The Observation Deck

First impressions are lasting impressions.

Years ago one of my job assignments required a short trip to Charlotte, North Carolina. As I drove through the City I chanced upon Queen Street. I remember it as a wide, residential boulevard canopied by ancient trees and bordered with flowering plants and colorful planters. Charlotte is a big city with its share of shabbiness but when I think of Charlotte I think of Queen Street.

The coming improvements to Clifton Boulevard offer an opportunity to return that street to its former grandeur. Clifton could be a pleasant thoroughfare rather than another freeway though Lakewood. Why not planters and flowers? Why not traffic circles at Nicholson at Belle and at Webb? Why not a street that is a symbol of the City as a nice place to live? Why not upscale apartments with one floor living overlooking a tree lined boulevard just minutes from everything?

Is anyone thinking of an real Boulevard? I am a fan of taking streets like Clifton that can be turned into a real icon of the city. And putting the power lines and telco line under ground. I;m sure the cost is prohibitive but we can dream right.