Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[kermit]

Bus bridge is over, trains are back on campus.

[kermit]

UC deck is now around 1/3 full. It’s s -big-improvement over open but still kinda sad.

[KJHburg]

^^^ It is because of the ill fated plan to charge for parking. I noticed the Old Concord parking lot is much fuller these days.   They need to come up with a smart plan to avoid charging UC commuters that fee but discourage the college students. 

[deleted]

51 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

^^^ It is because of the ill fated plan to charge for parking. I noticed the Old Concord parking lot is much fuller these days.   They need to come up with a smart plan to avoid charging UC commuters that fee but discourage the college students. 

They already have a perfect plan, they just haven't implemented it.  Everyone but students use tickets (either paper or on their phone) or a monthly pass to ride.  Show your tickets or pass to exit and problem is solved.  Student ID's don't count...

Edited July 24, 2018 by JBS

[southslider]

^Except tickets less than a day pass don't count

 

[deleted]

If there was ever any question whether the extension would prompt future growth/redevelopment between Uptown and NODA, there isn't now.  Ran through and around NODA, Belmont, Villa Heights, etc.,  during my marathon training Saturday and I'm impressed with the change just in the last 6 months.  Not every project is great but even the existing streetscape in "downtown" NODA looks better.  Thompkins Hall is coming along also.  Perhaps redevelopment shouldn't be the focus of transit but that promise has definitely been kept.

[Desert Power]

18 hours ago, JBS said:

If there was ever any question whether the extension would prompt future growth/redevelopment between Uptown and NODA, there isn't now.  Ran through and around NODA, Belmont, Villa Heights, etc.,  during my marathon training Saturday and I'm impressed with the change just in the last 6 months.  Not every project is great but even the existing streetscape in "downtown" NODA looks better.  Thompkins Hall is coming along also.  Perhaps redevelopment shouldn't be the focus of transit but that promise has definitely been kept.

N Davidson and N Brevard between Parkwood and Matheson is going to be very interesting in 5 years.  I wonder how built up it will all get.

Edited July 31, 2018 by Desert Power

[kermit]

5 hours ago, Desert Power said:

N Davidson and N Brevard between Parkwood and Matheson is going to be very interesting in 5 years.  I wonder how built up it will all get.

I did find a couple of rendings for an unannounced project near Brevard and Matheson:

 

IMO there is too much beige in the first rendering.

Edited July 31, 2018 by kermit

[Dale]

Since the Blue Line and N Tryon do not converge until you're nearing UNCC, I'm presuming that the prior stretch of N Tryon will not see a catalytic effect, that it will have to sink or swim by other means ?

[kermit]

1 hour ago, Dale said:

Since the Blue Line and N Tryon do not converge until you're nearing UNCC, I'm presuming that the prior stretch of N Tryon will not see a catalytic effect, that it will have to sink or swim by other means ?

The gentrification of N Tryon (south of the Blue Line) is in full swing. It was started by NoDa Brewing and you can see signs of tenticals (announcements but no construction yet) reaching out from Mathesion, 36th (driven partly by the BLE). In addition there are plenty of $300k + houses for sale in Lockwood / Tryon Hills. If the N Tryon vison plan gets any traction in the uptown end of this corridor then there will be development pressure in every corner.

The rumored grocery store on the ‘wrong side of the tracks’ on 36th will also accelerate residential development.

Edited July 31, 2018 by kermit

[Matthew.Brendan]

CAMP NorthEnd pushing in from the other side as well

[elrodvt]

2 hours ago, kermit said:

I did find a couple of rendings for an unannounced project near Brevard and Matheson:

 

"It's boy Elroy"

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, elrodvt said:

"It's boy Elroy"

 

god. if I had millions of dollars. I'd build that first house in the pictures.

[DMann]

Go to work for Spacely Sprockets, I hear they pay well.

[Hushpuppy321]

Anyone know how well the Blue Line Extension is spurring development in University City?  I wonder if all the development activity mentioned / taking place in NoDa, Optimist Park areas will cause slower growth in University.

[kermit]

13 hours ago, Hushpuppy321 said:

Anyone know how well the Blue Line Extension is spurring development in University City?  I wonder if all the development activity mentioned / taking place in NoDa, Optimist Park areas will cause slower growth in University.

I have worked in UC for nearly 20 years and my mother in law lived there well before that. I considered the place to be irredeemable for most of that time.  However the past year has seen lots of new apartments (about half along the BLE), the partial refurbishment of University Place, a band new Waffle House, and the demo of some aging single-story office space. The latter is planned to be replaced with high end residential and some retail IIRC. In short, UC is doing much better than I ever thought it would.

The amount of time I have spent in the area makes me a pessimist so I am not entirely convinced that the new investments will get much traction. In addition, I think the auto-sewers in the neighborhood will ultimately limit redevelopment since there is only so much walkability developers can add.   But I recognize my bias and the past year certainly suggests that I am wrong.  In addition, I think UNCC is taking its role in neighborhood redevelopment seriously,  the Marriott conference center will be a big plus and I hope they can encourage the development of a student "strip" up there.

Now if we could just get freaking Firewater to go away and replace it with something decent.....

Edited August 2, 2018 by kermit

[videtur quam contuor]

I rode the blue line out and back on a Sunday to gauge the area and it was amazing to see from the rail car, as it is a much different view than from my driver's seat in my automobile. There is substantial unused, underused, vacant, for sale and otherwise potential development from Orr road to just south of Harris Blvd.

[nicholas]

12 hours ago, Hushpuppy321 said:

Anyone know how well the Blue Line Extension is spurring development in University City?  I wonder if all the development activity mentioned / taking place in NoDa, Optimist Park areas will cause slower growth in University.

Like @kermit said, there's some new construction, but there's a lot of un- or under-developed land in UC and it'll take a while for everything to get developed.  One thing that I think would be cool to see in that area would be some street parking along Tryon St, like in South End, although the current dynamics of UC may make that quite difficult to integrate effectively.

[KJHburg]

Give it some time not even 6 months opened yet in University area.  New 5 story apartments replacing a single story office building.  New transit oriented hotel on campus by station.  It took years for some development to take off on the south line and it will here too.   But the area is off to great start.  Plus 2 new apartment complexes at one station.

[archiham04]

Based on what we have seen on the South line I have the following belief:

Areas that have established retail/commercial do not see transformational redevelopment from Transit investment (in the first 10-15yrs).  ...think arrowood rd, tyvola, archdale, woodlawn...  but they do see reinvestment, but mostly in the form of higher rents or remodeled buildings.  Areas that have industrial or run-down industrial, see almost immediate transformation ...think  southend, loso, noda, optimist park etc.

I think that the university area will see redevelopment faster than the southern portions of the original light rail (due to the proximity to University and Research/employment centers), but I don't expect much for the next 10 + years.

[HighRiseHillbilly]

2 hours ago, archiham04 said:

Based on what we have seen on the South line I have the following belief:

Areas that have established retail/commercial do not see transformational redevelopment from Transit investment (in the first 10-15yrs).  ...think arrowood rd, tyvola, archdale, woodlawn...  but they do see reinvestment, but mostly in the form of higher rents or remodeled buildings.  Areas that have industrial or run-down industrial, see almost immediate transformation ...think  southend, loso, noda, optimist park etc.

I think that the university area will see redevelopment faster than the southern portions of the original light rail (due to the proximity to University and Research/employment centers), but I don't expect much for the next 10 + years.

I think given this time line, the area will look surprisingly urban. As we run out of space, development up there will be packed tighter and taller - homes, retail, and offices. They're already a little ahead with at least 4 two-story retail locations. Within 20 years, that area will be pleasantly unrecognizable. 

[Cadi40]

I think University City has the opportunity to be Charlotte's true second skyline. 

[AuLukey]

I think University City has the opportunity to be Charlotte's true second skyline. 

For that to happen, the city will have to invest heavily in the area’s infrastructure (or lack there of.) The monster roads there are not suited for that sort of density. A better, fuller grid (which has been drawn up by UCP) has sort of begun to be implemented, but it has a significant way to go before any type of high density development can take form.

[Cadi40]

Agreed, If we take the proper steps now to create more of a grid pattern for the roads it's then we can develop density. This is easily 15 years out, But University City is already Charlotte's second largest employment district if I'm correct.

 

[15895]

I don’t want secondary skylines. 

Ive never been to a suburb with a skyline that didn’t feel sterile and boring.