This story first appeared as part of WFAE's EQUALibrium newsletter, exploring race and equity in the Charlotte region. Get the latest news and analysis in your inbox first by signing up here.
When it comes to race and equity, there’s a tendency to view stories as either something you’re a part of or something you’re a spectator to. Either you’re in the group that’s disadvantaged, or you’re not.
But that’s not the case. Race and economics, equity in the physical design of our spaces, the way our various attributes influence whether we can access the basic services it takes to live a good life — the stories that touch on these topics often end up impacting us all, whether or not we’re in one of the groups that are directly affected.
With that in mind, here are three ongoing stories in Charlotte this fall and winter that have big implications for equity in our community, and, by extension, for you. We’ll be following these stories as they unfold. What else would you like to learn about, and what other equity-related issues should we be covering? There’s a link below, and I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Transit in Charlotte
The ongoing troubles at Charlotte’s transit agency have a major equity component to them. People often forget that bus ridership (at least pre-COVID) outpaced ridership on the Blue Line, making up a large majority of the people who ride public transit. And a majority of those riders are lower-income and Black, as my colleague Steve Harrison has reported. Many of them don’t have another way to get to work, either because they’re from one of the estimated 13,000 households that don’t have access to a car in Charlotte (again, concentrated in low-income, majority-minority neighborhoods) or because their access to a car is too unreliable.
With that in mind, fixing the Charlotte Area Transit System is very much an equity issue. The unreliability and service cuts to the bus system have fallen hardest on those with no alternative. While people ride the train to work uptown and to major events like Beyoncé's Charlotte show, it’s arguably the bus system that makes up Charlotte’s lifeline for the less well-off to get around.
As we’ve reported at WFAE, the bus system has lost some three-quarters of its riders over the past decade. And even if you’re not one of those people who relies on CATS, the success (or failure) of Charlotte’s transit plans will likely have something to do with how much traffic you face in the future.
Equity — in the form of expanding access to economic opportunities — has also been at the forefront of Charlotte leaders’ pitch to expand the transit system with a 1-cent sales tax hike. That $13.5 billion plan, with half the funds coming from the federal government, would build a new east-west Silver Line light rail, finish the north-south Red Line commuter rail and expand the bus system.
But public focus now is shifting to who controls CATS. The Mecklenburg County town mayors and the county commission representative on the Metropolitan Transit Commission are pushing for more power to shape CATS’ budget, priorities and leadership. And local leaders are talking more about the need for a regional authority, which would spread decision-making authority around the region more. Will CATS’ necessity as an economic lifeline remain at the forefront — or will the shifting focus of public conversation shift policymakers’ priorities as well?
Public urination and defecation
There’s been a lot of public concern recently over increased reports of homeless people using the bathroom in public in uptown. Residents have complained to Charlotte City Council; members have said they’re trying to figure out what to do. Concerned Fourth Ward residents say the problem stems in part from the city’s decision to remove public urination and defecation from its criminal code (they’re civil citations now) last year, as well as the increased number of people without a place to live or relieve themselves uptown.
Some, including council member Braxton Winston, speculate that the worsening situation could trace back to the 2021 closure of uptown’s main library branch, which is being rebuilt and replaced with a new, modern facility. The library served as a place for people to access services, spend time indoors and, yes, use the bathroom.
Without that, there aren’t many options that don’t require you to be a paying customer, resident or office tenant — a couple of bathrooms at First Ward Park and Romare Bearden Park are pretty much it. Charlotte isn’t unique in this. A personal story last month in The Washington Post highlighted how the U.S. has eight public toilets per 100,000 people, the lowest among developed nations. (Canada has 18, for comparison.)
That’s a problem not just for homeless people, but for people with health conditions, children or just the call of nature to heed. And it shows how privatizing the public realm (by putting most bathrooms in private facilities) can have equity impacts — and create a messy situation for everyone who lives, works or visits uptown.
Childcare access
Time is running out on supplemental COVID relief funding from the federal government that gave childcare providers a big boost during the pandemic. That $24 billion will dry up by the end of the year (though the timing will vary from state to state). The extra money has gone to boost pay for childcare providers, which averages about $11 an hour for the Mecklenburg County region.
One national survey last year found that once the federal money is gone, almost 30% of programs will have to cut wages for staff. It’s not as simple as making parents pay more to cover the difference — childcare is already unaffordable for many, averaging about $15,000 for a toddler in Mecklenburg. Despite that, 43% of programs said they would have to raise tuition and fees.
Childcare is an equity issue that cuts across many dimensions. Childcare providers — a workforce made up largely of women, and disproportionately women of color — receive low wages and suffer financial insecurity, despite providing a truly vital service (and if your children have had great daycare teachers like mine have, you know they’re miracle workers). Families already paying more for childcare than for rent or a mortgage will be further strained, and in some cases they — especially women — might decide to drop out of the workforce to take care of their children.
Even people without kids in daycare could be impacted if that happens on a large scale and helps keep the labor market tight — just one of the ways in which issues about equity affect us all.
