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For years I have wondered why nobody has come forth with gobs full of money to redevelop the blighted areas on Wilkinson BLVD as you enter Gaston from Meck. What a diamond in the rough of an area. There seems to be plenty of land to put a sizable commercial district there. Close to highways 85 and 74, Catawba River, airport, and a short drive to downtown. Seems like a no brainer. I read that this area is known locally as "brown town" but I am not sure why. All I know is that it could be called tinsel town if it had the right developer with the right vision.
One major obstacle to this in my opinion is the condition of the Wilkinson Bridge. If we could get that replaced and/or widened and beautified I know we would get some developers out here to build us a neighborhood that would rival that of Ballantyne.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBelmontGuy
For years I have wondered why nobody has come forth with gobs full of money to redevelop the blighted areas on Wilkinson BLVD as you enter Gaston from Meck. What a diamond in the rough of an area. There seems to be plenty of land to put a sizable commercial district there. Close to highways 85 and 74, Catawba River, airport, and a short drive to downtown. Seems like a no brainer. I read that this area is known locally as "brown town" but I am not sure why. All I know is that it could be called tinsel town if it had the right developer with the right vision.
One major obstacle to this in my opinion is the condition of the Wilkinson Bridge. If we could get that replaced and/or widened and beautified I know we would get some developers out here to build us a neighborhood that would rival that of Ballantyne.
It's a regional problem & all 3 counties out here have to work together. The one good thing that has come out of the right-wing mess in Raleigh is that it forced Lincoln & Cleveland Counties into joining with Gaston for transportation planning when that change was made. Kings Mountain is in Gaston & Cleveland so they work with both counties but that's the extent of the cooperation. The best thing that can happen for Gaston & Cleveland is approval of either a casino or a slots parlor at exit 5. If either of those happens there will be an entertainment complex built on the land. A lot of people in both counties will get jobs. It will increase tourism in both counties. Benefits of the increased employment will go through both counties if those counties are in better shape it will also help Lincoln.
...The one good thing that has come out of the right-wing mess in Raleigh is that it forced Lincoln & Cleveland Counties into joining with Gaston for transportation planning when that change was made. ....
So you are saying it's better than the left-wing mess that shorted this area for road funding for many decades? IMO, if you want to talk about roads & jobs, best not to delve into a political campaign for one of the two parties.
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With that said, the Hwy 74 bridge does need improvement but I don't see it happening anytime soon. That road hasn't gotten much attention in a long time ever since HWY 74 stopped being a major transit corridor through downtown and West Charlotte. Before I-277 was built, before I-85 was widened into Gaston county and back when the old terminal was still being used at the airport, Wilkinson was a major highway, carrying huge amounts of traffic and that was really the last time those bridges got much activity.
Since those days, the NCDOT and the local road planning organizations have focused on I-85 & that on again off again toll road to improve traffic through the area. They have neglected Wilkinson for this purpose.
The other big negative is this. Belmont, Cramerton, etc are at a big disadvantage for development compared the cow fields found in Union, York & Lancaster counties. It's on the wrong side of Charlotte, the airport casts a huge negative over that area, and most importantly, it's relatively developed with a lot of brown field making it unattractive to tract & strip mall builders. Furthermore, more recent watershed restrictions around the Catawba basin also hurt it's potential for development.
I don't see any of these changing much anytime in the near future.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,702,154 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WaldoKitty
So you are saying it's better than the left-wing mess that shorted this area for road funding for many decades? IMO, if you want to talk about roads & jobs, best not to delve into a political campaign for one of the two parties.
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With that said, the Hwy 74 bridge does need improvement but I don't see it happening anytime soon. That road hasn't gotten much attention in a long time ever since HWY 74 stopped being a major transit corridor through downtown and West Charlotte. Before I-277 was built, before I-85 was widened into Gaston county and back when the old terminal was still being used at the airport, Wilkinson was a major highway, carrying huge amounts of traffic and that was really the last time those bridges got much activity.
Since those days, the NCDOT and the local road planning organizations have focused on I-85 & that on again off again toll road to improve traffic through the area. They have neglected Wilkinson for this purpose.
The other big negative is this. Belmont, Cramerton, etc are at a big disadvantage for development compared the cow fields found in Union, York & Lancaster counties. It's on the wrong side of Charlotte, the airport casts a huge negative over that area, and most importantly, it's relatively developed with a lot of brown field making it unattractive to tract & strip mall builders. Furthermore, more recent watershed restrictions around the Catawba basin also hurt it's potential for development.
I don't see any of these changing much anytime in the near future.
I don't know what you're talking about with politics. I was not talking about a political campaign. I was talking about what went on out here. Kings Mountain & Mooresville were removed from the late rural planning group & placed in urban planning groups along with eastern Lincoln. All of Iredell followed Mooresville into that planning group. Lincoln & Cleveland refused to join with Gaston & only Grover followed Kings Mountain into the Gaston group from Cleveland County. Cleveland County was forced to represent unincorporated land near City of Kings Mountain that was assigned to Gaston along with the city & protested. After the law was changed Cleveland & Lincoln joined Gaston. If they can learn to work as a group concerning roads, hopefully they can learn to work together for the common good.
As far as planes go, every single time that I see planes taking off or landing, when I'm in Gaston, I see approaches & departures in a north/south pattern. That has zip to do with Belmont or Cramerton. The complaints come from people in SW Charlotte not Belmont or Cramerton. That is consistent with what I see. This is not the first time that you have posted this & I think that you are just trying to start a fight.
Agreed. Not sure why everyone keeps saying we have an airport problem here in Belmont. Still have never heard a plane. Maybe I'm just not paying attention.
I do hear you loud and clear regarding the Catawba watershed difficulties it brings to bear but if that were a huge problem then the Lake Norman area would be struggling for development and as we all know it is booming up there. No I just think we need some big money to role the dice on East Wilkinson towards the bridge and they will make their money back 10 fold. Just like Smoky Bissell did when he started Ballantyne "way out there" in South Meck County. I'm sure there were folks that thought he was crazy at the time.
We need someone to have some vision like he did. "If you build it they will come".
Hey I just heard John Hancock from WBT is building a home in Belmont. He said it's the proximity to his job in downtown Charlotte that beat out Mint Hill. I knew I was right about people moving to Belmont because it is so convenient to Charlotte. I am certain this trend will only increase over the next decade and that employers will eventually locate businesses out here too.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,702,154 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBelmontGuy
Hey I just heard John Hancock from WBT is building a home in Belmont. He said it's the proximity to his job in downtown Charlotte that beat out Mint Hill. I knew I was right about people moving to Belmont because it is so convenient to Charlotte. I am certain this trend will only increase over the next decade and that employers will eventually locate businesses out here too.
Where have you been? You need to check in here more often. There have actually been people looking west of Charlotte.
Look, if the casino comes through things will be on the upswing out here for all of us.
I do need to check in more often. What is the latest regarding the casino? It seems a little far fetched that a casino will be allowed and built in Kings Mountain? Heck, I will be happy if and when they move that southbound weigh station to Kings Mountain. A casino would just be icing on the cake.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,702,154 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBelmontGuy
I do need to check in more often. What is the latest regarding the casino? It seems a little far fetched that a casino will be allowed and built in Kings Mountain? Heck, I will be happy if and when they move that southbound weigh station to Kings Mountain. A casino would just be icing on the cake.
A casino can't be built in the city of Kings Mountain. This would be on land that the Catawbas bought off the SW corner of exit 5 in Kings Mountain Twp. Check the current thread for Hard Rock casino on the front page of the board.
The weigh station that they're building is on the northbound side, just north of exit 10.
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