Enlarge More than a dozen Charlotte neighborhoods were represented in this session.

Posted: July 1st, 2010 Jarvis Holliday

Seat someone from south Charlotte at a table with someone from west Charlotte, allow them to engage in conversations, and they’ll likely realize that they have the same aspirations for their neighborhoods and that they’re facing many of the same issues where they live.

About 20 residents from more than a dozen Charlotte neighborhoods attended “A Conversation with Neighborhood Leaders and Community Connectors,” a Crossroads Charlotte-sponsored event, Tuesday (June 29) at Covenant Presbyterian Church. Crossroads organizers wanted the attendees to learn more about the organization and to get to know each other.

“By 2015, what kind of future do we want to have in Charlotte?” asked Arissa El-Amin as she gave an overview of Crossroads Charlotte. After briefly introducing the organization’s four stories — Fortress Charlotte, Class Act, And the Beat Goes On, and Eye to Eye — she said this session would focus on Fortress and Eye. One audience member read a list of details about Fortress Charlotte and one read Eye to Eye.

Next, two of Charlotte’s most talented poets, Quentin “Q” Talley and Laurence Maher, brought those two stories to life, giving vivid spoken-word renditions.

The attendees, already sitting at tables in groups of four and five, were then instructed to engage in small-group conversations by discussing a list of prepared questions and jotting down their responses. 

One of the questions asked: What have you seen in your neighborhood to indicate that things are getting better or worse?

“We have a great police presence in our neighborhood,” remarked Robin Jones, a resident of the Wingate neighborhood (west Charlotte) and president of its neighborhood association. Jones said her neighbors and the police have been building a great relationship.

A twenty-something seated at Jones’ table said that she and her husband are currently looking to buy a house so they’ve been touring various neighborhoods. She’s been astounded by some people’s perceptions of different neighborhoods, which she doesn’t think is always an accurate portrayal. “I’ll tell people that we saw a house we like in a certain neighborhood and they’ll respond like, ‘You want to live there?’ They try to make it seem like they’re concerned about schools in the area and boundary lines, but I think it’s a bunch of pettiness.” 

After about 30 minutes of discussions in their small groups, they were asked to appoint a spokesperson to read the highlight of each group’s conversations aloud. Among the points mentioned were: some neighborhoods seem to be connecting more, such as with the Neighborhood Night Out events in the West Boulevard area; a Shannon Park neighborhood group purchased a former church and have been using it to provide meeting space and activities; an Eastway neighborhood has a new community garden; one neighborhood group is trying to get its residents to get more involved in their schools; there are some concerns about equity in the distribution of resources for neighborhoods; and some neighborhoods have safety concerns.

As the session was concluding, the attendees were encouraged to exchange contact information with at least one person they could hopefully build a relationship with. Jones said she was happy she attended the session and commended Crossroads Charlotte for the work it’s doing. 

“They’re bringing neighborhoods together and getting us to talk to people we don’t know,” Jones said. “It was beneficial to hear about some of the issues and great things happening in other neighborhoods. I’m going to try to put some of these things on the agenda with my people.”

The next neighborhood session will likely take place in July, and details will be announced soon.

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