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Posted: January 25th, 2010 Tonya Jameson
On Jan. 21, a miserable rainy night, nearly two dozen people met at the library on West Boulevard to discuss their hopes for the center city. The meeting was one of two held that night to elicit community input for the Center City 2020 Vision Plan.
Charlotte Center City Partners sponsored the workshop as a follow-up to an October meeting that drew more than 300 people to the Charlotte Convention Center. The organization wants residents to help consultants draft the plan, which will be a guide for economic and cultural development for the next decade.
“The Center City and uptown belongs to everyone not just to the people who live and work and play uptown,” said Cheryl Myers, senior vice president of Planning and Development for CCCP.
Architects of uptown and the Center City say that a lot: Uptown is for everyone.
Yet, many don’t feel comfortable downtown. Some – not all – of that unease is justified, but I won’t go into that in this post. I will say these workshops provide everyone an opportunity to share their thoughts and hopes for the center city.
For example, at the West Boulevard workshop, several people praised the cultural arts facilities, greenways, and amenities for young professionals. However, many complained about the lack of affordable shopping, from retail to groceries. Others said the center city offers too little for teens. A few expressed a need for more family activities, such as festivals.
The next neighborhood workshops are Feb. 3 at the South County and Independence Regional libraries. People can also submit their thoughts at www.centercity2020.info.
Downtown is the heart of Charlotte and we all have a chance to shape it.
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Add a CommentUnless the Overstreet mall, along with all of the overhead walkways, are dismantled, there will NEVER be any significant street-level retail in Uptown. It's as simple as that. You can walk from at least the Hearst Tower all the way to the Bechtler Museum without going on the street. Since that will never happen, you can cross-off having retail Uptown and move on to other wish-list items (parks, etc.) Another contributor to the lack of street-level retail is exisiting ordinances/policies are not enforced. There is supposed to be some percentage of street-level retail in all of the bank buildings, yet the banks consistently have those rules waived for them, thus when you walk down Tryon, it's bank lobby after bank lobby after bank lobby. When new retail developments are built (Epicentre), there apparently is no requirement for street-level retail. On the entire city block that is the Epicentre, there are exactly 2 retail entrances you can access at street level-a bank branch (BofA) and a restaurant (Flemings). All the rest of the retail faces inward from the street, and is accessible only after climbing a huge flight of stairs.
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