2030 transit system plan

[Third Strike]

Originally Posted by choloboy36

With the BLE going on now, many businesses would have to move and relocate right. For future lines/extensions did the city think about about Elevated Light Rail maybe? Ex: Say Albermale rd was to get a line. Instead of trying to build on the ground and force business to leave. Why not build it above the street, similar to what NYC has with there elevated subway part. Businesses wouldn't have to leave but we would have to remove the trees that goes down Albermale Rd. There is a ton of foot traffic there also.

Actually, to my understanding, most of the Blue Line will be following along side already existing railroad lines, and then down the middle of North Tryon, until it gets to UNC Charlotte. The Blue Line down North Tryon will also be elevated at some parts. I also think the biggest reason for some of the businesses in that area relocating is for the construction of the park-and-ride lots, and less for the actual line itself.

[GoPhils]

Originally Posted by monksy

Another issue of CLT: NC Income taxes are high, gas tax is relatively high, and it is very expensive to live in CLT. [Fun fact: COL for Chicago is 6% higher than CLT... its that high] There is imo very little advantage to living in CLT vs the next city of that size.

Do you have a source for this? According to city-data, the cost of living index for Charlotte is 93.0, and for Chicago it is 107.7. That's over 15% higher.

Other sites saying a person making $50K in Charlotte would need to make $61,500 in Chicago, over 20% higher. Housing alone is 60% higher in Chicago. Yes, that would mean that some items are higher in Charlotte (like some food items and medical expenses), but overall Charlotte is still far less expensive to live in than Chicago.