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Charlotte Bobcats Arena


utcltjay

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And how many of the 1461 hours this represents will the arena be open? The rest of the time it is closed and represents a huge amount of dead space in the center of the city.

What percentage of that time would dead space be created at a park or retail? Parks close, shops close, etc. You can't count 4am or any other overnight hours because very little would be open during that time anywhere in a US city.

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And how many of the 1461 hours this represents will the arena be open? The rest of the time it is closed and represents a huge amount of dead space in the center of the city. None the less, this isn't me saying this, it is the business owners around the center. They should have left it on Tyvola road if the only thing people do is drive to the arena, attend the event, then go home.
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I don't want to get stuck up too much in this argument, but if the arena is dead space now, was it not dead space there before the arena anyway? And wouldn't it still be dead space today? Hard to say, but I'd put my money on it still looking the same as it did six years ago if the arena hadn't been built there. Right across from the CATS hub doesn't put the word highrise into my mind.
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I read that article in the Observer and none of the people they interviewed said that business decreased since the Arena. They all said that business has increased due to the Arena...just that it has not been a huge swell of business. I think that as the Bobcats improve as a team, and more people go to the games...then business will improve. Happy people are more willing to spend money than unhappy people.

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there were actually a group of cool, older buildings (along with surface lots) there that housed office space. as well, carpe diem was located there for awhile (which was my least favorite location for them - they've had 3) and has always been a pretty active place. i personally do not have an issue with the arena... but just to clarify... there was activity @ the location before.
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I wonder what the correlation between those who approve of the arena being sports fans and those who don't not being sports fans? I see this more as the art/investing argument. Should you buy art because it is a good investment or because you like the way it looks? Probably a little bit of both, but the empahsis should certainly be buying what you like to look at. On the whole, Charlotteans are big sports fans and that plays into our decisions to spend private and government money. There's less thinking (aside from politicians and journalists) by your average Charlottean about economic impact and more about just the opportunity to conveniently have fun, root for a good team, feel good about your hometown and forget about your own troubles for the night. I think maybe this board suffers a bit from "institutional capture" - everything is viewed through the construction/urban/economic development angle because that's the purpose of the community. It's a little arrogant to think those are the number one priorities of everyone else in Charlotte. Or, because you might not be a sports fan, that such things are just a huge waste of money.

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Everyone knows Charlotte is a "we love a winner" kind of city. Look at the Panthers' attendance between 2001 and 2003. (for the non-sport-buffs, that is the three year span that we went from a 1-14 team to a 11-5 team.)

Give the Bobcats time, if we make the playoffs this year or the next, look for the arena to fill up and the media to start paying more attention.

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there were actually a group of cool, older buildings (along with surface lots) there that housed office space. as well, carpe diem was located there for awhile (which was my least favorite location for them - they've had 3) and has always been a pretty active place. i personally do not have an issue with the arena... but just to clarify... there was activity @ the location before.
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We have more than a billion dollar in roadway needs thanks to the excessively high vehicle miles traveled in this region. That is due to so much being located in the suburbs where transit and pedestrian traffic cannot easily go. That is why we need a new revenue source not because of the arena.

Without the unsustainable growth patterns, the core tax system would be able to handle it.

The hotel-motel tax cannot go to roads anyway, because the hotel industry and the state legislature agreed to the tax, and it was to go only to specfic projects that build up visitorship.

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metro m. you are making the assumption that an uptown farmer's market will bring more activity. You said it yourself when you stated that You predict that it would be filled with people and activity in and around the so-called farmer's market.

the key is that the city needs to be patient. we are all expecting an arena, that was opened just a year ago i believe, to be filled with activity and retail and nightlife. unfortunately at the sign of non-activity we jump the gun and cry foul. it takes time to create an urban pedestrian district.

the arena brings activity, we are not arguing that, but what we are arguing is whether the arena has been beneficial to the populace of charlotte, aka the taxpayers. it is way too early to decide this. There need to be other things that bring people uptown as well, like hotels, homes, and other attractions. It is never a "one-man." it has to be symbiotic.

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That is a stretch at best. I rode public transportation by that area all the time before the arena, and your remembrance is a stretch at best. There were 4, very large parking lots there with 3 buildings that were similar to those across Trade St and mostly vacant. I RARELY saw anyone enter. I remember this stretch pre-Arena for what it was. A lot of parking and an unobstructed view of parking decks. The only activity in this area was people parking and leaving.
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where the do you feel the "stretch" is? is it a stretch that there was a cluster of old buildings there? is it a stretch to say there were some offices here? is it stretch that i said there were also surface lots? is it a stretch that i said CARPE DIEM used to be there?

no... these are facts.

btw, that restaurant has ALWAYS been successful - and the last time i heard it took people coming to your restaurant to make it so. i never said it was bustling or hoppin'.... i simply said there was activity.

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