Charlotte Off Topic

[ah59396]

Back in Charlotte, and just wanted to beat a dead horse here real quick.  Not only was I impressed with the amount of building going on in Denver, I think what more so impressed me was the quality of the product they were putting up.  For every EIFS structure, there were 5 interesting, dynamic designs in place that looked completely unique.  It also appears that Denver has made no concessions to builders, every unit I saw had base retail in place, chalk full of restaurants, coffee shops, stores, ect.

 

I can understand that we are far behind a San Diego or Seattle in terms of urban dynamics.  But what's frustrating me is to see a city like Denver that is only a minute portion larger than us, completely blowing our doors off.  This city HAS to do a better job moving forward.  We've got to expect more from ourselves.

[15895]

Back in Charlotte, and just wanted to beat a dead horse here real quick. Not only was I impressed with the amount of building going on in Denver, I think what more so impressed me was the quality of the product they were putting up. For every EIFS structure, there were 5 interesting, dynamic designs in place that looked completely unique. It also appears that Denver has made no concessions to builders, every unit I saw had base retail in place, chalk full of restaurants, coffee shops, stores, ect.

I can understand that we are far behind a San Diego or Seattle in terms of urban dynamics. But what's frustrating me is to see a city like Denver that is only a minute portion larger than us, completely blowing our doors off. This city HAS to do a better job moving forward. We've got to expect more from ourselves.

Progress like turning the info center & Amelie's into a lobby? yay uptown!

[ah59396]

Progress like turning the info center & Amelie's into a lobby? yay uptown!

 

Pretty much exactly what I'm talking about.  Haha.

[rugger62]

Since Foxx left there has been a huge leadership vacuum in the city. We need strong, sustained leadership to steer the City Council if we want to not lose all of the momentum we have.

What do y'all think about the upcoming mayoral race? Does Jennifer Roberts have what it takes to get us 'there'? I don't think the other dems do, and no repubs have even said they are going to run (publicly). 

[southslider]

^David Howard would be a good mayor.

Edited January 22, 2015 by southslider

[HopHead]

I nominate Ricky Davis Fan for Mayor...

[CLTProductions]

I nominate Ricky Davis Fan for Mayor...

Second

[DMann]

Second

He doesn't own any parking lots does he?

[ajfunder]

^I have grown to respect and like David Howard, he is a big transit proponent and he has helped lead the MTC search for additional funding avenues for transit expansion.

[rugger62]

Wow, I didn't realize David Howard had such an impressive resume. It's going to make for an interesting primary. I hope he and JR don't get into mudslinging...  

 

I noticed his bio left out one important point for a native though - where did he graduate from high school? Anyone know? 

[southslider]

Honestly, it will be Howard's race to lose, since Roberts is more likely to split votes with Clodfelter. And enough South Charlotteans still won't register Independent to vote in the more meaningful local primary.

[ScottCLT]

He doesn't own any parking lots does he?

No, but he doesn't actually live here anymore. Maybe we could convince him to move back from Brooklyn if he had a chance at becoming mayor!

[cltbwimob]

I nominate Ricky Davis Fan for Mayor...

I like Dan Clodfelter as mayor, but could definitely throw my support behind RDF for city council.

Perhaps we could have a few UPers move to all districts in the city and county, run for office in their respective districts, and pack both governing bodies with UP representation.

[ChessieCat]

^re-posted in a more appropriate forum

Edited February 4, 2015 by ChessieCat

[15895]

Any recommendations for an entry-ish level head hunters (field is accounting)?

[Urbanity]

Hey all Y'all -  

 

Know I haven't been on here in a while though I check in on occasion to see who is throwing around the word sketchy while claiming they love urbanity  

 

Anywho just want to share that I had some out of town guests in for a visit recently and they were raving about the QC.  Interestingly I haven't been downtown (yes it will always be downton to me) in over a year and was so happy with all the in-fill.

 

And on that note - they (the out of towners) actually found something on youtube I've never seen/heard before.  It's from 2010 so hopefully someone can reach out to the artist and offer to update the video - but I gotta admit I love the song...  and not just because I am "Queen" in Queen City   

 

Anyway thought I would share as it has a kind of Left my Heart in San Francisco vibe that I think really is special - almost as special as our city!    I know the media follows this site - maybe someone from the Observer can give this song a push with publicity.

Edited February 12, 2015 by Urbanity

[cltbwimob]

Hey all Y'all -  

Know I haven't been on here in a while though I check in on occasion to see who is throwing around the word sketchy while claiming they love urbanity  

 

Anywho just want to share that I had some out of town guests in for a visit recently and they were raving about the QC.  Interestingly I haven't been downtown (yes it will always be downton to me) in over a year and was so happy with all the in-fill.

 

And on that note - they (the out of towners) actually found something on youtube I've never scene/heard before.  It's from 2010 so hopefully someone can reach out to the artist and offer to update the video - but I gotta admit I love the song...  and not just because I am "Queen" in Queen City   

 

Anyway thought I would share as it has a kind of Left my Heart in San Francisco vibe that I think really is special - almost as special as our city!    I know the media follows this site - maybe someone from the Observer can give this song a push with publicity.

Whoa!!! Urbanity's back. 

 

Welcome back.

[Urbanity]

^Thanks. 

 

Charlotte and Urban Planet are two places one just always loves once you have experienced.

[birky]

Completely off topic, but Kevin Siers of the CO hit one out of the park today regarding the tragedy in Chapel Hill:

 

[rugger62]

With all of the Uptown development news in the last week, UP is all like 

 

[navigator319]

any reason why we cant support this??

 

http://kxan.com/2015/02/13/austins-largest-hotel-jw-marriott-opens-doors/

[go_vertical]

I could be wrong here, but maybe hotel developers/operators don't see our convention business robust enough to convince them to build something on that scale. Also, with uptown getting so many 150, 300, 400 room hotels now the need for that one massive convention hotel becomes less as less.

[HopHead]

I don't see any reason why Charlotte couldn't support a 1,000+ room hotel. It's been on the wish list of the city for a while and would be key to getting larger conventions and events like the Super Bowl (a long shot anyways). Austin is also starting work on a Fairmont which is another luxury 1,000 room hotel as well. The one thing that does hamper the possibility here which is what go_vertical mentioned, lots of 150-400 room hotels already underway. As much as I love the Crescent Whole Foods development, it's a shame that a larger hotel couldn't be a component of that. 

[ah59396]

So this is a little big picture, but I work in the auto insurance industry and as such, pay close attention to the rapidly developing autonomous car industry.

This article made the hair on my neck stand up: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/01/27/how-ubers-autonomous-cars-will-destroy-10-million-jobs-and-reshape-the-economy-by-2025-lyft-google-zack-kanter/

It highlights UBER and their development of an autonomous car network. Beyond the fact that they have recently purchased Carnegie Mellon's entire robotics division for the use of SDC's and have a valuation of $41billion (whoa), the article highlights the race underway between all the major automakers and the desire not to be the next Kodak or Blockbuster.

Needless to say, some of the statistics really are staggering. The almost complete reduction in traffic, the idea of not owning a car but having a "subscription" to UBER and sharing autonomous vehicles, the fact that parking lots and spots would essentially become obsolete.

The time frame does seem a little short, as I think 10-15 years is brief for this type of shift. That said, this technology is coming, quickly. The recent developments in driverless tech have been substantial, driven by the fact that everyone from UBER and Google to Audi and GMC are working on the tech. And I really think it is going to completey reshape the way we think about a city, urban design and mass transportation. This is all assuming the machines don't become our overlords first.

Does Charlotte have any long term plans to incorporate this emerging technology? The implications on logistics and traffic flow are staggering. Are the changes and substantial capital investments the city is making right now going to be obsolete in less than 2 decades?

In 2035, why own a monthly CATS pass for $100 as opposed to an UBER subscription for $100 that brings your from door to door?

Edited February 21, 2015 by ah59396

[southslider]

^Because doors are for people, not cars. Wherever sidewalks are full of people, transit can remain productive and efficient, especially when the transit alternative has space exclusive of the car-clogged streets to reliably transport you between active pedestrian-oriented places.