".

Hmm, a name? GARTA- Greenville Area Rail Transit Authority (taken off of Atlanta's MARTA), GUT- Greenville Underground Transit (HAHA, but we want visibility, but I think the name is funny)

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GARTS (Greenville Area Rapid Transit System)? Or, we could simply call it the "G-Train" or "G." :-) I'm sure the GTA would have a say in the matter.

Like it RT!!!! "I'm taking the G-Train to Verdae, be back soon"........"Hop on The G, its stops at Verdae and ICAR".

"G" :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

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One example of a Carolinas city with two cores and mass transit issues is Charlotte. University Research Park, near I-85, has millions of square feet of office space and almost as many workers as uptown Charlotte does.

Does mass transit heavily serve URP? No. There are some bus lines that go there, but the percentage of commuters to URP who take mass transit is lower than the percentage of commuters to uptown who do.

Does URP help promote Charlotte? Not really, even though one of the buildings there (Wachovia's) is one of the largest office buildings in the US. Uptown Charlotte's skyline is much more visible, especially from the airport.

Anyhow, how many decisionmakers in charge of corporate developments and relocations drive down I-85 compared to those who fly into the airport (especially people making a connection at the airport)?

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Verdae has at least four highrises going into land at the corner of I-85 and Laurens in the Bonnaventure Office Center. ;)

Is the Bonnaventure Office Center where those two identical looking buildings are across the street from Verdae Marketfair on Verdae Blvd. or is it somewhere else?

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One example of a Carolinas city with two cores and mass transit issues is Charlotte. University Research Park, near I-85, has millions of square feet of office space and almost as many workers as uptown Charlotte does.

Does mass transit heavily serve URP? No. There are some bus lines that go there, but the percentage of commuters to URP who take mass transit is lower than the percentage of commuters to uptown who do.

Does URP help promote Charlotte? Not really, even though one of the buildings there (Wachovia's) is one of the largest office buildings in the US. Uptown Charlotte's skyline is much more visible, especially from the airport.

Anyhow, how many decisionmakers in charge of corporate developments and relocations drive down I-85 compared to those who fly into the airport (especially people making a connection at the airport)?

And if you know anything about URP, it is located in that sprawling mess called University City--one of my least favorite parts of Charlotte. That monstrosity needs to be its own municipality; that's how detached I feel it is from the rest of the city.

I've mostly traveled in that area at night, but I don't think the park has a presence on I-85.

At least ICAR and Millenium Campus won't be located THAT far away from downtown, so creating and enhancing connectivity between the two areas won't be as big of a challenge if it were located farther away.

I understand the logic behind making a statement on I-85, but my position has been to cater to the people who live in the city (through infill and densification), not the people who are merely passing through.

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I understand the logic behind making a statement on I-85, but my position has been to cater to the people who live in the city (through infill and densification), not the people who are merely passing through.

Fortunately that is happening all over the city these days. new projects are constantly filling in holes in the urban fabric. This is seen when you take a driving tour around the city's many major roads as well as "off the beaten path." I am loving the types of community revitalization master-plans that are set i place to ensure quality before quantity. :thumbsup:

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One example of a Carolinas city with two cores and mass transit issues is Charlotte. University Research Park, near I-85, has millions of square feet of office space and almost as many workers as uptown Charlotte does.

Does mass transit heavily serve URP? No. There are some bus lines that go there, but the percentage of commuters to URP who take mass transit is lower than the percentage of commuters to uptown who do.

Does URP help promote Charlotte? Not really, even though one of the buildings there (Wachovia's) is one of the largest office buildings in the US. Uptown Charlotte's skyline is much more visible, especially from the airport.

Anyhow, how many decisionmakers in charge of corporate developments and relocations drive down I-85 compared to those who fly into the airport (especially people making a connection at the airport)?

But will Charlotte's north LRT serve URP? Thats something you have to consider. Also, just because Charlotte does something wrong doesnt meant that Greenville should follow in its footsteps :)

I don't like "GARTA" ... it just doesn't sound appealing. GTA runs the bus system, so I would assume that it would also run an LRT system. I like the "G-train" idea though. :)

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How about the GREENrail system?

"I need to catch the GREENrail to get to work on time."

"Honey, lets take the GREENrail into downtown for dinner tonight."

"Bro, you wanna ride the GREENrail to school?"

______________________________________________________

Or how about the GREENline system?

"I need to catch the GREENline to get to work on time."

"Honey, lets take the GREENline into downtown for dinner tonight."

"Bro, you wanna ride the GREENline to school?"

;)

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And if you know anything about URP, it is located in that sprawling mess called University City--one of my least favorite parts of Charlotte. That monstrosity needs to be its own municipality; that's how detached I feel it is from the rest of the city.

I've mostly traveled in that area at night, but I don't think the park has a presence on I-85.

At least ICAR and Millenium Campus won't be located THAT far away from downtown, so creating and enhancing connectivity between the two areas won't be as big of a challenge if it were located farther away.

I understand the logic behind making a statement on I-85, but my position has been to cater to the people who live in the city (through infill and densification), not the people who are merely passing through.

People are forgetting that 85 USED to pass BY Greenville. With the rapid growth, it NOW passes THROUGH. This location is smack in the center of the GSA metro and serves Greenville residents very well. And talk about infill, Verdae is the largest infill ever announced in this state. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

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People are forgetting that 85 USED to pass BY Greenville. With the rapid growth, it NOW passes THROUGH. This location is smack in the center of the GSA metro and serves Greenville residents very well. And talk about infill, Verdae is the largest infill ever announced in this state. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Is Verdae really going to be that large? From what I understand, either the Magnolia or the Noisette projects in Charleston/North Charleston is the largest ever announced in SC.

I do understand that Greenville has grown up and around I-85, but I guess my point is that the urban core has not grown towards I-85, which is a good thing, IMO. I would really like to see the urban core naturally get denser and eventually expand towards I-85.

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I tend to disagree about an earlier post about running LRT down the median of Laurens Rd. In my experience, ecspecially on these systems, to really be an effective way of transit, meaning faster than the car, and moving more people, you can't run an LRT down the median. Look at Minneapolis, Houston, Dallas, Boston, San Francisco, and every other city that has street running LRT. It bottlenecks at the lights, even with light priority. Dallas's DART system is a prime example, as it uses elevated, subway, grade crossings, and is extremely fast, comparable to MARTA heavy rail in Atlanta. But once it exits the subway into the downtown area, with street running, it gets held up at every traffic intersection, every light, every block. If the government wasn't so cheap, have them build the LRT on an elevated line between Haywood and ICAR, and have a path/bike trail beneath the columns/viaduct. I've seen it in Atlanta, so there isn't any reason why it couldn't be done here.

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Is Verdae really going to be that large? From what I understand, either the Magnolia or the Noisette projects in Charleston/North Charleston is the largest ever announced in SC.

Verdae is 1,100 acres. At the time of the announcement, GV News said it was the largest private (not public) project ever announced in SC (I think both in terms of land and dollar value). Not sure if the Magnolia or Noisette projects were started after Verdae, so they could be larger now. Anyway you slice it, the development of 1,100 acres in the heart of the metro is a massive amount of infill. :thumbsup:

have them build the LRT on an elevated line between Haywood and ICAR, and have a path/bike trail beneath the columns/viaduct.

Great idea jarvis! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

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Is Verdae really going to be that large? From what I understand, either the Magnolia or the Noisette projects in Charleston/North Charleston is the largest ever announced in SC.

Just did some fact checks:

Noisette is 340 acres

Magnolia is 500 acres

Verdae is 1,100 acres

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