We’re descending on the Queen City and attending a walking tour. Our resident Charlottean @kjhburg has agreed to host a walking tour of Uptown Charlotte. Stops include recent developments and historical sites as we work our way toward South End. Expect to walk a couple of miles but there will be stops and breaks for sure.
HOW TO ATTEND
Option 1: Group train ride, via Amtrak - Piedmont 73 toward CLT. Times:
Raleigh Union Station - 10:00am
Cary Station - 10:12am
Durham Station - 10:32am
Let’s ride the train together and hang out (or not, that’s fine too)
Option 2: You are on your own, provide your own transportation.
Other Logistics
The walking tour will end in time for people who want to ride the train back to the Triangle. There’s a Piedmont 76 train at 5:05pm that would be ideal to catch back. Piedmont 78 at 7:45pm is also another option.
Some members might stay the night so make your own accommodations as you prefer.
This is a casual, self-organized meetup, not a paid tour package. You’re covering your own transportation, meals, and any other costs.
Let’s use this thread for questions, answers, excitement, and general vibey vibes. I’ll bump this thread every now and then as we get closer and expect this first post to be where to find all the details. I’ll keep it up-to-date for organizational purposes.
Of course, the schedule may change between now and then but Charlotte bus route 11 (“North Tryon”) serves the Amtrak station. The 11 bus pulls into the Amtrak station for some trains but not all. If it doesn’t, it’s a very short walk to a bus stop on Tryon. Beware, the bus is sometimes overwhelmed by the number of passengers coming off train 73 who want a ride into the city center. Taxis and Uber/Lyft are usually available. It’s about a mile to walk to the city center, but I do not recommend walking. A homeless shelter is just off the walk route, and according to my son who lives nearby there have been numerous unpleasant encounters.
Yes from the Charlotte Amtrak station I would recommend maybe a larger Uber that can take several people over to 7th Street station which has a parking garage if anyone is driving. Walking is not recommended as it about 2 miles
North Carolina’s passenger rail system is trying to make it easier for people to get to or from the state’s train stations. Now when riders buy their train ticket, they can also arrange a free ride on the local transit system in the Triangle, Triad and Charlotte to begin and/or complete their trip. The Ride & Rail pass is available for passengers on Amtrak’s Carolinian and Piedmont trains between Raleigh and Charlotte, which are subsidized by the N.C. Department of Transportation. The pass is designed to help people who don’t have access to a car or simply don’t want to deal with one. Passengers can get a Ride & Rail code when they buy their train ticket by going to www.ncbytrain.org/deals/railride-pass. The pass is unnecessary in Durham and Cary, where buses are free, and is unavailable in Kannapolis and Salisbury. All other transit agencies, from GoRaleigh to the Charlotte Area Transit System, are on board.
Yes we all agree that we love the Raleigh Union Station vs ours here in Charlotte. One day we will have one right uptown but for now it is what it is. There are plans to build a temporary station uptown as Norfolk Southern wants the existing train station removed and they are on a timeline.
Believe me, we will have a great tour, and I am assembling an all-star cast to help out with the tour here including local urbanists, local developers etc. I will even invite a media person who might write an article on your thoughts and things we can learn. As I have always said, Charlotte can learn from every other city in the state and hopefully you can see some things here you might want to bring back to Raleigh. I am on Team NC vs Nashvegas, Austin, Dallas, Atlanta, which is competition for your city and ours.
Just bumping this topic in case anyone missed it. Does Charlotte have manatees? I don’t think so but if we see one, it’ll be a very memorable trip.
