American Urbanism
2 Likes
Perhaps this is the ugly truth of having major sports venues downtown and no real transit options to handle the fans that come to them?
3 Likes
I think that is part of it, but the reality for Memphis and other cities like them is you could give all the transit options in the world and people will still opt to drive. Birmingham faces the same thing. People complain about the parking near the downtown arena and stadium, but what they really mean is they donât want to walk the four blocks from where there is plentiful parking.
3 Likes
There is a certain stigma that comes with using public transit and people, especially in the south, treat these systems as places for only low-income citizens to exercise. Thatâs the main issue along with the lack of city leader advocating for public transit.
Do you think the heat has anything to do with it? I used the buses and T/subway to get around Boston except when getting groceries and it was fine year round, but I have a hard time imagining walking to bus stops and to/from T stops in work clothes carrying a laptop and gym bag in oppressive humidity.
2 Likes
The more I travel and more Iâm sure Raleigh needs more plazas and high quality fountain works. Not just anything will do and they should be eye-catching and even maybe a little controversial but artistic.
This one really caught my eye today.
12 Likes
Our local YouTube channel âPeople Not Carsâ did a good overview video of Brightline in FL.
7 Likes
to me ridership seemed brisk ridership and some routes that ran to nearly 11pm when cp&l had their hands in the transit business. perhaps less overall car ownership as well. but back then i dont recall much stigma associated with bus transit. if i recall a number of city officials rode the bus then and the drivers knew many riders by name and passengers theirs. raleigh was smaller then but i recall a radio station i think in the 90s was trying to show bus waste buy calling in and giving passenger countsâŠthis is when the system was CAT and transit in some circles was in budgetary crosshairs.
1 Like
Got the chance to ride the Brightline and itâs got to be the standard for inter city rail going forward. Beautiful stations with a lot of amenities, relatively cheap prices and reliable service. Have to see how it does with the extension to Orlando and Tampa, but one can hope that they see another state with obvious tourist destinations (Wilmington/Asheville) and no solid plans to connect the 2 major cities as a possible next step if it goes well.
7 Likes
As of now, their only other plan is LA to Vegas. The effort shows promise⊠the biggest problem is dealing with the State of Nevada.
2 Likes
The Orlando to Miami corridor is dense with tourism at a completely different scale, and thatâs clearly whatâs driving the Brightline. Not only are there tens of millions of tourists all year long, a strong number are coming from Europe where trains are de rigueur when it comes to travel.
3 Likes
Oh I agree it will 100% be tourism focused when the Orlando extension, and particularly the stop ânear Disneyâ (since they dropped the actual Disney stop) is complete. But right now it seems to be working very well as a way for people in Miami to get to the beaches further up the coast as well as people from FL to get down to Miami for events.
A side note on the service- we took the train from FL to Miami at a time where they do a free connection via coach to Marlins Park. Fantastic experience and one that I wish the Panthers would implement until the new station in Uptown is built for us people in Raleigh that want to go to a game without 5 hours of driving.
3 Likes
I split time between Raleigh and Miami and am very familiar with all that Brightline is doing, though I have yet to actually ride it. Iâve seen the station downtown andi itâs stunning, and Iâve heard nothing but good things about the service and experience. I donât have much need to go to FTL, but Iâll keep it as a strong option when I do explore Brightline more intimately. As it stands, I can take a short bike share ride to the MetroMover at the Omni station and ride that to Government Center for free. I can then walk across the street to Brightline to jump onto it from there. On the FTL end, it looks like Iâd have a 1 mile walk to the heart of Las Olas. Thatâs certainly a doable trip, and one that Iâll probably try in the Winter.
4 Likes
Iâve talked about this place previously, but this is an example of the sort of micro-business that Iâd love to see downtown court. The third shot shows the entire width of the business (it ainât much!) and long open side with counters for ordering and eating is all thatâs needed. Also, they make a DAMN good sandwich.
20 Likes
Theyâre also âBack till 5:00 am EVERY DAYâ - which gets a huge hell yeah from me. A late night sandwich place would be king!
5 Likes
Bars are open until 5, so that timing is in alignment.
2 Likes
Oh wow, I had no idea Miami had bars open that late - here I was thinking NYC/Buffalo were the most lenient with 4AM last call! Guess anything open till at least 2AM would be a godsend here.
Smoky Hollow has multiple places where it looks like something like this sort of place would fit in?
9 Likes
I think the old Devolve Moto would be a pretty sweet location for a concept like that.
2 Likes
5AM closing time for some bars is Miami Beach. There are places in Miami that are 24 hours like a Walmart.
2 Likes