5 Things To Learn From Uptown Charlotte

Once a poster child for the negative impact of urban renewal, Uptown Charlotte is now a revitalization example for other Sunbelt cities to follow. With that in mind, here are four simple and easy to understand aspects of Charlotte's story that are applicable to any major city.

Fixed Transit Stimulates Transit Oriented Development (TOD)

When discussing the merits of investing in mass transit, the seamless integration of supportive land use policies should be a central element in the decision making process. For example, with supportive land use policy, fixed transit has been proven to stimulate TOD, incrementally creating an environment to support the initial infrastructure investment and maximizing tax revenue in previously blighted and underutilized areas of the community.

Look no further than the impact of light rail on Uptown Charlotte and the neighborhoods surrounding it. On November 24, 2007, the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) opened its first Lynx light rail line along a 9.6-mile former Norfolk Southern rail corridor between Uptown and I-485 at South Boulevard. That day, an estimated 60,000 people waited up to two hours in line to ride the $462.7 million, 15 station fixed transit system. In 2018, a $1.16 billion, 9.7 mile north extension opened between Uptown and University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Now, operating seven days a week, Lynx is the third-largest light rail system in the South with a daily ridership of 23,200. Many of its 26 stations are already anchored with TOD offering new living options for residents seeking a non-auto dependent lifestyle in a sprawling, low density autocentric city.

With the fixed transit foundation established and TOD already being proven a success, an additional 15,000 apartment units planned or underway along the light rail corridor, laying the foundation for a future 19.3-mile corridor of continuous dense, walkable development throughout the core spine of the city.

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Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com