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.
-
One of Charlotte’s oldest cemeteries sits in North End, among industrial buildings and neighborhoods that have grown up around it over the past century. Now, the Hebrew Cemetery wants to expand into a city-owned plot next door, which Charlotte has set aside to redevelop as part of its Corridors of Opportunity initiative. The cemetery’s plan is to provide more space to the living and the dead — but some community members are wary.
-
What's now a vacant warehouse in northwest Charlotte may soon become a bustling food distribution center where Charlotteans can purchase locally-sourced meat, dairy and produce and even learn how to prepare and cook the food.
-
As Charlotte bakes under heatwaves this summer, the city's trees are helping to take the edge off by shading homes, streets and parks. But the benefits of these natural air-conditioners are spread unevenly throughout the city. Shade is hardest to find in some of Charlotte’s low-income neighborhoods. And it’s often a challenge for residents to maintain the trees they do have.
-
Black Americans have celebrated Juneteenth for decades, but up until three years ago, there was no festival or public celebration in Charlotte's historically-Black West End — until a local nonprofit stepped in.
-
A McDonald’s on West Sugar Creek Road in northeast Charlotte has a mission — customers should feel no different going there than to a McDonald’s in SouthPark. That may not seem like a lofty goal for a fast-food chain where consistency is baked into the food and the experience, but trying to deliver on it in a deeply troubled area has required a lot of expense, diplomacy and vigilance.
-
Some businesses in northeast Charlotte are uniting to send a message: West Sugar Creek is a welcoming place, except for those looking for trouble. The Sugar Creek Business Association was formed this year to get the ear of elected officials and help businesses take a stand against crime.
-
Charlotte's fast-changing neighborhoods are under a magnifying glass this week, as the city hosts several hundred urban planners. As part of the annual gathering of the Congress for the New Urbanism, the group is looking at the city’s Corridors of Opportunity.
-
A new project in Charlotte’s West Boulevard corridor will display a mix of art and history. The project is a collaboration between the city and the people living in the corridor and will highlight important people, places and events that have impacted the area.
-
A program that deploys people called “violence interrupters” on Charlotte’s west side showed some promise in its early results. UNC Charlotte’s Urban Institute looked at the first year it was up and running.
-
The city of Charlotte just bought the Economy Inn for $4.2 million. The main attraction: it was a hotspot for crime in an area that sees a lot of violence. The plan is to demolish the motel, add affordable housing and begin to change an environment where crime thrives.
-
Many of these historically overlooked thoroughfares still have higher crime rates than Mecklenburg County as a whole. Now, the city is trying some new approaches to turn things around as neighborhood groups continue their efforts to create safe, inviting communities.
-
"I love it. I love it. I love it," said resident Talaya Brown, who helped the artist connect with neighbors to create Oaklawn Park's first community mural.
MORE NEWS ABOUT MAYOR'S RACIAL EQUITY INITIATIVE
-
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.
-
The Mayor's Racial Equity initiative has reached its private sector fundraising goal of $150 million.
-
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.
-
Kim Henderson, the woman chosen to help oversee the Mayor's Racial Equity Initiative in Charlotte, is stepping down.
-
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.
-
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.