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1 hour ago, CharlotteWkndBuzz said:

All I know is, the Epicentre looked damn good with all that shopping and retail options during the NBA All-Star weekend.  The city in 91 had to setup popup shops for the all star game here and fast forward to 2019, still had to setup popup shops for people to shop.  I know these were mainly specialist popups like shoes and sports stuff, however, point is there still today not a lot of shopping options Uptown.  If you are a local, you will know there are a decent amount of options within OverStreet mall and at Latta Arcade.  But if you're perusing Tryon/Trade/College like a lot of visitors...you will run into restaurants/bars/and offices.  

 In my head, every time I heard the word "transformative"  about any development on Stonewall, I was hoping for some soft good options.  Until they prove otherwise, I will assume everything going in will either be food/drink/gym related.  Logistics aside, rent it takes to occupy space uptown aside, and every other excuse Uptown uses for lack of retail, fact is we barely have any for a city it's size (yes, Southend seems to be the center of gravity for soft goods (currently), however, I think any downtown needs a nice mixture, just my opinion).

 If the owners are serious about shifting the tenants in the Epicentre to shopping, then I am all for it.  More power to them.  Someone needs to have the balls and pop the retail cherry Uptown.  Sorry for the rant, I just want to buy shi* Uptown, guys, that's all lol.

I would love to see more soft good options and non-restaurant/bar space uptown, but the new retail hub looks to be building in SouthEnd instead. Don't think we can support many of those coveted retailers in that close proximity.

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1 minute ago, Vitamin_N said:

 

  • One Chick-Fil-A location--judging by how slammed it is at lunch, I get the impression uptown could support more than one

Is it really just a case of rents being too high? And if so, how is Showmar's able to get by?

 (And on the topic of affordable lunches: I recently discovered Sapienza has two slices of pizza and a drink for $7, including tax.)

There is actually another Chick-Fil-A at Gateway Village. I bet we see another one on South Tryon in the near future.

Sapienza is a good deal and solid Pizza (and that's at night too)

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2 hours ago, CLT> said:

I would love to see more soft good options and non-restaurant/bar space uptown, but the new retail hub looks to be building in SouthEnd instead. Don't think we can support many of those coveted retailers in that close proximity.

It’s simple.  Uptown is too freaking expensive for a soft goods to operate! It’s unfortunate but it’s true

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1 minute ago, tozmervo said:

Good Sir King, this is the Realm of Krystal. Please leave at once.

I actually prefer Krystal as well, but we don’t even have one of those unless you drive all the way to Gaffney, SC. I do have a thing for White Castle’s “Chicken Rings” though since they bring back memories of my childhood in the school cafeteria, lol.

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Since I am the self appointed Burger King on this site I have had  both Krystal and White Castle both and I did not care for either of them.  Give me an In N Out, double double,  Quarter Pounder with Cheese or a Wendys Single any day of the week and twice on Sunday.  Even Texas based Whataburger is better. 

To bring this back to the Epicenter coax TJ Maxx to open a small market store there and many other non food retailers will follow.  There needs to be a non food draw that is not bar or entertainment related.  Drive out to University area  and get Rack Room which is based there to open a store.  Lower the rents and up the percentage of sales and you will get the same results as a higher rent.  I could see people visiting a TJ's several times a week to get the bargain.  

Edited by KJHburg
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8 hours ago, tozmervo said:

Well, a couple of blocks along College would be. Uptown has a lot more going on today than it did when Epicentre was built. 

This. Without the investment in urban living and centralized tacit knowledge centers and farmers forward thinking in railroads in uptown, Charlotte would resemble Columbia today.  Charlotte is a progressive city at its core and that will never change. 

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31 minutes ago, TheOneRJ said:

You can disagree, the weekend crowds are on my side though. 

I agree with you sort of. For North Tryon, I see it. 

 

But south Tryon, Romare area definitely has its own groove independent from epicenter. Also, 1st ward park and 7th street market area also has its own draw. But Romare area definitely is a strong draw - particularly with all the events and residents 

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On 4/19/2019 at 9:44 PM, mpretori said:

This. Without the investment in urban living and centralized tacit knowledge centers and farmers forward thinking in railroads in uptown, Charlotte would resemble Columbia today.  Charlotte is a progressive city at its core and that will never change. 

You say that like it's a bad thing. Aside of my bias considering I went to USC I have to disagree with your sentiment.

When was the last time you were downtown Columbia? The university brings a very unique amount of street activity for a city of its size. USC, the Vista, inovista, main Street, and five points have created a great central urban core. Obviously it's not nearly as large as uptown/Southend but it's recently made leaps and bounds to make it's downtown more livable and a main destination for people throughout the metro.

Edited by Nick2
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12 hours ago, Nick2 said:

You say that like it's a bad thing. Aside of my bias considering I went to USC I have to disagree with your sentiment.

When was the last time you were downtown Columbia? The university brings a very unique amount of street activity for a city of its size. USC, the Vista, inovista, main Street, and five points have created a great central urban core. Obviously it's not nearly as large as uptown/Southend but it's recently made leaps and bounds to make it's downtown more livable and a main destination for people throughout the metro.

I'm talking about before and the founding's and development of these cities.  There is no comparison in the fact that Charlotte took much more risk in her early stages of growth and grew to a metropolis as these risks paid off. Columbia is playing catch up. Charlotte's on tap to become one of the biggest cities in the United State's. I could not be more proud to call Charlotte my hometown. 

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On 4/19/2019 at 9:44 PM, mpretori said:

This. Without the investment in urban living and centralized tacit knowledge centers and farmers forward thinking in railroads in uptown, Charlotte would resemble Columbia today.  Charlotte is a progressive city at its core and that will never change. 

Strictly speaking, I think Charlotte would resemble Salisbury, which was otherwise the natural choice for the rail line that runs through Columbia to Charleston. Charlotte leaders pushed for that rail connection, the city overtook Salisbury in size, and the rest is history.

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Development follows transportation.  Rule #1 in city building.  It's people who say "there's not enough density to support rail" don't get.  If we used that logic, the entire interstate highway network outside central business districts would have never happened and we'd never have had a landscape littered with crappy architecture.

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Development follows civil engineering. Water and sewer are necessary for development regardless of transportation patterns. A common complaint of civil engineers is new  development grows to abut their treatment facilities and cries grow to move the facility away from housing, so lines extend out to unserved area and then homes and businesses race to tap new extension and new resdents cry "Move that waste facility away from housing" and the cycle begins again.

9 hours ago, MACyr said:

Development follows transportation.  Rule #1 in city building.  It's people who say "there's not enough density to support rail" don't get.  If we used that logic, the entire interstate highway network outside central business districts would have never happened and we'd never have had a landscape littered with crappy architecture.

 

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1 hour ago, tarhoosier said:

Development follows civil engineering. Water and sewer are necessary for development regardless of transportation patterns. A common complaint of civil engineers is new  development grows to abut their treatment facilities and cries grow to move the facility away from housing, so lines extend out to unserved area and then homes and businesses race to tap new extension and new resdents cry "Move that waste facility away from housing" and the cycle begins again.

 

Back in the 80's when Harvey Gantt was Mayor, there was a deliberate effort to increase the sewer capacity in North Mecklenburg to keep Charlotte from developing endlessly southward into South Carolina. This was in the way pre-Ballantyne days.

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