So, the other day I was doing a bicycle experiment with my friend. We were riding bcycles and I had my waterbottle in the basket. I was going fast down 7th Ave, headed away from uptown and I hit a bump…watch what happens.. (Click on the image to activate!) 

So, the other day I was doing a bicycle experiment with my friend. We were riding bcycles and I had my waterbottle in the basket. I was going fast down 7th Ave, headed away from uptown and I hit a bump…watch what happens.. (Click on the image to activate!) 

Reminders of hoopla gone by. Check out this blog of “Stuff Charlotte never built.”

(Click on the images to activate the animation.)

(Top) Independence Boulevard: 

This image features a section where Village Lake Drive hits Independence. This is just south of where W.T. Harris Boulevard and Margaret Wallace Road intersect with Independence. The small stand-alone building is a Ruby Tuesday, which fronts a Dollar General and a Post Office, separated by a sea of parking spaces. Keihly is not proposing destroying these buildings, but simply, how would the street and city-scape look differently if the buildings were aligned closer to the street edge, with the parking in the back, making the street edge more walkable? Granted, Independence Boulevard is a long, auto-oriented strip, but if everything were fronting the street, it could be a completely different place. What do you think?

(Bottom) Central Avenue: 

Central Avenue is quite walkable in many parts. This illustration shows how it could be improved and the gaps filled in. Even the simple moves of putting the buildings at the corners shape the space and create more enclosure, which feels nicer than the wide-open parking lot if you’re walking past. Keihly is not saying we should tear down the beloved Dairy Queen, she just aims to show how it would create a different street feeling if the buildings were right at the edge of the street - closer to its eager eaters. 

Keihly Moore is a graduate student in the Urban Design and Architecture departments at UNC Charlotte. These illustrations will become part of an urban design tool kit to start a discussion about regional urban design issues. 

Movies, depicted as a transit map. See the full image.

Movies, depicted as a transit map. See the full image.

  • November 27, 2012, 3:01pm

          1 note

Get a clearer look at where growth was and wasn’t in the Charlotte metro region, and the Southeastern U.S. 

Get a clearer look at where growth was and wasn’t in the Charlotte metro region, and the Southeastern U.S. 

Parking space for cars? No, a park for people! In South End. Today only. Today is International PARK(ing) Day .

Parking space for cars? No, a park for people! In South End. Today only. Today is International PARK(ing) Day .

Using biomimicry, a UNC Charlotte team of students and faculty design a solar house. They unveiled it today. Follow the link here, and take an animated tour of their design.

massurban: “Better Block: Bottom-Up Urban Reboot In a Single Weekend Julie Ma. August 23, 2012 It’s remarkable what some people can accomplish in a single weekend. While others spend those days catching up on lost sleep or exploring their city with friends, Texas-based nonprofit The Better Block uses that time to rally communities to rethink their neighborhoods. Since itsinception in 2010, the project has built temporary dog parks, pop-up shops, urban forests, cafes, and bike lanes. They’ve left their mark in more than 35 cities including Philadelphia, Wichita, Cleveland, Houston, and Oklahoma City. The organization’s next stop: Detroit, where the city’s first-ever Better Block project will take place from September 22 to 23 as part of theDetroit Design Festival. Headed by volunteers from the US Green Building Council and Wayne State University, the project aims to reshape a location with plenty of vacant commercial space—New Center. Better Block will fill the vacant lots with work from local artists and artisans, food and drinks, and art exhibits via collaborations with local galleries and art organizations. There will also be pop-up retail shops, music performances, outdoor games, yoga instruction, urban farming demonstrations, and general lounging. The project aims for zero net waste, a temporary bus route to access the site, plus bike lanes and crosswalks painted around the block for the occasion.  Better Block wants to jumpstart local policy shifts. “We want to change the planning process in the United States,” says organizer Andrew Howard. “It can be frustrating when things are taking too long, and our idea is that we don’t have to wait for the perfect city. It starts from the bottom up.” The Better Block gives neighborhoods a temporary community-focused facelift, and can give struggling areas a glimpse into their futures. The organization provides training to community members interested in revitalizing their blocks by increasing multi-modal transportation and fostering economic development. Post-project, the communities work with The Better Block to see what was successful and take the steps necessary to turn these temporary solutions into permanent fixtures. In some cities, weekend pop-up shops have even turned into lasting storefronts. “ Via: GOOD Magazine Photo: Better Blocks

massurban:

“Better Block: Bottom-Up Urban Reboot In a Single Weekend

Julie Ma. August 23, 2012

It’s remarkable what some people can accomplish in a single weekend. While others spend those days catching up on lost sleep or exploring their city with friends, Texas-based nonprofit The Better Block uses that time to rally communities to rethink their neighborhoods. Since itsinception in 2010, the project has built temporary dog parks, pop-up shops, urban forests, cafes, and bike lanes. They’ve left their mark in more than 35 cities including Philadelphia, Wichita, Cleveland, Houston, and Oklahoma City.

The organization’s next stop: Detroit, where the city’s first-ever Better Block project will take place from September 22 to 23 as part of theDetroit Design Festival. Headed by volunteers from the US Green Building Council and Wayne State University, the project aims to reshape a location with plenty of vacant commercial space—New Center.

Better Block will fill the vacant lots with work from local artists and artisans, food and drinks, and art exhibits via collaborations with local galleries and art organizations. There will also be pop-up retail shops, music performances, outdoor games, yoga instruction, urban farming demonstrations, and general lounging. The project aims for zero net waste, a temporary bus route to access the site, plus bike lanes and crosswalks painted around the block for the occasion. 

Better Block wants to jumpstart local policy shifts. “We want to change the planning process in the United States,” says organizer Andrew Howard. “It can be frustrating when things are taking too long, and our idea is that we don’t have to wait for the perfect city. It starts from the bottom up.”

The Better Block gives neighborhoods a temporary community-focused facelift, and can give struggling areas a glimpse into their futures. The organization provides training to community members interested in revitalizing their blocks by increasing multi-modal transportation and fostering economic development. Post-project, the communities work with The Better Block to see what was successful and take the steps necessary to turn these temporary solutions into permanent fixtures. In some cities, weekend pop-up shops have even turned into lasting storefronts. “

Via: GOOD Magazine

Photo: Better Blocks

The ghosts of unbuilt subdivisions: kudzu overtaking roll-over curbing, and entry gates leading to empty fields. Read PlanCharlotte.org’s article about  zombie subdivisions here. See more PlanCharlotte photos here. 

incidentalcomics: Suburban Planning

incidentalcomics:

Suburban Planning