City of Charlotte, NC CLT, 8 Oct 2019

Previous Meeting Next Meeting

⏯

youtube image

►

From YouTube: Charlotte Rail Trail Wins Award

Description

It was the Rail Trail's prominence as a place where residents gather to meet up with friends, people watch, and see and be seen that led the North Carolina chapter of the American Planning Association to select it as a 2019 Great Street. A full transcript of the video is available below.

It’s hard to imagine, but 20 years ago South End was just a rundown area.
Enter the LYNX Blue Line and the Rail Trail and today it’s a bustling hub of activity.

“The population of South End has exploded. So, there’s so many people and they have taken to this trail as a primary amenity and connector for the whole neighborhood.” David Furman, Charlotte Architect

Charlotte planner Alan Goodwin will tell you the success of the Rail Trail has been a mix of forging relationships with developers, along with enforcing zoning requirements.

“So, we want doors that open out onto the trail, we want retail or commercial uses that also front the trail so that now the Rail Trail begins to function more like a street and it really does. It may be a sidewalk, but it functions and we treat it as a public street.” Alan Goodwin, Planning, Design & Development

Aside from its functionality, this street adds a certain character to the neighborhood. Architects like David Furman are a big part of that.
“It took us awhile to convince people that this was not the back door, it was a real asset and that your development needed to engage this trail and it would make your asset more valuable if it did.” David Furman, Charlotte Architect

Furman is responsible for a lot of the pop-up art exhibits that you see along the Rail Trail.

“It’s immensely gratifying when I go down past Carson Street and I see people on the swings that were… It’s called Edna’s Porch because my grandma was named Edna and she used to have these front porch swings that as a child I would swing on and remember that. But I love seeing people out there engaging with it. It’s a big deal.” David Furman, Charlotte Architect

Up to this point a lot of what Furman is doing has been a grassroots effort, but now he challenges the community to do more.

“This can’t be a grassroots effort anymore. It’s gotta be a community effort. It’s time to really take it to the next level, figure out a way to finish it, figure out a way to add more interventions that are cooler and better and more permanent and figure out a way to maintain it.” David Furman, Charlotte Architect

Read more about the Rail Trail - https://charlottenc.gov/newsroom/cityhighlights/Pages/Rail_Trail_wins_award.aspx

City of Charlotte
600 E. Fourth Street
Charlotte, NC 28202
704-336-7600

A

The population of South End has exploded, so there's so many people and they have taken to this trail as as a primary amenity and connector for the whole neighborhood.

B

We want doors that open out onto the trail. We want retail or commercial uses that also front the trail, so that now the rail trail begins to function more like a street, and it really does. It may be a sidewalk, but it functions and we treat it as a public street.

A

And it took us a while, but can this pickled list? This was not the back door, it was a real asset and that your your development needed to engage this trail, and it would make your asset more valuable as it did.

A

Immensely gratifying when I go down past Carson, Street and I see people on the swings that were it's called Edna's porch, because my grandma was named Edna. She used to have these front. Porch swings that was a child. I would swing over and remember that, but I love seeing people out there engaging it's a big deal.

A

This can't be a grassroots effort anymore. There's got to be a community effort and it's time to really take it to the next level figure out, a way to finish figure out a way to and more interventions that are cooler and better and more permanent figure out a way.