Charlotte Off Topic

[grodney]

If all the Targets were Super, then none of them would be!

[spenser1058]

When SuperTargets were all the rage among the folks in charge in Minneapolis, the two primary states for expansion were Texas and Florida. That’s why you saw so many when you were living here in the glorious Sunshine State.

As mentioned previously, they have since fallen out of favor once the new CEO came in. The SuperTargets never had the stellar financial performance of the current darlings, the smaller-format stores heavily curated for college towns. Add to that the fact that, when it comes to grocery, Target can’t seem to decide what it wants to be when it grows up and the switch is understandable.

More’s the pity, as my SoDo SuperTarget here in Orlando has much better prices than Publix (and free delivery with my REDcard). Sadly, the produce and meat departments (no in-store butchers) are lacking.

Target is all about cheap chic and a notch above Walmart but in grocery that’s not the case. The disconnect is a big reason SuperTargets didn’t work.

 

[nashbill]

I really have a hard time finding a topic to put info out there and don't want to start a new one.  This to me is more of a sad news post.  I was going over to Crossland Studios / Architectural  Antiques and found out they will be closed in a week and all there inventory has been sold.  I have not gone there since I moved back, but when I lived in Elizabeth I bought some things there and really loved to browse the store.  So sad that the owners are retiring and the store will be gone. It really was a great store. 

[Bikeguy]

We lost an icon in American/World architecture today.   Fortunately he left his fingerprint on Charlotte. 

[elrodvt]

We need to appreciate our behemoths:

[15895]

Tyson’s Corner.

America’s next great city.  4sq. Miles with a density of 4,600 per sq. Mile. 

It’s probably in the top 10 of employment centers in the US. 

It has 29 million sq. Ft of office space (CBD Charlotte excluding midtown has 21.8 million). I think CBD Charlotte May be around 2.5 sq. Miles. Vs. 4 for Tyson’s. 

 

Tyson’s also has quite a few Fortune 500 HQs. HQs in Tyson’s include the following: 

”The corporate headquarters of Booz Allen Hamilton, MITRE Corporation, Capital One, Freddie Mac, Gannett Company, Hilton Worldwide, Exelis, MicroStrategy, Octagon, Logistics Management Institute, Primus Telecom, SAIC, Space Adventures, Spacenet, Sunrise Senior Living, and USA Today are located in Tysons Corner”

 

“Other firms with offices in Tysons Corner include Adobe Systems,^[34] BAE Systems,^[35]Compuware,^[36]DXC Technology, Palantir Technologies, Ernst & Young,^[37] Northrop Grumman,^[38] PricewaterhouseCoopers,^[39]Xerox,^[40] and Vie de France.”

 

Tyson’s is served by 4 metro Stops and will soon have an extension to Dulles airport opening soon. 

The lighter grey portion is the extension that will open. The little kink is Dulles Airport. Yes, the  Silver like goes way, way, way far out. 34 miles out from the center of DC. That’s the equivalent of uptown having service to Kings Mountain on rapid transit. 

 

 

Tyson’s also has the largest mall in all of VA and MD and is directly beside a luxury mall. 

 

Now such a lovely sounding place. Here’s a drone video of the area:

 

All those accolades, all the development, the density, the HQ’s, the mass transit. And it’s the biggest pile of sh1t ever. Ballantyne is more exciting. SouthPark feels bigger. Tyson’s literally feels exactly like the old coliseum  area in Charlotte. Such great assets, such terrrrrible build and form. 

 

[KJHburg]

22 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

Tyson’s Corner.

 

 

All those accolades, all the development, the density, the HQ’s, the mass transit. And it’s the biggest pile of sh1t ever. Ballantyne is more exciting. SouthPark feels bigger. Tyson’s literally feels exactly like the old coliseum  area in Charlotte. Such great assets, such terrrrrible build and form. 

 

 

Watch it now I had my high school reunion at a tall Sheraton hotel in Tysons and  Tysons  was ugly when I was in high school and still is today.  You forgot to mention the lovely toilet bowl building.  Let me see if I can find it.  However they are trying to make it better and more urban and walkable.  I will be up there this summer in my old stomping ground so I will let you know. 

KJ Robinson HS grad of the Fairfax County Public Schools.   I learned to drive on I-66 and by merging onto I-495 and moving over immediately 4 lanes to get off at Leesburg Pike  in Tysons!   Actually the Capital One tower the new one is the tallest building in the metro area (not including monuments) at 470 feet tall. 

Toilet bowl building LOL  http://www.trivialtraveler.com/2014/04/03/toilet-bowl-building/

Edited May 19, 2019 by KJHburg

[rancenc]

Not in Charlotte but up the road in Salisbury!!

https://www.salisburypost.com/2019/05/21/the-red-sea-cheerwine-festival-brings-50000-to-downtown-salisbury/

[EllAyyDub]

What a great trip down memory lane.. I finally was able to rummage through the attic and pull out this old thing. Those German enginerds really know how to make a good toy (yes, the instructions are entirely in German - I don’t know what my grandfather was thinking...).  Only 1 of the two or three motors were still functioning and missing a few pieces but the batteries were still working after multiple decades and it still raises itself and can pick things up! 

[tozmervo]

Think I completed speed street bingo in record time this year

[go_vertical]

16 hours ago, EllAyyDub said:

 

I WANT ONE!!!!!! 

[davidclt]

20 hours ago, tozmervo said:

Think I completed speed street bingo in record time this year

Remind me again of the categories? One thing's for sure, it's no Charlotte Shout.

[tozmervo]

12 hours ago, davidclt said:

Remind me again of the categories? One thing's for sure, it's no Charlotte Shout.

 

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

Question for the airport/airline experts.  I have Amex Membership Reward points that I'm trying to redeem, however, American Airlines is not a direct transfer partner.  From research, they say to transfer to either British Airways or Etihad to then book AA flights.  But when I search flights with either site, there is no availability or results that pop up (assuming limited domestic destinations).  CLT to SEA.  Do any of you know any tips or tricks, thanks!

[SouthEndCLT811]

I used to do this with BA for my Chase Sapphire card.  As you saw I feel like the options have dried up being able to book AA flights with via the BA website.  I've given up and just use points I received on that card to apply to my Marriott account and opened up an AA card.   Last time I tried this on a basic CLT to JFK option it just said something along the lines of BA not flying this route.  To me it looks like redeeming reward flights went from presenting other Oneworld options to being very specific to BA routes.

Edited May 29, 2019 by SouthEndCLT811

[kermit]

There is some irony that Charlotte is (sorta) pumped up about our hockey team making it to the league finals while Canada is loosing its collective mind over its NBA team playing for a championship.

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

17 hours ago, SouthEndCLT811 said:

I used to do this with BA for my Chase Sapphire card.  As you saw I feel like the options have dried up being able to book AA flights with via the BA website.  I've given up and just use points I received on that card to apply to my Marriott account and opened up an AA card.   Last time I tried this on a basic CLT to JFK option it just said something along the lines of BA not flying this route.  To me it looks like redeeming reward flights went from presenting other Oneworld options to being very specific to BA routes.

Yeah, I was debating on opening up an AA card but it would make my Amex/Chase card less useful.  Sucks neither are direct transfer partners with AA (Citi took that).  I guess the best route is to book through either the Chase or Amex travel portal, but redeeming points is still way cheaper through AA points.  I currently find my Chase points a lot more valuable than Amex right now (esp with Hyatt reward nights).  

[Nick2]

Anyone else love maps and data? (Who's kidding, if you're reading this then you do)

I stumbled across some awesome stuff about cities' housing during the new deal. Essentially the policies brought about by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation are what shaped  American cities and neighborhoods being so divided and segregated.

"Mapping Inequality introduces viewer to the records of the Home Owners' Loan Corporation on a scale that is unprecedented. These materials afford an extraordinary view of the contours of wealth and racial inequality in Depression-era American cities and insights into discriminatory policies and practices."

Here's the link: Five NC cities are on the list included Charlotte

[grodney]

For you uptown workers who haven't heard yet, and that's probably impossible, the Ritual app is running an Uptown Food Fest through this week, where a ton of restaurants have a $1 menu item.  For Mellow Mushroom it's a small pizza (which I had Thu), Phil's Deli it's a steak philly (which I had Fri), and American Burger Co it's a burger (which I'm having now).

And if you sign up with a code, like 400STRYON, you get a $10 credit.  So you're paying nothing for your $1 lunch items.

Beware, though, it's a "social" app where you join a "team" and the app automatically notifies everybody on your team that you're going to get lunch and you can pick up for anybody else who is ordering their own.  Of course you can disable all that, which you should.

[KJHburg]

Crane falls from construction site to evidently stick built apartment building 5 stories  in Dallas and collapses a parking deck there too one of those prefab garages 

all this happened in severe storm that moved across Dallas.

https://www.kens5.com/article/weather/1-dead-as-crane-collapses-into-downtown-dallas-apartment-complex-after-severe-weather-roars-across-dfw/273-3a1cb1f4-3ccf-4a67-9edd-3a3a2a125147

another tv report

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2019/06/09/dfw-weather-damage-reported-throughout-north-texas-as-severe-storms-move-through/

 

Edited June 10, 2019 by KJHburg

[KJHburg]

More photos and video it is incredible the damage this crane did lots of questions here.  About how the crane was secured?  the crane first hit the building first then collapsed the garage a prefab garage down to the ground at least one section of it.  

Since this type of construction is prevalent in our apartment complexes especially intown every general contractor in town needs to study this.  This is a chain of spectacular construction failures in my book.  http://www.fox4news.com/news/strong-winds-cause-crane-to-collapse-on-downtown-dallas-apartment-building

[tozmervo]

At least I'm not being asked to sign Trump's birthday card anymore 

[elrodvt]

Will you be going to dinner with him though? I started to put them in spam but they're enjoyable in a strange way. 

[Nick2]

I applaud Bank of America for doing this. Not supplying financing to private prisons and detention centers is a great message.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/26/business/bank-of-america-private-detention/index.html

[Crucial_Infra]

By way of nothing but some days I just randomly think of the photoshop @Tyrone Wiggum made of the Crying Jordan Waterfall skyscraper and LOL. So crucial. Please post it again Tyrone so the world can see it once more and so I can save it on my phone for a periodic pickup. Thank you.