Charlotte's University City area has enough people living and
working there to qualify as one of North Carolina's largest cities
- bigger than Asheville, Gastonia, Concord or Chapel Hill. Within
a decade, more than 100,000 people will call it home.
But it has few of the amenities that come along with a major
urban center - no downtown, no transit, no strong political
voices, few crosswalks, and only one mile of sidewalk for every 10
miles of major thoroughfare.
"We are a city, but without city services," says Bill
McCoy with the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute, which just completed
a major study analyzing the area. University City is mostly in
Charlotte but spills across the city border and even into Cabarrus
County.
The study provides a look at the problems facing Charlotte's
best-defined edge city - and the issues other prosperous and
fast-growing areas will encounter in the future.
For years, planners and officials encouraged growth in the
University City area, from building Harris Boulevard to extending
sewer lines.
They succeeded. But the helter-skelter suburban development
that followed also led to traffic snarls and sprawl, McCoy says.
"It was planned poorly," agrees city councilman
Malcolm Graham, who lives in the area.
Rather than the usual pie-in-the-sky recommendations that often
result from such studies, McCoy has some very specific ideas to
remake University City:
The area needs a light rail line running along North Tryon
Street and U.S. 29, rather than the rapid bus service along
Interstate 85 recommended by past transit consultants.
City voters should approve millions of dollars in
neighborhood-improvement bonds targeted at the area, with the
money going to build sidewalks, bike paths, walking trails and
other amenities.
Businesses should contribute to improvements through a special
tax district, similar to those in uptown and South End. Landowners
inside the district would pay extra property taxes, with part of
the money going to hire a development coordinator.
Someone like that is needed to push for the area's interests,
McCoy said, because leaders at major employers haven't provided a
strong voice.
"There is no mayor; there is no influential CEO or
landowner," the report says.
Residents have long lamented their second-class status, saying
they often take a back seat to other communities with a stronger
corporate presence, from uptown to SouthPark.
"We get ignored," said Edna Chirico, a commercial
real estate agent and former county commissioner. "We've got
a population larger than all three northern towns, but we don't
get a vote in anything. It's frustrating."
The Charlotte Chamber's University Area Council, which
commissioned McCoy's report, wants to set up a group of
businesspeople and community leaders to advocate for the area.
"They can act as our mayor and city council," Chirico
said.
Graham said much of the responsibility falls on his shoulders,
as well. "I am willing to champion anything that uplifts the
area."
McCoy says the decision on transit is the most important one
facing the area. Planners and consultants are studying what route
and type of service to provide along the northeast corridor that
runs through University City. A decision is expected next year.
Previous consultants have called for buses, said transit chief
Ron Tober, because development in the University area is so spread
out and buses are more flexible. But light rail is still being
considered and has other advantages, he said.
McCoy's report says rail is needed to concentrate development
along the transit line and provide an opportunity to remake Tryon
Street and U.S. 29.
"That's the excuse to redesign the whole thing into an
urban boulevard," he said. "Right now, it looks
awful."
Neighborhood improvement bonds for a fairly prosperous area
like University City might be a tough sell, McCoy acknowledges.
Charlotte voters have approved such bonds in the past, including
$97.5million last year. Previously, though, the money has largely
paid for work in low-income communities.
Poorly planned suburban areas need help, too, McCoy said, if
the city is to combat traffic and sprawl. And sidewalks and bike
trails aren't particularly big-ticket items.
SouthPark has many of the same issues as the University area
("It's damn near impossible to get around in anything other
than a car," McCoy said), and Ballantyne, Matthews,
Independence Boulevard and even northwest Charlotte are all
becoming edge cities without many of the important urban
amenities.
Those areas would benefit from some of the same improvements
needed in University City, McCoy said.
"If we're first on the docket because we have a proposal
or plan first, I think you'll hear from nearly every one of those
places that they need that stuff, too."
