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Most people unfamiliar with Charlotte have no idea what it is, but if you go inside, it's almost as if there there is another complete city there. There are no clearly marked entrances, it's mostly closed outside of business hours, and someone walking on the street could walk all over Charlotte and not realize it was there.
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It's also a prime example of the mistake of applying development plans from other cities without regard to the city itself. What was appropriate for a place like Minneapolis (or Toronto for that matter) are not needed in a warm city climate like Charlotte. Likewise Charlotte has a very hot and humid summer and if this isn't taken into account, then there are issues as well.
In other words, there isn't a one size fits all solution to proper development.
I'm an American. How can you claim to speak for all Americans?
The trick is, integrating the Dense Mixed Use development with the neighborhood surrounding it, rather than cutting it off. Elements in Kowloon is successful as a commercial project, even wildly successful. And I have seen Americans, Canadians, and Europeans happily shopping there.
I've never been to Hong Kong, so I can't say with absolute certainty that I would either like, or dislike, mixed use developments like the one you've described.
However, many mixed use developments have a mall "feel" to them.
And, if you'll pardon my candor: I don't know that many natives in this area would want to spend their off time at a mall.
If you can speak that way, then perhaps you should consider posting elsewhere... if you think I should be living elsewhere merely for having my own opinion. (Little man of narrow-mindedness, go away, if you want to behave like that !)
I appreciate constructive comments, and constructive disagreement (thanks, others, who have posted those here), but I do not see how slagging off my comments and motivations on the thread that I started are constructive.
sorry buddy... but I LIVE, WORK and OWN A HOME IN CHARLOTTE...
If you can't understand or appreciate my constructive criticism that Charlotte probably isn't for you than YOU should go elsewhere....
oh wait? you are elsewhere and you keep singing it's praises...
If you love HK then stay in HK. Architects are running to HK because there is a need for more constructive ways to house and move 7 million people daily. Our demand and problem solving are on a much smaller scale. You keep trying to grow Charlotte into a city it will never be (thankfully).
If you had solutions on a smaller scale I would welcome them bu the constant China Love doesn't serve much purpose in a Charlotte thread unless you are willing to scale back your dreams.
The funny thing is that some (many?) of the innovations in HK and China are coming from architects from the west, who are able to experiment here, because Hong Kong and China "have the budget" to spend on architectural design, while much less innovative work is being done in conservative and budget-constrained cities in the US, including the "awesome North" of the US. ....
Oh please. The vast majority of skyscrapers built in this environment are what I call "vanity towers". There isn't much need for them as they are being built to prove a point. It's similar to Dubai building skyscrapers in the middle of the desert. For the most part, the USA left this type motivation of building over 50 years ago. Where they are being built it's being done by the finance industry.
As proof of this, the greatest and most modern metropolitan region in the world, the greater Kanto area of Japan, a vast urban area that is home to 45,000,000 people, has relatively few skyscrapers. They are limited to a few small areas and not reflective of the wealth, population and economy of the area. The vast majority buildings in this megalopolis are less than 10 stories and unlike Hong Kong, they don't have 100,000 people living in rat cages because the development is all concentrate on high priced skyscrapers that few can afford to live in.
+ Big city urban environments, and
+ Some peaceful areas to raise families.
BTW, do any of you with teenagers ever ask your children which they (the children) would prefer?
Well, I have a 9 year old son and a 17 year old step son. I recently took them both to look at a few units at Catalyst Apartments. For both of my sons and my wife, it was their first time in a high rise ever. We took a look at a 6th floor unit and a few units above the 20th floor. My wife and the boys fell in LOVE with the place. They really thought it would be "cool as hell" to have friends and family visit us in such a place.
However (due to high demand, the urban location, and the rental market heating up) the cheapest available unit was a rather large 1 bedroom going for $1,700/month. By law, we (the 4 of us) can only lease 2 bedrooms or more (maximum of 2 people per bedroom). The boys were willing to share a room just to live in such a "cool" place. However, I was NOT willing to pay close to $2,000/month for 2 bedrooms "in the sky". I would pay that much if my wife and I had adult kids who are not clinging to our money, but that is not the case yet. I'd also be willing to pay that much if we had a $200k-plus household income. However, our combined $120k/year is not enough IMO. In some ways we could swing it, but we could certainly swing it easier if the kids were grown. I'm not in a hurry so I'm willing to wait (so is my wife). The odds are that we will try it when the 17 year old is grown and "doing his own thing".
Other expenses to consider...
Just understand that the 17 year old has his own car (paid-off 1999 Ford Mustang), has his own credit cards (thank goodness he is responsible with them), is 6 foot 5 inches tall 210 pounds (and eats the part), and doesn't work during the school year (summer jobs only). In other words, there are "other expenses" associated with kids that can force a middle class family to scale back their urban real estate ambitions. Though I would prefer an uptown neighborhood, my $1,100/month townhouse (that's taxes, mortgage, and HOA combined) is half the price of what a smaller uptown unit would cost. So for many of us, it's economics that forces our hands, not "which would we prefer". I hope this makes sense...
This article from a few years back...
It's also a prime example of the mistake of applying development plans from other cities without regard to the city itself.
Haha.
Look at the date : Jul. 31, 2008
And this: "attracting more stores – especially national chains – won't be easy in these uncertain times."
That was in the depths of the downtown. Everyone was suffering, not just CLT.
What is it like now?
Ha.. I love progress but I don't like hearing people complain or compare Charlotte to world class cities with 5 to 8 million people.
I would love to hear the OP point out a city Charlotte's size in China and use them as a model to improve our city.
LOL
there are no cities CLT's size in China (haha)
They are all over 1 million inhabitants. - Just joking.
But read this: "There are over 160 cities in China with a population over one million."
Anyway, I live in Hong Kong, and need an (expensive) visa to visit China.
So I go there rarely, and do not go hunting "cities the size of CLT"
A city the size of CLT ten years ago, may be much bigger today. While the US economy has stalled, China's growth has averaged 8- 10% per annum. You need to see it to believe it.
This rapid growth is why you see such innovation and experimentation - with many new transport systems being created. And a good transport system will help draw people to the cities, away from the country.
I used to say: "there are over 1 billion people in China. Half of them live in rural areas, and half of that half are in surplus to the labor requirement on the farms. That's why they keep flooding into the cities, and China will have cheap labor for a long, long time."
Well, I have a 9 year old son and a 17 year old step son. I recently took them both to look at a few units at Catalyst Apartments. For both of my sons and my wife, it was their first time in a high rise ever. We took a look at a 6th floor unit and a few units above the 20th floor. My wife and the boys fell in LOVE with the place. They really thought it would be "cool as hell" to have friends and family visit us in such a place.
However (due to high demand, the urban location, and the rental market heating up) the cheapest available unit was a rather large 1 bedroom going for $1,700/month. By law, we (the 4 of us) can only lease 2 bedrooms or more (maximum of 2 people per bedroom). The boys were willing to share a room just to live in such a "cool" place. However, I was NOT willing to pay close to $2,000/month for 2 bedrooms "in the sky". I would pay that much if my wife and I had adult kids who are not clinging to our money, but that is not the case yet. I'd also be willing to pay that much if we had a $200k-plus household income. However, our combined $120k/year is not enough IMO. In some ways we could swing it, but we could certainly swing it easier if the kids were grown. I'm not in a hurry so I'm willing to wait (so is my wife). The odds are that we will try it when the 17 year old is grown and "doing his own thing".
Other expenses to consider...
Just understand that the 17 year old has his own car (paid-off 1999 Ford Mustang), has his own credit cards (thank goodness he is responsible with them), is 6 foot 5 inches tall 210 pounds (and eats the part), and doesn't work during the school year (summer jobs only). In other words, there are "other expenses" associated with kids that can force a middle class family to scale back their urban real estate ambitions. Though I would prefer an uptown neighborhood, my $1,100/month townhouse (that's taxes, mortgage, and HOA combined) is half the price of what a smaller uptown unit would cost. So for many of us, it's economics that forces our hands, not "which would we prefer". I hope this makes sense...
Thanks for the anecdote.
There are many things I could say about that - your families lives differently than most families I know within the urban environment that I am familiar with.
Here are just two questions:
+ How much does a house cost in the same area of the city as that highrise?
(I would guess it is more expensive)
+ Does your 17-year old expect to keep his car, if you move into that part of the city?
And who pays for it and the parking? I don't know any 17-year olds who have cars in HK.
In fact, most of the families I know do not have cars, or they use them rarely. In fact, the last time I was in a vehicle in HK, apart from a cab was : once in the last year. Even taxis, I only take perhaps once or twice a month. Cars are of almost no importance to me.
One needs to make trade-offs in life. I am willing to give up many things to live where I want to, and to have a pleasant and fulfilling carfree live - space for "my stuff" is amongst them:
"That's the meaning of life" : Trying to find space to put your stuff."
Most people in a big city, with expensive housing, downsize their space quite a bit. Americans are accustomed to having more space than anyone in the world, and far more than their grandparents had decades ago. But "the luxury of wasted space" may be increasingly a thing of the past.
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