Throwing some shots in from Greenville, SC. The last shot I can see being implemented in Smokey Hollow. Also wish we could get an ice rink again.
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Lived in Greenville for 10+ years prior to moving here. Loved it. Reedy River falls is right downtown and gorgeous.
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An indoor ice rink in a ‘Louvre style’ glass pyramid in front of Memorial Auditorium on one of those two grassy plots has always been a pipe dream of mine. I feel like it just… fits.
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SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles (Inglewood) planned development. Inglewood just announced they will build a $1 billion people mover to connect the development to the new Crenshaw light rail line.
PNC Arena after 22 years:
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Dreams are a wonderful thing. It does bear stating out loud the vast difference between the LA market and here…much of which, I doubt many inhabitants of the area would want to live the realities of LA life.
Over time, I’ve come to move past most the disdain many throw at Los Angeles as I’ve been able to discover some of its gems over the years.
I like the people mover reference here as I get the sense of your ‘statement’ but we’re eons from a development of the sort that SoFi is designed to be.
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IDK, in 22 years Centennial Authority could have chosen a half acre of parking lot and built a super cheap wooden building with a bunch of retail spaces and restaurants and go from there. Instead literally nothing–oh wait that tunnel I guess.
when i lived in nevada the sparks centennial station (right beside a major casino and near an interstate exit) had a few enclosed bike lockers. this section of sparks was flat so a quick bike ride could lead to a connection to a bus for a trip that might be cross town (downtown or to the south - virginia street, ) to another casino employer. it seemed like a good start. pic 1 bike box is center behind light post pic 2 my bike on bus.
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wikipedia has info on this Phallic architecture - Wikipedia.
God I hope Raleigh never looks like that pic of LA. Look at all our GREEN TREES. So Fi stadium with people mover can stay in the giant metros, not here.
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I tend to agree but I strive that we find a true balance…
We spent the weekend in Aspen, and I was blown away at their local bus service. With service to 4 mountains and 3 outlier towns, with a guaranteed bus in under 15 minutes at any of their bus shelters. Now take into consideration this is a town where riding the bus is a choice, and because it’s so convenient and reliable, people who can otherwise drive anywhere, chose to ride the bus. THIS IS ACHIEVABLE IN RALEIGH.
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Beautiful pics, how was the snow?
Having lived in a Colo ski resort town before, it’s not so much that riding the bus is a choice so much as that anything else just isn’t very practical. There’s very little street parking, and what limited parking structure spaces do exist are COMPLETELY expensive (>$50 a day garage) due to it being a high-end ski resort. Add on top of that the enormous snowfall issue, and if you’re lucky enough to have a place to park your car, it’s just not worth it to get your car out, scrape it, dig out a path to leave your spot, sit in it for 10 minutes while it heats up, and then do it all again at your destination…when the alternative is a free in-town bus and subsidized bus between mountain communities.
Raleigh issues are significantly different. We don’t have the snow, the limited space, or the resort destination factors. But I agree that more frequent bus service is doable if someone will pay for it. I have a personal problem with tons of non-riders’ money being taken from them against their will to pay for those who want to ride, to pay less. When and if Raleigh can get their schedules better, ridership should increase. And I also agree that the bus service of Pitkin County (Aspen) and Eagle (Vail/Beaver Creek), and somewhat Summit County (Breck, Keystone), is AMAZING.
Thanks for the ski pics. I’m headed back there soon.
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^That’s a tactical strategy for driving (pun intended) transit solutions downtown. If you make it unbearable to drive, then folks will look for alternatives. …of course, the alternatives need to be effective. The question is going to come down to how much garage parking and clogged streets are we willing to live with before thinking of a different solution. Frankly, I don’t see it changing much in the short term, as there isn’t pain yet associated with the current development, and there isn’t much political will to fund real alternatives.
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The snow was decent, they get roughly 6 inches the Wednesday before we got there. Colorado overall isn’t having the heaviest of seasons, but still incredible skiing. Aspen was the last major resort in Colorado I haven’t been to, so it was nice to check that off the list, and without a doubt Aspen is now my favorite town and resort in CO. The skiing is top-notch and not for the faint at heart, especially Aspen Highlands.
What I’m mainly getting to with the Bus system is, people of all ages and social economic status will ride the bus IF you make it a comparable option. In Raleigh it’s a disadvantage in almost every metric, and has the feeling of being second best.
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agreed. By necessity the ski resort towns have great public bus systems. Raleigh will never have anything as great as they have (ridership, route system, frequency, cost) because the city has been growing since the 1700’s with roads, vehicles, and development. The CO ski resort towns developed primarily all in the past 50-60 years.
Where Raleigh now have tons of garages freeways and roads all across and over various lakes and hills, the environmental policies out there in the mountains are much more protective, meaning many more restrictions on what was ever allowed to be built. Making the towns ideal for public transit. Raleigh will never get anything like that here, the horse left the barn decades if not centuries ago, but it’d be great to get more frequent buses like Aspen and Vail have.
Glad you liked Aspen. I’m partial to Eagle County. Wanting to venture out to Crested Butte and Telluride.
We actually stayed 2 nights in Eagle County (Vail) before continuing to Aspen for the weekend, which is always a nice place to visit. Just sometimes Eagle and Summity counties get over-saturated with the “Bro” scene.
If you haven’t ventured to Telluride, you definitely need to make a trip down there, it’s incredible. I fell in love with the whole place from the old mining town to the skiing and resort. It’s just a serious haul from Denver at close to 7 hours, there are a couple smaller airports to fly into but they aren’t cheap.
I almost moved there and attempted to chase the Dream, but then I got a job right out of college, met my wife and then life hit me between the eyes and I’m still in Raleigh.
Fun Fact : Wilson’s Peak at 14,023 ft. seen from downtown Telluride is the Coors and Coors Light logos.
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Hey, look - twenty-ish stories can be kinda cool…
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Nice to see someone else readin Dezeen! Thanks for the link, I missed this story.
Austin United States Courthouse was built in the early 2010’s to replace the 1930’s structure due to the increased workload. The old Austin US Courthouse is now re-purposed for local needs. Hoping the Raleigh US Courthouse property gets redeveloped in my lifetime. It’s just a huge, inefficient use of space in downtown.
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From my understanding the raleigh courthouse land was gifted to the city and if it’s ever not used as a courthouse the land must be returned to the original family. Things you learn during jury duty.
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