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Charlotte Photo of the Day


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On 9/30/2022 at 7:28 PM, skymiler said:

I would add Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Milwaukee,  St. Louis, and Orlando (not sure if it's considered larger) to that list. Also, while Boston is much denser, not sure their skyline is any better either. 

Agree with all of your first sentence, except Charlotte is already bigger than all those cities if you go by census metropolitan population (except St. Louis, but I listed that). Charlotte is doing what it should by totally outclassing their skylines. 

Boston is a tough one to rank. I think it takes a bit of a hit because its skyline is oddly shaped, with a central core and then skyscrapers trailing away in a line along the Back Bay. I tend to give it the edge over Charlotte because if you consider all the mid-high rises in Cambridge and Seaport, along with the skyscrapers of the Back Bay and downtown, it is a vast area of impressively tall buildings. However I can see what you're saying, Boston buildings definitely lose to Charlotte in the sheer verticality department. I think they may be limited by the proximity of the airport.

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Agree with all of your first sentence, except Charlotte is already bigger than all those cities if you go by census metropolitan population (except St. Louis, but I listed that). Charlotte is doing what it should by totally outclassing their skylines. 
Boston is a tough one to rank. I think it takes a bit of a hit because its skyline is oddly shaped, with a central core and then skyscrapers trailing away in a line along the Back Bay. I tend to give it the edge over Charlotte because if you consider all the mid-high rises in Cambridge and Seaport, along with the skyscrapers of the Back Bay and downtown, it is a vast area of impressively tall buildings. However I can see what you're saying, Boston buildings definitely lose to Charlotte in the sheer verticality department. I think they may be limited by the proximity of the airport.

Their downtown limit is actually 700-900’ and 1000’ on the furthest end from the airport. It is not any more restricted than Charlotte with CLT also being relatively close. Boston is a tough cookie, I agree. Charlotte is getting there! FAA is limiting heights I’m sure and I have been wanting to find a map similar to this with the height restrictions they have for Charlotte.

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On 9/22/2022 at 10:16 PM, Rufus said:

Good ol' Dilworth Crescent...one of my dream neighborhoods. I've been a fan of this view for over 20 years. 

I remember when it was announced and after completion it was THE money shot for the city for years.  It was in essentially every brochure, magazine, catalog (for all the Millenials and Gen Z's a catalog was something that virtually all retailers would have available in-store for you to take home and browse all of the items the store offered. Belk and Sears mailed one to like everybody a few months b4 xmas) 

   But yes, the elevation difference between Dilworth Crescent and Uptown makes for a stunning view year round.

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12 minutes ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

So many gems. Is that an articulated bus in the lower right hand? And a bridge over the train tracks? 
 

Amazing picture I haven’t seen. 

I guess you're referring to 5th street? It doesn't look like a bridge, but I also can't figure out what happened to the railroad. Did it originally stop before crossing 5th?

You can also see what looks like 2 Wells Fargo under construction up to about the 8th floor with cranes on top of it. 

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I think the rail line was on grade at the 5th street location same as now. Those streets heading down hill (East) were originally all on grade and in the early 20th century with the vast increase of motor traffic the streets were excavated under the rail line, as one sees now south of Trade. The slope of the land is greater on the south side of Trade heading East than on the North side of Trade.

Belk store, dunno. It was big. Many, many departments;  dining, travel agent, bridal, formal rental, hair salon (La Marick) and much more.

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1 hour ago, turbocraig said:

Why is the theme song from ‘Good Times’ suddenly in my head?   How sad and depressing looking.   Anyone know how many square feet that Belk was (*cough @KJHburg@tarhoosier)?  It’s huge!

something over 300,000 sq ft if I remember correctly it was huge.  Multiple levels at the 5th and College corner and multiple levels too at the part facing E Trade and N Tryon.  My aunt and grandmother worked there and they were far apart in the store.  

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At this time, and a short time later when I came to Charlotte, the Independence building at Trade and Tryon, just beyond Belk in this perspective, was the first skyscraper in North Carolina, or it was as I recall from that era. At the street level in that building in the most prominent corner for the city at a time when the center of commerce and transportation took place at that very spot, was the National Hat Shop. Think about that for a minute. Men's hats and other accessories but predominantly hats. There were 2(!) billiard halls on South Tryon, at street level. Pawn shops clustered on East Trade. Kistler Hardware on College just north of Belk. With a hardware store cat, black and white when I was there about this period, or close enough. Frank Woods Pontiac showroom on South Tryon about where the old Wachovia building now sits. There is more but you get the idea. The historic photos you may see for Southern cities in the 30's and 40's, that was Charlotte into the early 70's.

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http://www.midatlanticgateway.com/2019/05/charlotte-history-national-hat-shop.html

Gary and Maxine Silverstein are Mann Travels, a longtime travel agency here in Charlotte. Son of the National Hat Shop owner. National Hat was the ticket outlet for shows of all kinds. This is how it was in the before times.

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On 10/7/2022 at 3:42 PM, KJHburg said:

Charlotte I missed your skyline while out in the southwest.  You may not be a Dallas a Fort Worth a San Antonio or a Houston but our skyline is beautiful and so are all the trees around town. 

IMG_3874.JPG

Fort Worth? I didn't realize it had much of a skyline.  Maybe Dallas's just overshadows it. 

San Antonio?  Same thoughts for that city too. 

My interest is peaked.  

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7 hours ago, Take2 said:

Fort Worth? I didn't realize it had much of a skyline.  Maybe Dallas's just overshadows it. 

San Antonio?  Same thoughts for that city too. 

My interest is peaked.  

Our skyline is better than Fort Worth's or San Antonio's but they have some unique buildings in their downtowns.   Charlotte's is getting more and more like Dallas's as their high rises have spread northward and out of the downtown core.   But the big D is still impressive. 

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