Charlotte Off Topic

[CLTProductions]

I can see where my Uber driver is on an app.  Why not a CATS bus or train for that matter?

I say this exact same thing every day when I am waiting for the never-on-time gold rush.

Edited April 15, 2015 by Jayvee

[DMann]

Agree.  This seems like a very solid investment that can greatly improve reliability and ridership numbers.  I can see where my Uber driver is on an app.  Why not a CATS bus or train for that matter?

Cats does have an app.  I use it frequently to plan my trips around town.  I find the reliability to be pretty good. 

[ah59396]

Cats does have an app.  I use it frequently to plan my trips around town.  I find the reliability to be pretty good. 

 

I'm aware of the app.  I have it as well and I'm not fond of it.  In fact, for the light rail I use iCatch LYNX, which I actually like.  Still needs some serious improvement.

[CLTProductions]

Cats does have an app.  I use it frequently to plan my trips around town.  I find the reliability to be pretty good. 

But it doesn't tell you real time where the bus/train/trolly you're waiting for is. The reliability is generally not very good for the gold rush.

[DMann]

But it doesn't tell you real time where the bus/train/trolly you're waiting for is. The reliability is generally not very good for the gold rush.

Sorry, I did not realize you meant Gold Rush.  That being a free transit doesn't seem to matter to Cats in terms of being on a firm schedule.

[rugger62]

Question about the City of Charlotte budget shortfall. What isn't anyone talking about doing a mid-cycle reassessment as permitted in the statues? Right now, we aren't going to re-assess until 2019. Why aren't we doing it this year after the 2011 debacle? 

 

Reference: Williams Mullen white paper (pdf) explaining the tax assessment process

[kermit]

^Yea, the current CATS apps just have schedules in them, not real-time tracking. Because of that they can be useless much of the time, particularly on long/busy routes. Its also not unusual for CATS to bungeup their early rush hour schedule on the blue line by skipping a couple of their early runs.

 

Another example of how the current apps come up short is today. The President's visit has cause CATS to terminate rail service between Carson and 7th street. Neither I Catch LYNX or the apple app will mention that -- they will just pretend that everything is running normally.

 

Real time tracking just isn't that hard (they have it on parts of Raleigh's stone age system after all). CATS has really dropped the ball here. nothing will do more to promote choice ridership than a well designed app.

Edited April 15, 2015 by kermit

[jednc]

And, that well designed app needs to be available on all platforms, not just iOS where you only reach a few people.

[Neo]

Alright guys. Now that I have our new logo done, I want to have a t-shirt designed (I have someone in mind to do this already) but need some ideas to throw out. Mottos, phrases, illustrations you would like to see, etc. Obviously I want it to be representative of the site to help drive traffic here, but mostly I want it to be something we would all want to wear and not feel stupid doing so.

 

Please see this thread and comment there as well. This isn't really Charlotte specific and want all of UP to participate in the process, but a lot of you guys (and gals) just visit the Charlotte forum and would never see it otherwise.

 

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php/topic/117004-t-shirts-for-urbanplanet/

BTW, for those of you that missed our new logo announcement on Facebook and Twitter:

 

[CLTProductions]

Logo looks great!

[Guest]

Alright guys. Now that I have our new logo done, I want to have a t-shirt designed (I have someone in mind to do this already) but need some ideas to throw out. Mottos, phrases, illustrations you would like to see, etc. Obviously I want it to be representative of the site to help drive traffic here, but mostly I want it to be something we would all want to wear and not feel stupid doing so.

 

Please see this thread and comment there as well. This isn't really Charlotte specific and want all of UP to participate in the process, but a lot of you guys (and gals) just visit the Charlotte forum and would never see it otherwise.

 

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php/topic/117004-t-shirts-for-urbanplanet/

BTW, for those of you that missed our new logo announcement on Facebook and Twitter:

 

urbanplanet_final-01_artworkonly_1024x1024.png

Dig the logo. I could probably get some some free screen printed samples of Tees if you want, just PM me.

[CLTProductions]

The weather channel app FINALLYYYYY updated Charlotte with skyline pics. Actually a pretty great one too.

[drumsy]

Just saw the Bing car driving through Kannapolis, taking pictures.

Edited April 22, 2015 by drumsy

[CLTProductions]

Should have a government thread but whatever

Religious freedom bill dead....for now, Tim Moore announced that the house will not take up legislation this session. To me that says one of 2 things 1) it's dead forever and they woke up or 2) they'll just wait til the heat around them dies down and they'll quietly reintroduce. I'm leaning towards 2.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article19327029.html

Meanwhile in this state being moronic news, House approves bill to extend abortion wait period from 1 day to 3. Ugh I hate people

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article19325655.html

[ah59396]

Should have a government thread but whatever

Religious freedom bill dead....for now, Tim Moore announced that the house will not take up legislation this session. To me that says one of 2 things 1) it's dead forever and they woke up or 2) they'll just wait til the heat around them dies down and they'll quietly reintroduce. I'm leaning towards 2.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article19327029.html

Meanwhile in this state being moronic news, House approves bill to extend abortion wait period from 1 day to 3. Ugh I hate people

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article19325655.html

 

While it's probably likely we have similar political views, I don't think it's fair to characterize some of these things as "moronic", as I'm inclined to believe there are some on this site that don't share the same sentiment.  I don't agree with the abortion bill either, but that doesn't make those that do moronic.  Just a thought.

[CLTProductions]

To justify the bill by saying it "empowers women" is moronic haha. No it doesn't it empowers that's republican woman's (who's bill it is) agenda.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Jayvee

[abttown]

Great. I can't wait to join the ranks of South Dakota and Utah on women's health issues. The extended waiting period for women assumes that no thought is given before a woman walks into a clinic...incredibly insulting. You can add your name to a petition for McCrory to veto the bill when it reaches his desk.

http://act.progressnc.org/sign/mccrory_keep_your_promise/?source=pncanews

I know you shouldn't judge someone based on appearances, but Jacqueline Shaffer looks pretty evil

[southslider]

By next session, marriage equality will reach all 50 states. The bill should be dead for good.

[CLTProductions]

McCrory is occasionally not an idiot, so let's hope he uses his brain here.

 

 

By next session, marriage equality will reach all 50 states. The bill should be dead for good.

 

and good point.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Jayvee

[ah59396]

To justify the bill by saying it "empowers women" is moronic haha. No it doesn't it empowers that's republican woman's (who's bill it is) agenda.

 

 

Fair enough.

[CLTProductions]

As I expected, I was fed a bunch of bs at the meeting with the delegates. It was less a dialogue and more a you speak and we will 'note' your concerns. It was good to hear others speak and hear their concerns on state actions too though. It was good to hear there's are more speaking against actions than those here agreeing. Basically they just said we work close with the state, Charlotte is the economic heart beat yadda yadda.

[MilZ]

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2015/04/30/former-chiquita-ceo-lands-a-new-job-in-cincinnati.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Maybe Brian Kocher will bring Castellini fruits to Charlotte to fill that vacant space Chaquita is leaving haha

[ScottCLT]

Rant:

Ok, so we all know that the whole "Charlotte's Got A Lot" slogan sucks. I had hoped that it would be short-lived and end there. But at this month's First Friday Gallery Crawl in SouthEnd, they are promoting "Charlotte's Got Art." That slogan just screams artsy to me. Am I right, guys? First of, the slogan sucks. Secondly, though "has got" is technically proper grammar, I hate it when it is used outside of a casual conversation. Think about it..."Charlotte's Got" means Charlotte has got. If they called it "Charlotte Has Got Art" or "Charlotte Has Got A Lot," it would probably hit people more that this sounds like a backwoods hick phrase. "Charlotte Has A Lot" or "Charlotte Has Art" sound more proper to me. Regardless, the phrases do little if nothing for me as far as letting me know what to expect. To add to this disaster of a phrase, the organization is actually "Carolina's Got Art," but is being advertised on WFAE as "Charlotte" instead of "Carolina." Where do they find the horrible marketing teams for this crap? Someone actually was paid to come up with these slogans. And that is just sad.

[ah59396]

I hate that slogan. Hate it.

I've always felt it'd be neat to TRY and connect Charlotte to our roots with the people from the Scottish Highlands or our German connection.

Like for example, become a sister city with say, Inverness. Then, like Portland is the "City of Roses", we could be the "Thistle City". Or, have fun goofy phrases playing off Scottish geography.

"I'm getting Orkney for Charlotte"

"Don't give a Shetland in Charlotte"

Or if you want to do German, do something like "Charlotte is the 'wurst'". And make fun of ourselves for being known as boring by highlighting cool crap we've got.

These probably suck. I just made them up wandering around my kitchen making a pizza.

[nonillogical]

Where do they find the horrible marketing teams for this crap? Someone actually was paid to come up with these slogans. And that is just sad.

Working in a similar field, I can absolutely see the scenario that produces that slogan and campaign, and the city was probably a rather conservative, trepidatious client. The studio that did this is local and does a lot of top notch work, and while this campaign is safe/banal as can be its perfectly competent and was probably 1 of 3-6 initial concepts presented, and subject to a half dozen or more rounds of client feedback over a 6 month period.