5 Things to Note About New York Times Article, 'Young Americans Lead Trend to Less Driving'

Charlotte was abuzz yesterday on social media (and I assume in coffee shops and around water coolers—people still talk there, right?) with the city and a few of our residents being prominently featured in a New York Times article titled, "Young Americans Lead Trend to Less Driving" (posted online Monday night; ran in Tuesday's print edition). The writer cites studies and uses the Queen City to explain that "Charlotte and other American cities have not abandoned their cars or their sprawling growth. But ... that American driving patterns have downshifted — perhaps for years to come." It's an interesting read.

Here are five things that stood out to me as I read the article:

• The first paragraph describes Uptown Charlotte as "a pedestrian-friendly quarter with new office buildings, sparkling museums and ambitious restaurants." I couldn't have explained it better myself in 13 words.
• Shouts out to my friend Ted Boyd, director of Historic South End, who recently partnered with me on an event, for being photographed and interviewed.
• According to the article, Dan Mauney is opening two stores in South End, "one to sell women’s shoes and another men’s underwear." This is the first I've heard of that. Dan is most known as a co-owner of Sloan boutique in Dilworth, and as an organizer of the annual "BRIEF! A Fete for Fashion" men's underwear/swimwear fashion show and fundraiser.
• The writer mentions the success of the light rail, and that "President Obama has nominated the city’s mayor, Anthony R. Foxx, to be the next transportation secretary." I anticipated that would be included in the article. But I think it should've also been addressed that Charlotte is currently struggling with its plans for a streetcar.
• The driving trends could be reversed one day with "the emergence of self-driving vehicles [that] 'may re-empower elderly people to continue using cars far into their last years,' offsetting any potential decline from younger adults." Self-driving cars. Need. To. Happen. Now!

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Will Riding Charlotte's Light Rail Turn You Into an Alcoholic?

I have three meetings today: the first was a lunch meeting in South End, followed by a project meeting in Uptown, and this evening I have another meeting in South End (I'm writing this blog post during my downtime in between). So I figured I'd take the light rail from South End to Uptown and then back again once I'm done for the day and ready to go home. Riding the LYNX Blue Line today gave me the first opportunity to see one of the liquor ads that stirred up much controversy when the plans were announced last year.

If you'll recall, last August, The Charlotte Observer reported that for the first time ever, the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) would begin selling alcohol--beer and liquor--advertising on the sides of city buses and trains to generate much-needed revenue to offset rising operating costs. This infuriated Charlotte City Council, who said they weren't aware of the decision and they expressed concern about children and recovering addicts who would see the ads. By late October, a compromise had been reached to begin selling the alcohol ads. I'm not sure when the first liquor ad appeared on the light rail, but I saw one for the first time this afternoon for Baileys.

Credit: My Windows Phone

"Your Chariot Awaits, Madame," reads the large headline on the Baileys ad that covers the light rail car I boarded. I don't have a problem with it, and, in fact, I feel that the accompanying "Enjoy Baileys Responsibly" tagline could help encourage people to use public transportation rather than driving after leaving bars and nightclubs if they've had too much to drink.

And, this particular ad looks cool. Big-city like, even (and you know how much Charlotte desires to be viewed as a big city). What are your thoughts on the whole alcohol-ads-on-public-transit thing?

By the way, I realize this is the second liquor-related post I've written in as many weeks (here's the other), but there's no cause concern (Mom).

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Raleigh the Fastest-Growing City In U.S.; Charlotte 5th

The two largest cities in North Carolina continue to be among the fastest growing in the country, in terms of population percentage increase. This week, Forbes published its list of the 10 Fastest-Growing Cities In the U.S. (and the 10 Slowest-Growing), with Raleigh ranking as the fastest growing and Charlotte coming in fifth. In between them, Austin, Texas is ranked second, Las Vegas is third, and Orlando is fourth.

Forbes explains how it analyzed the data, which was recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Some of the cities' growth have been impacted by economic factors such as the housing market and job sectors. The cities' populations are grouped into their respective metropolitan statistical areas--MSAs encompass the populations of the smaller surrounding cities and towns. So for Charlotte, the MSA includes Gastonia and Rock Hill, among others. According to Forbes:

No. 1: Raleigh, NC, Metropolitan Statistical Area
2012 population: 1,188,564
Growth since 2000: 47.8%
Growth since 2011: 2.2%
Rank in 2011-2012: No. 3

No. 5: Charlotte, NC-SC
2012 population: 2,296,569
Growth since 2000: 32.8%
Growth since 2011: 1.7%
Rank in 2011-2012: No. 9

Forbes ran a bland photo of Uptown Charlotte's skyline. They should've hit up my buddy, photographer Jon Strayhorn of Media Arts Collective, to get a great shot like this.

Cleveland ranks as the slowest growing U.S. city, with Detroit, not surprisingly, coming in a close second, followed by Buffalo and Pittsburgh. All four of these cities have decreased in population since 2000.

Charlotte has ranked high on the fastest-growing cities lists since I've lived here. And over the past year, all it takes is a drive through neighborhoods like South End and Plaza Midwood to see the many new apartments being built, and in south Charlotte where subdivisions are being expanded and/or entirely new ones are being constructed with hundreds of houses (evident in this July 2012 article I wrote for Charlotte magazine).

Rapid population growth is why it's important that a city like Charlotte is forward-thinking in its city planning, particularly as it pertains to roads and public transportation (i.e. light rail and streetcar), as well as job growth and the types of industries city leaders try to lure here.

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Video from Charlotte No Pants Light Rail Ride

Remember a couple of weeks ago when the 2013 Charlotte No Pants Light Rail Ride took place, inspired by the annual, NYC-based No Pants Subway Ride? Well, the Charlotte organizers have released the video recapping their inaugural event. I didn't spot anyone that I know personally, but they had a pretty good turnout. I expect the crowd will only get larger if they decide to do it here annually.

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Take Off Pants and Ride Charlotte Light Rail Sunday

Charlotte is getting in on a pantless act this Sunday by participating in the 12th Annual No Pants Subway Ride, which was founded by Improv Everywhere in New York City. According to the NYC organizers, last year nearly 4,000 people participated in New York, and tens of thousands more participated in 59 cities in 27 countries around the world.

Credit: youtube.com/ImprovEverywhere

As far as I know, this will be Charlotte's first year. Here's a brief rundown of what's going down this Sunday, January 13 on Charlotte's light rail, if you want to participate.

Meet at the LYNX Blue Line Scaleybark Station (3750 South Blvd.), which is a park and ride stop, at 3 p.m. Bring a backpack or purse to put your pants in, and purchase a light rail ticket. You're advised to wear normal clothes and undergarments (this is not a streaking event), and lucky for you Charlotte's weather for Sunday is forecast to be an unseasonably warm high of 73 degrees. The participants will board the 3:22 p.m. train. When you take off your pants, you're supposed to act nonchalant and pretend as if you don't know anyone else who's taken off their pants or why you all are doing it. After your group has successfully dropped-trou and ridden the light rail several miles to Uptown, you'll hop back on and head to South End to celebrate at Common Market (1515 S. Tryon St.), shortly after 4 p.m.

Get complete details about the 2013 Charlotte No Pants Light Rail Ride at www.tinyurl.com/CLTNoPants. And follow along on Twitter using the #CLTNoPants hashtag.

Below are two videos of Improv Everywhere's successful run in the pantless series. The first describes how the event got started in 2002, and the second video recaps last year's event.
 

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C-SPAN's Spending the Week In Charlotte

Details below are edited from press release.

C-SPAN is visiting Charlotte for a week starting today, as it chronicles the history and literary life of the city for the cable network’s non-fiction book channel (BookTV on C-SPAN2) and history channel (American History TV on C-SPAN3). Charlotte is one of eight cities being featured in a special series called the LCV Cities Tour. The tour is given this name because C-SPAN producers are travelling in specially designed Ford Transit Connect vehicles, which they're calling Local Content Vehicles (LCVs), that are equipped with digital cameras, editing and other recording technologies, and each member of the LCV team is able to shoot and edit video on location as well as make presentations to the community about the work they do for the network.

C-SPAN Team: Mark Farkas, Tiffany Rocque, Adrienne Hoar, and Deborah Lamb. [Source]

During the week, C-SPAN producers will visit various literary and historic sites, interviewing local historians, authors and civic leaders, including Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx and Charlotte Chamber President Bob Morgan. The C-SPAN team will also visit area schools, including Central Piedmont Community College, Providence Day School, and McClintock Middle School. C-SPAN is partnering with Time Warner Cable, the network’s local affiliate, which is helping to organize the week’s many logistics.

A Tuesday, August 30 public kick-off event will be held at Charlotte Museum of History, 3500 Shamrock Drive, with opening remarks at 6:30 p.m. from Time Warner Cable, C-SPAN, and representatives of Charlotte Museum of History. The event keynote speaker is local author and Levine Museum of the New South historian, Dr. Tom Hanchett. He'll discuss Charlotte’s unique history and other topics included in his book Sorting Out the New South City and his most recent work, Salad Bowl Suburbs: A History of Charlotte's East Side and South Boulevard Immigrant Corridors.

The kick-off event will air along with C-SPAN’s other productions during a special Charlotte feature the weekend of September 24-25 on BookTV and American History TV. For more details, visit www.c-span.org/LocalContent.

In the video below, Mark Farkas, C-SPAN executive producer and LCV project manager, explains why they're visiting cities like Charlotte.

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Black History Tribute: Dr. Ronald Carter

This is the final installment in my week-long tribute to Black History Month, where I've spotlighted Charlotte-area people and organizations that are making black history.

One of the things I enjoy most about my work as a journalist is the remarkable people I often meet when I'm working on stories. Last September, I spent a great deal of time with Dr. Ronald L. Carter, president of Johnson C. Smith University. I attended at least a half-dozen of his meetings and events where he spoke, as I gathered material for the article I was writing for Charlotte magazine. Months after the article came out ("Answering the Call," November 2010 issue), I'm seeing some of the things Dr. Carter was working on come to fruition.

Dr. Carter speaking at a recent event at JCSU. Photo by Jon Strayhorn/Media Arts Collective.

In his third year at the helm of JCSU, he's passionate about helping the historically black university connect more to the city--culturally and physically. He's launched several community-based programs that he feels will expose students to great opportunities and teach them to be civic-minded. He chairs the Charlotte Streetcar Advisory Committee, not the type of committee many university presidents would roll up their sleeves for, but he wants to ensure that his university and its Beatties Ford Road community are represented in the city's transit plans. One of those plans is Charlotte's proposed streetcar. The line would run a total of 10 miles along Beatties Ford Road near I-85 through Center City along Trade Street, traveling up Elizabeth Avenue by Central Piedmont Community College, and out to Central Avenue at Eastland Mall. Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) got a huge push in the right direction when it received a $25 million federal grant for the project last summer, but the costly streetcar still faces many economic challenges.

Dr. Carter was able to celebrate a smaller, but very important, victory two weeks ago, however. The Gold Rush, CATS' free Uptown bus service (the trolley on wheels that a lot of city and bank employees use), began its extended red line stops at JCSU on the west and Central Piedmont Community College to the east. The extension is made possible by a financial partnership between CATS, Charlotte Center City Partners, JCSU, and CPCC. Now JCSU students are able to travel to Uptown more conveniently to get to restaurants, meetings, cultural events, jobs/internships, and to catch buses and the light rail, all without using a car. Not to mention the potential for Uptown leaders--from city councilmen to business executives--to take the Gold Rush to JCSU's campus, where Dr. Carter has made the traditionally closed campus more open to building community and business relationships.

Another important initiative by the prez began in September. I attended a press conference then, in which he announced the university would be funding a community survey called Soul of the Northwest Corridor. Dr. Carter was inspired to have the study conducted after seeing the results of the Knight Foundation's Soul of the Community Project, which is a new community model that provides guidance for community and local government leaders seeking to create long-term, positive change within their cities. JCSU wanted to dig deeper and zero in on its neighborhood specifically. So it partnered with the Knight Foundation and hired Gallup to conduct the survey, which is said to be the first in the nation to be conducted at the neighborhood or community level.

Yesterday, JCSU released the results of the Soul of the Northwest Corridor Survey, in which 1,000 residents of neighborhoods along Beatties Ford Road were polled. It's a lot of data that can be particularly useful for a segment of the population that's not traditionally studied in such ways (click here to read it). I'm reminded of something Dr. Carter said a few months ago at an event in which he spoke in front of an audience of mostly African-American businessmen: "We cannot continue to say there is a problem and not define the problem." That's where Dr. Carter's going to make the most impact in the community. He's leading efforts to define the problems many African-Americans have complained about for years. And once they've been defined, real solutions can be sought.

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Tampa Praises Charlotte's Light Rail

I often hear people saying Charlotte is trying to be like this city or trying to be like that city. And their remarks are usually in a negative tone. I always talk about how this is a great city to live in (if you don't like it, move) and it has a lot to offer. National media often recognizes, and such was the case with the front-page story in today's St. Petersburg Times.

The Times lauds Charlotte's light rail system and talks about how it is a model Tampa Bay should follow. Voters in the Florida city are facing a referendum in this November's election to decide if they want a tax hike to help pay for a rail line that would stretch from Tampa International Airport to downtown, the University of South Florida and Cross Creek Boulevard near New Tampa.

The newspaper sent a couple of journalists to Charlotte. The article in today's paper, "In Charlotte, Tampa sees its vision for light rail," shows how many Charlotteans had doubts about building the LYNX Blue Line when the issue was being debated years ago, but that since opening in November 2007 the light rail has been largely deemed successful. The article touts how the light rail has exceeded ridership projections and the line has spurred development.

In an accompanying article, "In downtown Charlotte, a car-free option awaits travelers," the writer chronicles how when he visited Charlotte he tested to see if he could get around the city efficiently on our transit system. He rode the Sprinter bus from the airport and, over four days, rode the buses, Gold Rush, and light rail. During his trip, he says he spent a total of $17 on transportation--"less than what it cost me to check a bag on the plane each way," he points out.

Below is an accompanying video the Times journalists captured while riding Charlotte's light rail.

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'A Day in the Life of Charlotte'

One minute and 40 seconds is all it takes to show what that the Charlotte area has to offer. But there's a lot.

Visit Charlotte and its marketing division, Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority (CRVA), have created a new video for its "Charlotte's got a lot" campaign. Titled "Welcome to Charlotte," this is one of the best visual portrayals of the city I've ever seen. If you've never visited Charlotte, it'll make you want to plan a trip ASAP. If you live here, it should remind you how lucky you are.

While the video starts off with an alarm clock going off at 7 a.m.--something we all dread--it rapidly takes you through dozens of passing scenes of attractions in Charlotte and the surrounding area: the airport, NASCAR Hall of Fame, Charlotte Convention Center, light rail, restaurants, several theaters and museums, Billy Graham Library, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Lake Norman, Carowinds, U.S. National Whitewater Center, The Golf Club at Ballantyne, Carolina Panthers fans inside Bank of America Stadium, and nightlife at both the EpiCentre and NC Music Factory. Plus, there are formal greetings from Winston Kelley (NASCAR Hall), Mayor Anthony Foxx, Tim Newman (CRVA), Richard Childress, and Michael Jordan.

See the video below.

For more, visit www.charlottesgotalot.com.

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GPT Video: Crowd Outside of EpiCentre During CIAA

A couple of friends and I were taking in the Saturday festivities that were going on in Charlotte surrounding the CIAA Basketball Tournament. The crowds on the light rail (which we rode from South End) and throughout the streets of Uptown were huge as were expected. After hitting up a day party, I headed to the arena while my friends went to the EpiCentre. When I went to later meet them at the EpiCentre around 6 p.m., I captured this video of the crowd from my vantage point on the walkway over Trade Street. The crowd on the College Street side was even bigger.

The EpiCentre--which is an entertainment complex that has more than 20 restaurants, bars, and nightclubs, plus a bowling alley, movie theater, and hotel--was so packed that security would no longer let people enter the complex. Many of the venues inside--Mez, Suite, Whisky River, Enso, and others--were being rented out by promoters to host CIAA-inspired day parties.

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Light Rail Chillin'

I shot this. Feel free to use it on a post card.

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When Light Rail Gets Heavy

I rode the light rail last night to Speed Street. As is recommended by the city, I usually take the light rail whenever there's a big event going on downtown. I save time and money by not having to navigate through crowded and closed off streets, searching for parking garages that haven't reached capacity. I usually get on at the East/West Boulevard stop in South End (it makes it convenient to stop by Nikko for a drink on your way back). My friend and I did that last night and when the train arrived it was packed like sardines. But we, like everyone else, wiggled our way on. I've experienced similar crowds during CIAA week and Bobcats home games, but I think last night's crowd of people heading to Speed Street took the cake.

But at least it's not as bad as it is in Japan (see video below).

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