Charlotte gets HOV lanes, a Light Rail and the Nascar Hall of Fame. Raleigh gets a Toll Rd.

The two are sorta unrelated...but he has been the longest serving mayor of Charlotte in history.

8/19/2008 2:53:50 PM

he's got my vote for a number of reasons.

He's also an alumnus of Ragsdale high in jamestown, in addition to other notable wolfpackers such as Toney Baker and BobbyDigital

8/19/2008 3:16:08 PM

Quote :

"Light Rail"

finance professor told our class you can literally hear money going down the drain with these things

[Edited on August 19, 2008 at 3:17 PM. Reason : he was talking about how raleigh wanted to get one]

8/19/2008 3:17:10 PM

If McCrory can convince me that he (1) won't try to get rid of the lottery and (2) will try to look out for the rank-and-file state employees (and I don't mean teachers), he'll get my vote, too. I agree with him on a significant number of other issues.

8/19/2008 3:20:48 PM

i will likely vote for him.

8/19/2008 3:21:00 PM

there is no area in north carolina that has the density to support a light (or heavy for that matter) rail transport system

8/19/2008 3:21:55 PM

Remember Steve Dunne!!!1 The answer is almost always no to rail.

8/19/2008 3:24:43 PM

light rail costs money. there's no question. but it provides a service that many would benefit from and it does it in a relatively environmentally friendly way. it also would encourage travel to the area. one of the main reasons light rail has died so many times in this area is because the airport doesn't want to lose its rental car money.

8/19/2008 3:27:43 PM

^^^ heh the thing is always packed anytime ive been on it...


im not a big mccrory fan though.

8/19/2008 3:33:21 PM

Bev Perdue just seems like a typical Eastern NC Politician and there have been a lot of crooked Democrats in our state lately (not trying to steer this into the national scene...).

Yea, the rail was expensive ($462.7 million) but some of it was federal money, right? I can't find any articles...but I can't find any proof that it was funded by NC general funds (or taxes that all of NC pays). Local taxpayers and businesses contributed funds for the train.

On the other hand, for I-540 the House has proposed transferring $25 million from the General Fund to the NC Turnpike Authority.

But back to the topic, I think Pat McCrory would make an excellent governor. He made stuff happen in Charlotte.

As Lt. Governor, Bev was on the same boat as our awesome current governor. (The one riding around Italy and with the overpaid wife.) According to Wiki, her job title is to be one of the state's chief budget writers.

8/19/2008 4:19:39 PM

Light rail and subways work if you merge it with careful regional and urban planning. If you're smart about how you do it, you can use them to help build density: Washington metro area leveraged several stations along the orange line to turn a sleepy set of office parks into high density, mixed usage corridors.

I think you could pull it off in Charlotte, but I don't think there's enough urban-minded people to do it in Raleigh.

8/19/2008 4:25:49 PM

I'd be interested in a examination of how dense Charlotte is vs the RTP. Light rail only suceeds in a relatively densely populated area where it can serve a large number of people with relatively few stops.

It isn't that it is a bad idea, just that certain conditions must be met for it to work.

8/19/2008 5:32:03 PM

the thing with rail is that it encourages density. density doesn't usually just happen on its own.

8/19/2008 5:53:48 PM

he's had my vote for a while now

8/19/2008 5:58:11 PM

Watching the debate right now...Bev won't answer any questions.

8/19/2008 8:33:08 PM

Quote :

"Yea, the rail was expensive ($462.7 million) but some of it was federal money, right? "

The federal money was ultimately denied after their studies showed that the triangle ridership would not be enough to make it worthwhile. This essentially killed the project.

I agree with the assessment, but then again, we have federal money building a bridge to nowhere in alaska that carries a 9 figure price tag.

8/20/2008 11:05:31 AM

i saw a pic of him and bev in the paper today...i hope the dude wins(no homo)...looks more govenorly

[Edited on August 20, 2008 at 11:19 AM. Reason : plus i'm tired of nc always having dem govenors]

8/20/2008 11:18:41 AM

I may not agree with him on most issues, but Pat is the better candidate. NC needs more Rep. governors.

8/20/2008 11:45:58 AM

i could give a poop about his party designation, i like the cut of his jib

8/20/2008 12:34:26 PM

i just think he looks more governorly than some woman

8/20/2008 12:37:40 PM

Anyone would be better than Bev Perdue.

8/20/2008 12:46:54 PM

Quote :

"there is no area in north carolina that has the density to support a light (or heavy for that matter) rail transport system"

The light rail has surpassed first year ridership estimations in the first seven months of operation by more than 76 percent (with over 16,100 weekday riders).

http://www.ridetransit.org


now we're just hoping for an extension of the light rail into the northern part of the city as well.

8/20/2008 2:36:17 PM

Anyone vs. a Democrat for NC governor? A female Democrat? It's practically a shoe-in.

Free community college for everyone!

8/21/2008 8:27:05 AM

Not really a fan of McCrory.

Its great that Charlotte got Light Rail and a Nascar Hall of Fame but I remember both of those projects being voted down by Meck Co. residents in a referendum. Pat decided they needed them anyways. He also tried to do it with a Baseball Stadium.

Isnt Bob Orr still running?

8/21/2008 10:42:04 AM

Quote :

"Pat decided they needed them anyways."

Well, I think one of the major employers of the city said it was pissed that the city and state weren't making efforts to improve traffic in the area by building up infrastructure in some way, so they used the threat of moving their offices to get them to build the light rail system to improve traffic. I would probably feel the same way if my employees had to deal with traffic like that every day, and I was a huge tax contributor for the city, and they hadn't made much of an effort to fix the problem for a good long while.

8/21/2008 12:05:26 PM

Quote :

"there is no area in north carolina that has the density to support a light (or heavy for that matter) rail transport system"

Aficionado must have never been to Charlotte

Gas prices can quickly change peoples' perception of light rail

8/21/2008 12:28:34 PM

Quote :

"finance professor told our class you can literally hear money going down the drain with these things"

That has always been a given. All public transportation loses money. Even in Atlanta, which has the highest ridership, the revenue from MARTA only covers a little over half of the operating costs. In NY and elsewhere the subway and other systems are subsidized even more.

8/21/2008 3:01:12 PM

B of A flat out said that Charlotte lack of rail and downtown amenities was hurting recruiting.

Basically, you could work for Citi and live in NYC or come to work for B of A and live in what many in finance thought of as a little hick town.

[Edited on August 21, 2008 at 3:44 PM. Reason : .]

8/21/2008 3:43:21 PM

Mindstorm, you could be right and I think that employer has a legitimate gripe, the traffic probably does lose them money. I'll actually give props to McCrory for actually getting a project done from beginning to end that will hopefully benefit the city for many years, trouble is I feel he decided what was best for Charlotte even though the taxpayers said they wanted something different.

I think a lot of the taxpayers in Mecklenburg County would have rather had their money go to completing I-485 or increasing lanes on I-77 (more than just the HOV lanes) or improving other major roads in the area. Obviously I cant know thats what they wanted for sure but the referendum they voted down was saying something (Interestingly it was voted down despite the Observer and other media outlets drumming it up as the greatest thing ever, atleast that was my experience)

8/21/2008 3:51:38 PM

I drove two summer internships from Lake Norman to Charlotte, the HOV lanes are awesome.

What exactly has Beverly Perdue done, besides ride Easley's coat tails?

8/21/2008 4:08:46 PM

Quote :

"I think a lot of the taxpayers in Mecklenburg County would have rather had their money go to completing I-485 or increasing lanes on I-77 (more than just the HOV lanes) or improving other major roads in the area."

you are correct...like I stated earlier, the light rail ridership really took off with the increase in gas prices...at first it got ridership for the novelty factor...people who wanted to try it...now you have plenty of people who use it all the time for their main means of transportation...i think it would have a lot less passengers if gas were $2.50 a gallon or something

8/21/2008 4:19:39 PM

rail good toll roads bad. I HATE TOLL ROADS! it cost what 20$ to drive to disney world? Double taxation is not the answer.

8/21/2008 9:39:15 PM

^Obviously. That's why they are going for triple taxation.

8/22/2008 8:46:36 AM

Light rails don't fix the problem of shitty ass city and general development planning. That coupled with the horrendous light rail designs that have been put up for RTP and you have failure for sure.

8/22/2008 11:50:54 PM

Quote :

"[quote]Charlotte gets HOV lanes, a Light Rail and the Nascar Hall of Fame. Raleigh gets a Toll Rd 440 upgraded, a new 540 beltline under construction, US1 upgraded, US-64 knighdale bypass, etc"

[/quote]

I like McCrory but if this is your qualification for him then you are sadly misinformed. Compared to its shear size and growth the infrastructure system of Charlotte has grossly lagged that of Raleigh.

Quote :

"there is no area in north carolina that has the density to support a light (or heavy for that matter) rail transport system"

That is funny. Everyone i talk to in south charlotte tells me the light rail has been a success and is always packed during peak hours.

Quote :

"Prior to the opening of the line in November 2007, CATS projected ridership for the completed Blue Line to be 9,100 on an average weekday in its first year of operation, and gradually increase to 18,100 by 2025.[4] In its first few months of operation, the Blue Line saw an average daily weekday ridership 8,700 passengers.[21] By the end of the first quarter of 2008, weekday ridership had increased to 18,600, double first-year projections and ahead of the 2025 projections.[2] In March 2008, the single light rail line accounted for 19.5% of total system ridership -- 402,600 of the 2,061,700 monthly passenger-trips of all lines including bus, dial-a-ride, and vanpool.[2] For 2008, LYNX is projected to handle 4.2 million trips"

wikipedia- LYNX Rapid Transit Services

[Edited on August 24, 2008 at 9:56 AM. Reason : l]

8/24/2008 9:54:20 AM

Coming from someone who has worked on both sides of the light rail argument (I worked for Pittenger when he was running ads against it before the vote and now work for McCrory) the light rail has been a huge success in Charlotte. The average use is already approaching numbers they estimated we wouldn't reach until 2025. For the person who said that the taxpayers didn't want it, I would have to ask you why you think that when they voted for it and then just last november voted to keep the tax on the books that pays for it.

8/24/2008 1:51:12 PM

The only problem with the light rail is I thought they did not choose the location of their first line wisely. The congestion releif created by the light rail would have been a lot more useful going to the university or down to the Matthews/MintHill area.

Traffic has reached prohibitive levels in southeast charlotte and Matthews. US 74 needs to be turned into an expressway all the way down until at least NC51. Even worse I-485 is 6-8 lanes throughout the whole city except being 4 lanes around matthews and eastern pineville.

8/24/2008 4:39:41 PM

Quote :

"I like McCrory but if this is your qualification for him then you are sadly misinformed. Compared to its shear size and growth the infrastructure system of Charlotte has grossly lagged that of Raleigh. "

Exactly how am I SADLY misinformed? Exactly how much has Charlotte's infrastructure GROSSLY lagged behind that of Raleigh...except in building roads to nowhere and creating a lobbying group to endorse toll roads?

I can only assume by infrastructure...you mean more state employees who can't be held accountable to work 40 hours a week and not spend tax dollars on "educational" trips to Las Vegas.

Everyone keeps picking on the light rail, but the HOV lanes are the real butter.

I personally don't think that Bev has done a very good job as one of our state's chief budget writers for the last 3 terms in the Senate.

Anyway I was checking out her wikipedia page, have you guys ever taken a look at this website?
http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=99514

8/25/2008 11:56:09 AM

Quote :

"Exactly how much has Charlotte's infrastructure GROSSLY lagged behind that of Raleigh"

even though the question isn't directed at me, for one thing Raleigh is working on completing its 2nd beltline (540)...Charlotte still hasn't finished building their 1st

Charlotte might get more work overall, but I think they do lag behind Raleigh in per capita or per area funding

[Edited on August 25, 2008 at 12:07 PM. Reason : .]

8/25/2008 12:06:45 PM

Raleigh gets its bump from the general NC fund...Charlotte has to pay for their own. Not only that, but the second Raleigh beltline will have tolls. I don't have any facts to back that up of course...but I can't seem to really find any articles about it.

Raleigh doesn't have a Brookshire Fwy like Charlotte does though...it's like a mini beltline.

[Edited on August 25, 2008 at 1:31 PM. Reason : .]

8/25/2008 1:28:54 PM

you are correct. NC-540 which begins at the NC54 exit will be a toll road.

it's a done deal.

8/25/2008 2:19:23 PM

Nah I meant as far as who paid for what.

8/25/2008 3:05:51 PM

Quote :

"Raleigh doesn't have a Brookshire Fwy like Charlotte does though...it's like a mini beltline."

meh...the looping part of brookshire/john belk is only 5-6 miles long...its just kind of like a long wade avenue

i didnt know 540 was going to be a toll road?

8/25/2008 3:25:33 PM

Except that it circles around uptown, has ramps (Oberlin and Capital don't count), no stop lights and Jill Liberal can't turn left into Whole Foods.

8/25/2008 4:10:10 PM

485 isn't done because Tony Rand got Fayetteville jumped ahead in the funding line for a loop of their own so Charlotte's has been delayed repeatedly.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/wcnc-072108-krg-loop.7856749d.html

8/25/2008 6:23:18 PM

Quote :

"[quote]even though the question isn't directed at me, for one thing Raleigh is working on completing its 2nd beltline (540)...Charlotte still hasn't finished building their 1st"

No shit

Quote :

"Raleigh doesn't have a Brookshire Fwy like Charlotte does though...it's like a mini beltline."

which is only useful if you live or work downtown. I can count on my hands the number
of times I have used the Brookshire Fwy in my navigation around Charlotte and I lived there
for 18 years.

On the other hand I have used 540 AND 440 in the same day more times then i can remember.

Quote :

"you are correct. NC-540 which begins at the NC54 exit will be a toll road. "

FUCK THAT. Glad I do not work at Sony Ericsson any more. The davis drive exit
saved me btw 5-10 mins in commute time per day. I would have been ENRAGED
had they made me start paying a MOTHER FUCKING toll to use the road to which
my tax payer dollors paid for in order for those liberal hippy douches in
holly springs to get I540 running down to their houses 5 years earlier.[/quote]

Quote :

"485 isn't done because Tony Rand got Fayetteville jumped ahead in the funding line for a loop of their own so Charlotte's has been delayed repeatedly."

As it is Raleigh effectively has a beltline if you use I-85 to complete the loop. This is what I-40 does on I-440's south segment. I485 needs to widened in the Matthews area before those rich fags at lake norman get I485 running by their house. I would hate for them to have to drive 2 more miles to get on I-85.

8/25/2008 7:39:32 PM

Did you mean charlotte with that last part of your response hur?

8/25/2008 8:08:59 PM

The majority of Charlotte has suffered under McCrory. His measure of success is how many toys he can fit downtown. 2/3 of town is turning into crime-ridden ghetto. It wasn't that way when I was growing up. But let's forget about hiring assistant DAs, we have to buy a basketball arena for billionaire Bob Johnson. Traffic is horrible because we're running on the same capacity from the 1950s. I don't blame the hog farmers for squeezing money away from the city - at least they use their funds to build roads.

8/25/2008 8:44:27 PM

Yes I found it completely ASSNINE that tax payer money was used to build Bob Johnson's basketball arena. At the least parking in the parking deck should be free when there is no NBA games. Further i think every citizen in the city should get a free ticket to at least one game per year.

Glad my parents worked hard to help fund Mr. Johnson's investment so he could make $$$.

8/25/2008 9:02:07 PM

yet somehow he has won all his mayoral races by what, at least 15 to 20 percent? I think the majority of people in Charlotte approve of the job he has done.

8/25/2008 9:06:16 PM