Charlotte Photo of the Day: Wheelie Man's new ride

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Wheelie man had a new ride when I saw him Uptown last Thursday. Wheelie Man seems to be a man of few words, from the couple of times I've spoken with him. Maybe he's just getting tired of the paparazzi. Or, he is simply a man of action. Here's a short clip I made of Wheelie Man doing what he does best:

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Charlotte Photo of the Day: The Shoe Shiner

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Perhaps "shoe cobbler" would be the correct term. In any case, this gentleman takes pride in his work. Located in Brevard Court off of Tryon Street in Uptown.

"How do you know when the shoe is stretched out enough?"

"Oh, you have to feel what the leather is telling you."

Charlotte Photo of the Day: Wheelie Man

Wheelie Man doing what he does best. View this photo on Flickr.

If you spend enough time Uptown, you're bound to see Wheelie Man and his magical wheelie contraption ride on a single wheel for a good city block along Tryon Street. Longer if traffic cooperates. Bill Fehr has a video of Wheelie Man in action on Youtube. Also, check out Bill's first post about Wheelie Man and his fly ride.

Charlotte Photo of the Day 6/17/09

Bus stop at Central and Thomas in Plaza-Midwood. Yup, that's Chilly Willy in the far left of the photo. He was sipping Cisco. In other news, Cisco is apparently still sold. If you've never experienced the joy of Cisco, read up. Also, if you are not familiar with Charlotte's most famous panhandler, you should read Chilly Willy's story on UrbanPlanet. Also, watch Chilly Willy rock it out on the guitar.

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Piedmont Courts - Then and Now

Piedmont courts was once the most notoriously run down housing project in the city. It was located close to uptown, bounded by 12th, 10th, and Seigle Ave. From the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission website:

"Piedmont Courts opened in 1940 and was the City of Charlotte's first public housing project. Like many public housing projects of that era, Piedmont Courts adopted the Superblock plan. Built during the years of legal racial segregation, Piedmont Courts was originally only for whites. Fairview Homes, now destroyed, was built only for blacks. Piedmont Courts is now abandoned and scheduled for total demolition. Staff believes that Piedmont Courts has the requisite special significance to warrant placement on the Study List for historic landmark designation."

I toured Piedmont Courts in 2005, while a few residents were still living there before it was torn down. Unfortunately I just had a little disposable camera - I wish I could have documented this housing project and the people who lived there before it was destroyed. It is interesting to look at what was there - dilapidated brick structures - with the new housing development. The first photo I took from 10th St. in July of 2005, and the second photo I took in May of 2009:

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Credit to Andrea Krewson for correctly guessing the subject of the first photo. She recently posted on her blog the plight of the Morningside Village redevelopment - a housing project similar to Piedmont Courts that was torn down in 2007, only to stall and sit as a vacant lot.

Today Justin Ritchie and I were going to tour a local organic farm. On I-85 in Concord we saw the following:

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Charlotte Photo of the Day 5/21/09

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Charlotte Mayoral candidate and At-Large City Council member Anthony Foxx participating in an hour long town hall forum moderated by Nathan Richie, host of 106.5 WEND's END Sessions. The town hall video, broadcast live on the internet last Sunday at 7PM, was hosted by CLTblog.com and featured reader submitted questions.

I was trilled to be a part of an event like this. It was a moment where I had to stop and think "Maybe we are doing something important here." After all, it was the first time any news media in Charlotte had hosted an event like this. Councilman Foxx and his staff were great to work with and very open to our ideas. Nathan Richie impressed me with his professional handling of the moderator duties. Overall I would say it was a top notch production, given that a news outlet with zero funding was the one hosting it. Though, I often wish we could have a full time video editor on staff so videos like this program, which was recorded while being broadcast live, could be available online already. Unfortunately we have to get all this done between our college classes and 9 to 5 jobs.

Maybe we saw a glimpse of what the future of journalism could look like Sunday night - politicians willing to be open to new media, a crew of volunteers setting up and running live internet news video - a diverse group of people ranging from IT workers, graphic designers, college students, and former newspaper employees. I hope this will be a spark for others to pick up where we started.

I'm looking forward to (hopefully) helping CLTblog.com host an online town hall with the other Charlotte Mayoral candidate and At-Large City Council member John Lassiter. Watch CLTblog.com for video of the town hall forum and future events.