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Raleigh doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of getting Amazon here. The reason: Our complete and utter lack of a modern transportation infrastructure. Nobody wants their employees stuck in gridlocked traffic, and none of our "leaders" seem to have any interest in high-speed rail or any other advanced people-moving system. As long as we continue with a small-town mentality, that's the way we'll be perceived.
Yes because the DC Metro is doing so very well and Charlotte ridership is falling. So by all means we need to tear up the median on 540 and Falls of Neuse to put in light rail. You don't need mass transit anymore when people can work from home over VPN. We aren't Chicago or DC and shouldn't be. If another city wants to be invaded by smug hipsters let them.
Yes because the DC Metro is doing so very well and Charlotte ridership is falling. So by all means we need to tear up the median on 540 and Falls of Neuse to put in light rail. You don't need mass transit anymore when people can work from home over VPN. We aren't Chicago or DC and shouldn't be. If another city wants to be invaded by smug hipsters let them.
You are so right.
The plans for rail were fully laid out years ago and then abandoned.
Trains are not like buses. Much more difficult and expensive to build.
Another reason to stop encouraging growth in our area.
Let Amazon spoil another city.
I anticipate Walmart cutting Amazon's retail tremendously.
Yes because the DC Metro is doing so very well and Charlotte ridership is falling. So by all means we need to tear up the median on 540 and Falls of Neuse to put in light rail. You don't need mass transit anymore when people can work from home over VPN. We aren't Chicago or DC and shouldn't be. If another city wants to be invaded by smug hipsters let them.
Wrong.
"Metrorail weekday ridership has failed to significantly rebound from the additional declines it faced last year, and weekend ridership has cratered in Northern Virginia, new data provided to the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) show.
Updated 2017 weekday ridership numbers show an average of 612,652 linked trips across the entire Metrorail system last year, the fewest since 2000."
Most mass transit usage rises when the economy is bad, and drops when its good. That has nothing to do with the overall value of mass transit in a specific city.
Yes, Metro has suffered a distressing decline in ridership after a series of accidents and incidents, including a fatal one; track work that closed down stations for weeks; and ongoing delays and incidents. At the same time, ride sharing is booming, including bikes and scooters.
I anticipate Walmart cutting Amazon's retail tremendously.
Walmart and Amazon have two totally different retail models. Walmart is brick and mortar while Amazon is 99.9% online. The only way Walmart can make a dent into Amazon's retail is to transition to an online retailer. Which means closing hundreds of brick and mortar stores - stores that destroyed so many small communities due to the Walmart Effect. Then you have thousands of employees out of work in those communities.
Also, Amazon is so much more. They are also a cloud company offering virtualization/compute, datacenter services, storage, etc. Not to mention they just bought Whole Foods.
If anything, Amazon should have already cut into Walmart's retail. I know my Wife used to go to Walmart all the time, now we have stacks of Amazon boxes at the trash every week. Multiply that by thousands and what do you get?
Walmart and Amazon have two totally different retail models. Walmart is brick and mortar while Amazon is 99.9% online. The only way Walmart can make a dent into Amazon's retail is to transition to an online retailer. Which means closing hundreds of brick and mortar stores - stores that destroyed so many small communities due to the Walmart Effect. Then you have thousands of employees out of work in those communities.
Also, Amazon is so much more. They are also a cloud company offering virtualization/compute, datacenter services, storage, etc. Not to mention they just bought Whole Foods.
If anything, Amazon should have already cut into Walmart's retail. I know my Wife used to go to Walmart all the time, now we have stacks of Amazon boxes at the trash every week. Multiply that by thousands and what do you get?
Good point regarding AWS - it's a HUGE business for Amazon. Lots of people don't even know it exists.
The story behind how AWS started is an interesting one. Amazon had all this computing power for the holiday season that basically sat idle for the remainder of the year. They put it to use by developing AWS, and now it's literally transformed how technology is served. Pretty amazing story.
Raleigh is not set up like other metro areas. We are sprawled out too far for mass transit to work effectively. Downtown is not set up for it either. It's okay for Raleigh to stay how it is. We don't need to be like DC or other Metro Areas. We have that sprawled out suburban feel, small downtown, still have a good southern atmosphere. This is what made Raleigh appealing for me. If you are not happy with how Raleigh is there are plenty of densely packed metro areas that will suit you better.
Raleigh is not set up like other metro areas. We are sprawled out too far for mass transit to work effectively. Downtown is not set up for it either. It's okay for Raleigh to stay how it is. We don't need to be like DC or other Metro Areas. We have that sprawled out suburban feel, small downtown, still have a good southern atmosphere. This is what made Raleigh appealing for me. If you are not happy with how Raleigh is there are plenty of densely packed metro areas that will suit you better.
I was born here and would like it to change. Who has more say?
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