Worst lifts to film in Charlotte, LA, Houston & Miami

Throughout this blog post, I describe the worst lifts to film in four of the 10 Charlotte-like cities to film lifts.

Charlotte (North Carolina)

For Charlotte, the lifts are very, very epic & each have totally different character for every building you visit. I absolutely love Charlotte's lifts very much because of this. Most of the generic lifts will have either EPCO (better kind) or Innovation buttons.

For her worst lifts, they are a bit boring to ride, although nowhere near as boring as the typical NYC Generic lift with Monitor TR. Charlotte's typical bad lifts (boring) have one of the following buttons:

• Innovation Universal OR NEMA 4X
• CRAPCO Survivor+

CRAPCO Survivor+ is what you'll find for bad lifts! Out of 110 videos I have seen for this city, I haven't seen CRAPCO SSL or Monitor TR at all! This leads me to believe that Charlotte's worst lift may be the best out of the 10 cities' worst lifts to film.

Los Angeles (California)

For Los Angeles, the lifts are almost as nice as what Charlotte has. For the low rise buildings, you'll mostly see a mix of Mitsubishi hydraulic lifts, Otis Series 1 & 5 lifts, along with many U.S. & Amtech lifts. Some of the more sketchy structures throughout the lower rising parts of Los Angeles include some 1960's buildings, which have very epic hydraulic lifts, a minority of them manufactured by Elevator Electric, a lift company back in the day throughout the State of California which made the most characterful hydraulic lifts for some famously filmed 4 or 5 story buildings. Some multi-story structures from this time period have really dodgy 2-speed traction lifts, some of them modernized by Amtech. For high rise buildings, common staples include the Mitsubishi AI lifts & the Otis Elevonic 411.

As far as generic lifts go, Los Angeles primarily uses either Innovation Universal (California Compliant) or Innovation Prestige (California Compliant) for more posh lift modernizations. However, for standard lift mods (like the rest of the state of California), Los Angeles is ERM-happy. You could see all different kinds of ERM buttons on her generic lifts. Few lifts will have EPCO or MAD & out of 220 videos I have watched about LA's lifts, none of them had EPCO SSL or Monitor TR, which was a relief.

For Los Angeles' worst lifts to film, you may want to take a look at some of the bog-standard generic lifts (under 10 floors). These are lifts which have the worst lift buttons you could find while you're in Los Angeles. However, if you want to film the WORST of the worst, you'll want to take a look at some low-rising lifts which have ERM CA 93 buttons. The ERM CA 93 is a hated lift button by many lift enthusiasts throughout California, as it looks ultra bland & boring.

LA's worst lift button

The worst button you'll find on a Los Angeles lift is the ERM CA 93. EPCO Survivor+ is a close second, but it is extremely rare throughout the county of LA.

Houston (Texas)

For Houston, the lifts are almost as nice as what LA & Charlotte have, if not, as nice. You'll find a major variety between the lifts at each building, no matter which kind of building you go to. The designs of lift are evenly distributed throughout Houston, Pasadena (to the east) & Sugar Land (to the west). The lifts are so different from each other in Houston that there is no popular lift, which makes Houston such a fun city for lift filming! The designs of some of the more unique & epic lifts (found in the buildings going between 8 to 25 stories tall) give them much more character & the Schindler 3300, 5500 & 6400 is starting to gain "trend traction" throughout the city. 

As far as generic lifts go, they are not as common in Houston as they are in Los Angeles, but you may want to focus on the lower rising buildings. Also, the real lifts are densely packed together, which makes it even harder to find the generic lifts. His typical generic lifts have EPCO buttons, although others may have Innovation Bruiser, or Universal, such as the Galleria Mall.

For Houston's worst lifts to film, you may want to look at some lifts in horrible condition, like the Otis hydraulic lift at the Dun Huang Carpark (sadly no longer working). For a lift in good condition but still utter boring because of the buttons, you may want to check out the Schindler service lifts at his Hyatt Regency. These lifts are the worst of the worst you'll find in Houston to film, as, despite being pure-bred Schindler, have so little character. Thankfully, that is the only lift I have seen out of 130 videos from Houston's lifts that have the atrocious Monitor TR. You can't find a lift any less characterful.

Miami

For Miami, the lifts are just as nice as what Houston & Fort Lauderdale have, only with a bit more modern Spanish design & Florida feel to them. Like Houston, LA & Charlotte, you will find a major variety between the lifts at each building, which makes Miami the second best city in Florida to film lifts. The designs of the lifts differ greatly between each building. Like Houston, because the difference between the lifts at each building is so large, there is practically no popular lift in Miami, most or all are different from each other. Also, the appearance of the lifts in Miami are unique to the city itself, such as futuristic feels, or buttons which look more modern, which makes her stand out. Sadly, there are no 5500s in Miami, yet, but there are a few Schindler  6400 lifts in Miami along with a couple 3300's.

As far as generic lifts go, pure generic lifts are extremely rare to find. This is because over 99% of the lifts throughout Miami which are NOT in department stores, are made either by real, nation-wide lift companies, or major, Florida-based lift companies. These could be found in the short buildings (5 stories or shorter), but even then it's rare to find a generic lift with no real brand. Like Houston, the real lifts are densely packed together, making them even harder to find. That being said, her typical generic lifts have these buttons:

• Innovation Bruiser
• Innovation NEMA 4X
• Innovation Universal
• Innovation Prestige
• Adams/EPCO WN (less fun generic lifts)

Speaking of some of the worst lifts you could film in Miami, there's one historic hotel somewhere in Miami, which got a super atrocious Schindler 6400 mod, with Monitor TR buttons! While the mod itself wasn't so bad, the Monitor TR took away all the character from the lift. But out of 140 videos I have seen on Miami's lifts, that was the only one that had Monitor TR & I did not see CRAPCO SSL on any of Miami's lifts by video, so that is a very good sign. If you want to find Miami's worst lift, you will have to search hard for it. When comparing her worst lift to NYC's better generic lifts, her Schindler 6400 lift wins.

Conclusion

When comparing these cities' worst possible lifts to film to New York City's better generic lifts, Miami, LA, Houston & Charlotte ultimately take the crown for being the better lifts. Theoretically, ANY Charlotte-like city (including Secaucus) will have better lifts, even the worst ones!