Charlotte Off Topic

[CLT2014]

The new branding and name looks great. I love the logo incorporating the C into the crown. Novant's presenting sponsorship is very subtle and classy in the branding, emphasizing Charlotte over Novant. Even the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and Tata Consultancy Services New York City Marathon are heavy on their corporate sponsors' branding - heck, the Chicago Marathon is basically the Bank of America logo with the word Chicago added below BAC. Those have the legacy though where most people don't refer to it by the presenting sponsor. I think this is a welcome change to the Charlotte Marathon!

Edited January 16, 2016 by CLT2014

[InSouthPark]

On 1/15/2016 at 5:05 PM, ah59396 said:

Wow, that is definitely not how I perceive it.  Sorry it's such a bummer for you.  I've always enjoyed it!

It's sad really. Great running community here in town but there is no local support for this race.  There is a reason the marathon has declining finishers every year, and its not the name.  It's no so much as a "bummer" as it is, "yeah...no desire to run that one again". Marathons grow from good reviews and word of mouth.  They are changing the name to 

Just curious, have you run any marathons outside of Thunder Road (or NC) to compare it to? Just a frame of reference: this past October we ran Twin Cities in Minneapolis.  It was wall to wall people for approximately 90% of the marathon course. The city estimates the number of spectators at 300,000 people. It was unreal for a city that size. 

Let that sink in for a second. If Charlotte had 3,000 spectators it would be an improvement.  Heck, I ran Little Rock, AR in a 35 degree rain the whole race and there was many many many more spectators out on the course cheering us on (plus they had 3x the number of marathoners as CLT).

[ah59396]

10 hours ago, InSouthPark said:

It's sad really. Great running community here in town but there is no local support for this race.  There is a reason the marathon has declining finishers every year, and its not the name.  It's no so much as a "bummer" as it is, "yeah...no desire to run that one again". Marathons grow from good reviews and word of mouth.  They are changing the name to 

Just curious, have you run any marathons outside of Thunder Road (or NC) to compare it to? Just a frame of reference: this past October we ran Twin Cities in Minneapolis.  It was wall to wall people for approximately 90% of the marathon course. The city estimates the number of spectators at 300,000 people. It was unreal for a city that size. 

Let that sink in for a second. If Charlotte had 3,000 spectators it would be an improvement.  Heck, I ran Little Rock, AR in a 35 degree rain the whole race and there was many many many more spectators out on the course cheering us on (plus they had 3x the number of marathoners as CLT).

Admittedly I've only run in Greenville, Davidson and Tampa.  So I don't have a serious pedigree like it sounds like you do.  That said, my experience with the Charlotte race just isn't the same as yours.  I haven't run the race in 3 years now, but the last time I did, Mayor Foxx kicked it off on Tryon in front of a monster crowd.  All the neighborhoods showed up in force with people playing instruments, having big banners up and even offering me a beer (thanks NoDa).  But there was rarely a moment in the race where I didn't see people along the course, again, the times I ran it.  Maybe it's changed?  Maybe I'm stupid? (Probably).  I dunno.  My aunt and her run club loved it as well and they've run Gaspirilla and the Mardis Gras run in NO, among others.

 

edit:. Fwiw I'm not saying you're wrong.  Maybe I'm just ignorant.  But it Sounds like we've had vastly different experiences.  Which is still a problem for the race regardless.

Edited January 19, 2016 by ah59396

[InSouthPark]

^^ Oh I'm not saying your wrong (definitely not stupid) either.  

It is all about perspective. My wife and I are on mission to run a marathon in every state (25 marathons between us) before we get too old, so we have been all over the country to different races (including most of the big ones). Once you do a one of the better ones, you realize how much Charlotte is lacking. When you do one of the great ones, well...perspectives change forever. Not to say Thunder Road isn't "good" but when others rank it next to others they have done, it typically goes toward the bottom of the list based on course, crowd, price, and organization.  Heck I know more people from Charlotte that drive to Richmond to run their marathon (same day as CLT) instead of staying home to run ours.

Look at this way though: Numbers are declining for a "big city" marathon. A growing city of over a million people and our only marathon has less than a thousand finishers and is trending down. That's a problem. Something is keeping people away as the number of people running marathons is growing (25+% growth the past 10 years).  Raleigh, Savannah, OBX, Charleston, Tobacco Road, Kiawah, and Myrtle Beach all get more marathoners (plus Raleigh has 3 marathons of which 2 get more people than Charlotte's only).

 

 

[ah59396]

10 hours ago, InSouthPark said:

^^ Oh I'm not saying your wrong (definitely not stupid) either.  

It is all about perspective. My wife and I are on mission to run a marathon in every state (25 marathons between us) before we get too old, so we have been all over the country to different races (including most of the big ones). Once you do a one of the better ones, you realize how much Charlotte is lacking. When you do one of the great ones, well...perspectives change forever. Not to say Thunder Road isn't "good" but when others rank it next to others they have done, it typically goes toward the bottom of the list based on course, crowd, price, and organization.  Heck I know more people from Charlotte that drive to Richmond to run their marathon (same day as CLT) instead of staying home to run ours.

Look at this way though: Numbers are declining for a "big city" marathon. A growing city of over a million people and our only marathon has less than a thousand finishers and is trending down. That's a problem. Something is keeping people away as the number of people running marathons is growing (25+% growth the past 10 years).  Raleigh, Savannah, OBX, Charleston, Tobacco Road, Kiawah, and Myrtle Beach all get more marathoners (plus Raleigh has 3 marathons of which 2 get more people than Charlotte's only).

 

 

Fair point.  I wasn't aware the numbers had declined so much.  Maybe they need to pick a warmer date?  What's the benefit of a northerner traveling south for a race if it's still going to be 30 degrees?  Maybe a late September race would do better?  I dunno.

[Deleted.]

Not Just Coffee's Packard Place location is opening this spring! Cool!

[tozmervo]

I'm just going to leave this here without comment.

https://www.change.org/p/schaad-brown-real-estate-jmb-investment-company-dollar-general-build-a-better-dollar-general-at-washington-pike-and-murphy-road

[CLT2014]

Amazon is planning on opening hundreds of bookstores across the country! How awesome would one of those be in Uptown??

[Deleted.]

Hopefully AP will drop the "N.C."

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/development/article58623813.html#emlnl=todays-headlines_newsletter

[Silicon Dogwoods]

4 hours ago, Piedmont767 said:

Hopefully AP will drop the "N.C."

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/development/article58623813.html#emlnl=todays-headlines_newsletter

It will be a long, long time before AP drops 'N.C.' after our name.

If I recall correctly, AP didn't drop 'Ga.' after Atlanta until it had crossed the 4 million mark for metro population.

We're 1.5 million people away from that.

I'd love to drop the 'N.C.' stink, er, sticker. But we may as well forget it and move on.

Edited February 7, 2016 by Silicon Dogwoods

[Deleted.]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone have renderings/know what BoA Corporate Center what have looked like if any non-Cesar Pelli designs were selected. I am interested to see what if would have looked like if any of the following architects (which bid for the job according to wikipedia) designed BoA Corporate Center: 

I.M. Pei of New York City

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago

HKS Architects of Dallas

John Burgee Architects of New York City

WZMH Group of Dallas

Kohn Pederson Fox Associates of New York City 

Edited February 7, 2016 by Piedmont767

[Silicon Dogwoods]

1 hour ago, Piedmont767 said:

Just out of curiosity, does anyone have renderings/know what BoA Corporate Center what have looked like if any non-Cesar Pelli designs were selected. I am interested to see what if would have looked like if any of the following architects (which bid for the job according to wikipedia) designed BoA Corporate Center: 

I.M. Pei of New York City

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago

HKS Architects of Dallas

John Burgee Architects of New York City

WZMH Group of Dallas

Kohn Pederson Fox Associates of New York City 

I have none of these. But I have a story.

I.M.Pei, whose firm Pei Cobb Freed designed what is now called the US Bank tower in Los Angeles, personally submitted a design for the-then NationsBank headquarters in Charlotte. Supposedly, he said something to Hugh McColl along the lines of: "I've designed a very nice building for you. But you'll never be Atlanta."

So Hugh showed him the door and chose Cesar Pelli instead. 

Good choice. Cesar Pelli is known for neo-classic designs, like Salesforce Tower in San Francisco and Carnegie Hall Tower in Manhattan. At that moment in time, neo-classicism was the right choice for Charlotte, even though I prefer modernism. 

I've always had the impression that Hugh and Ken wanted to give Charlotte its own Rockefeller Center, with Bank of America Coporate Center playing 30 Rock and the Blumenthal playing Radio City. But Founders Hall is a dead ringer for the Winter Garden at World Financial Center (now called Brookfield Place), another Pelli design.

Edited February 7, 2016 by Silicon Dogwoods

[go_vertical]

I didn't see a fourth ward thread so I figured I would plop this here. I know very little about the fourth except for the fact that it is there and appears to be pretty much built out. Does anyone know how much of it is owner occupied? I ask because I was curious to know if anyone thinks that we may eventually see any of the smaller scale buildings taken down for taller uses as land becomes more and more scarce uptown. I know it will be some time before we see the rest of the loop fully built out, but that day will be here eventually. Is fourth ward 20-30 years from now going to be pretty much the same as what we have now?

[DMann]

I should be the same with the exceptions of the tire company on the corner of Graham and 6th - 7th, that and the block across the street wrapping around The VUE.  The only other future change I could consider is the rental Uptown Gardens site.

Then again, all the vacant land on the west side of Smith Street between 9th and 6th will no doubt  be built out.

 

[Crown]

Why do I find this so amusing? 

Uri Man, CEO of Miami-based Crystal Lagoons US, was in Charlotte last week drumming up business for the company. He said he’s got one deal under negotiation in Charlotte and one in Asheville, which could be signed and announced in the coming months

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/development/article59349962.html?utm_content=bufferc4475&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Edited February 10, 2016 by Crown

[CLT2014]

LOL. Ironically could end up being pretty successful, especially if there is a retiree component with our aging population. This is the USA... there will be people that eat this type of stuff up. I'm guessing the location is Ballantyne or LKN area.

Edited February 10, 2016 by CLT2014

[SgtCampsalot]

I've met several developers from Miami. They were all obsessed with high rise condos. They practically want to shoe-horn projects in Uptown. I guess crystal lagoons add variety to their interests.

[SouthEndCLT811]

14 minutes ago, SgtCampsalot said:

I've met several developers from Miami. They were all obsessed with high rise condos. They practically want to shoe-horn projects in Uptown. I guess crystal lagoons add variety to their interests.

Dubai style...

[Deleted.]

Oh God, please no!

[Silicon Dogwoods]

3 hours ago, SouthEndCLT811 said:

Dubai style...

Hideous Maximus.

[15895]

11 hours ago, SgtCampsalot said:

I've met several developers from Miami. They were all obsessed with high rise condos. They practically want to shoe-horn projects in Uptown. I guess crystal lagoons add variety to their interests.

 

 

Thats nice to hear. Are these developers pie in the sky or do some of the ones you met have realistic goals?

[SgtCampsalot]

8 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

 

 

Thats nice to hear. Are these developers pie in the sky or do some of the ones you met have realistic goals?

Haha, a little of both. I think they just didn't understand that there are different options in different cities. The ones I met got pretty rich before 2008 off of high rises in Miami but then lost it all, so they don't see any reason they can't again.

[Crown]

20 hours ago, CLT2014 said:

LOL. Ironically could end up being pretty successful, especially if there is a retiree component with our aging population. This is the USA... there will be people that eat this type of stuff up. I'm guessing the location is Ballantyne or LKN area.

They should just put it on levineland

[ah59396]

Quick off topic gripe about having to live in a city held hostage by American Airlines...

I like traveling abroad, and I like direct flights, which pretty much means outside of London or Munich, I'm flying AA.

EVERYTIME I fly AA, my flight gets changed, or the type of airplane switches, or heck this time they just flat out cancelled my flight from Venice to Philadelphia.  Decided after I'd booked it that it was seasonal, but apparently not important enough to even tell me.  I had to call in after checking my own status online.  Reps literally are so confused as to where my flight went, claim I got an email about it being cancelled.  Go back and dig through my spam folder, only email is from AA notifying me that my flight from CLT to Rome won't have WIFI as previously advertised when I actually paid for the flight.

 

That is AA in a nutshell.

You book a brand spanking new airbus, they put you on an old Boeing after you've paid for it.

You want WIFI?  They take it off your flight after you've paid for it.

You want a flight from Venice to Philadelphia departing at noon?  They take that away from you, DONT TELL YOU, force you to call in yourself to get it fixed, then put you on a 7am flight out of Venice instead with a longer layover in London.  And then of course, tell you they will email you confirmation...and don't.

 

Sorry for the griping.  Just can't believe I have to continually put up with this airline.  Used to fly Delta and connect through Atlanta.  Think I'm going to start biting the bullet and doing that again.  Never once burned me.  I just can't believe they would cancel my flight and not tell me...or have a plan even in place for me, haha.  Customer service 101.

 

EDIT: For what it's worth, the rep on the phone was very nice and helpful and apologetic.  But even she was like "why would they do this to you?".  You know it's bad when company representative is even on your side.

Edited February 13, 2016 by ah59396

[Deleted.]

The Daily Press up in NoDa is moving to a permanent location this Friday!! They are no longer going to be a pop up inside The Evening Muse. i love their drinks, I find them better than any other coffee shop in CLT. They also use a lot of local companies products such as Joe's Donuts and Salts of the Earth! I'm really excited!