OVERVIEW
Many of the neighborhoods surrounding the main thoroughfares into uptown Charlotte had historically been largely overlooked places where residents, many who are low income and belong to communities of color, watched the city’s boom from the sidelines. Now those communities are the centerpiece of Charlotte’s efforts to build a more equitable city.
Through the Corridors of Opportunity initiative, the city of Charlotte is investing in improving things like public safety, jobs and business opportunities, transportation, infrastructure and affordable housing in six areas: Graham Street/North Tryon Street, Sugar Creek Road/I-85, Albemarle Road/Central Avenue, Beatties Ford Road/Rozzelles Ferry Road, West Boulevard, and Freedom Drive/Wilkinson Boulevard.
MEETINGS & EVENTS
MORE ARTICLES ON THE CORRIDORS OF OPPORTUNITY
Mike Collins is joined by City Council member Malcolm Graham and community leaders for a conversation about Charlotte’s six “Corridors of Opportunity” and the attempt to revitalize these historically neglected areas without displacing the people who live there.
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Sections of streets in North End and around Beatties Ford Road in west Charlotte will close for cars and open to pedestrians Sunday afternoon. It’s part of the city’s Corridors Connect events that aim to turn one-mile stretches of neighborhood streets into parks with food and activities.
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A community festival in west Charlotte unites community organizations and highlights community-driven efforts to tackle food insecurity in low-income neighborhoods.
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More changes may be ahead for the troubled intersection of Interstate 85 and West Sugar Creek Road. The city of Charlotte this spring bought a motel with the aim of razing it and adding affordable housing. And now a developer has its eye on converting two more motels. The hope is fewer motels will mean less crime.
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A large Habitat for Humanity community build started by former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalyn returns to Charlotte after a long absence. The project will build 27 affordable homes in the West Boulevard corridor.
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Charlotte receives a $1.1 million grant to preserve trees in the city’s Corridors of Opportunity.
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A mentorship program in Charlotte is working to empower and teach life skills to Black youth through agriculture while addressing community issues in one of Charlotte’s low-income Corridors of Opportunity.
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The city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County will host new Corridors Connect events in October.
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The Charlotte City Council approved on Monday $1.5 million to develop a grocery store to address the lack of healthy food in one of the city’s low-income Corridors of Opportunity.
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For the first time in its history, Renaissance West STEAM Academy moves off North Carolina's list of "F" schools. That's important for an education village project.
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The city of Charlotte plans to open physical hubs in all six of the city’s designated Corridors of Opportunity to connect small businesses and entrepreneurs with resources. These hubs would bring those partnerships directly into historically overlooked and underinvested communities and be run by groups located there.
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Next week's North Carolina test scores could bring an end to Renaissance West STEAM Academy's string of F's and boost long-standing efforts to create an education village in west Charlotte.
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Charlotte's Renaissance West education village project was inspired by Atlanta's older and better-funded East Lake revitalization and Charles Drew Charter Academy.
MORE NEWS ABOUT MAYOR'S RACIAL EQUITY INITIATIVE
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The historically Black university is receiving $80 million in private money as part of the Mayor's Racial Equity Initiative. The goal is to vault the school to be one of the top ten HBCUs in the country and a recruiting ground for businesses.
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The Mayor's Racial Equity initiative has reached its private sector fundraising goal of $150 million.
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This month marks a year since the Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative was announced. It’s a $250 million effort that Mayor Vi Lyles said would combine bold ideas, philanthropy and collaborative problem-solving to remove barriers to opportunity. So far, the initiative has raised nearly all of its goal.
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Kim Henderson, the woman chosen to help oversee the Mayor's Racial Equity Initiative in Charlotte, is stepping down.
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Kim Henderson was hired to lead a racial equity initiative in Charlotte. That was after a state audit found the Ohio Henderson led paid out $3.8 billion in fraudulent and inflated unemployment claims. The leader of the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, which employs Henderson, says she knew about that before making a job offer.
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The goal of Charlotte's newly announced Racial Equity Initiative is to raise $250 million that will go toward making North Carolina's largest city more diverse and addressing racial inequities.