Kylie Marsh | The Charlotte Post
What is “smart growth,” and what does it mean?
These are questions answered by Sustain Charlotte, a nonprofit advocate for equitable and sustainable expansion through better transportation, connectivity, and affordable housing. On Dec. 5, it will host Impact 704 Academy at the Charlotte Urban Design Center from 5-8 p.m. The academy is a series of free workshops addressing the challenges of suburban sprawl and strategizing how to move forward.
The workshop is in partnership with the Charlotte Regional Transportation Coalition.
Meg Fencil, Sustain Charlotte’s director of engagement and impact, said the academy is designed for everyday people to understand and advocate for sustainability.
The workshop’s panel discussion will focus on a call to action for sustainable growth and equity. Panelists include Warren Wooten, assistant director of affordable housing with the city of Charlotte, Judith Brown of Project 70Forward, and Kenny Robinson of Freedom Fighting Missionaries. Registration is required at sustaincharlotte.org.
“One of the most powerful things we can do is to talk to the people in our circle of influence, our neighbors, our friends, our coworkers,” Fencil said. “A lot of challenges to building more houses that we see in Charlotte is at the level of neighborhood opposition.”
The region is also dealing with sprawl, Fencil explained. When people are priced out of the city due to rising mortgages or rent, they ‘re forced to move further away from their jobs, public transit like bus stations or neighborhoods with bike lanes and sidewalks. Longer commute times can lead to “time poverty,” where people literally don’t have time to do things they need, or want, to do.
A February study by Forbes magazine of cities with the worst commutes ranked Charlotte second, behind only Nashville, Tennessee. According to the report, an estimated 577,265 workers over 16 years old have an average commute time of nearly half an hour.
Another challenge is displacement. Transportation and accessibility policy trends toward greenways or light rail stations, but those have displaced people in Charlotte as well.
“Properties that are within walking distance become much more valuable, and so the people that have lived there for decades or years, especially if they rent, are more vulnerable to involuntary displacement,” Fencil said.
In 2021, the University of California at Berkeley’s Urban Displacement Project produced its Housing Precarity Risk Model: an interactive map that shows areas across the United States with the highest risks of displacement, ranking evictions and unemployment. The areas with the highest risk in Charlotte are in the so-called Crescent, where more working-class people of color are concentrated. People who are disabled, the elderly, and the formerly incarcerated are also more likely to face difficulty finding affordable housing in Charlotte that meets their unique needs.
Although Sustain Charlotte isn’t “cheerleading everything the city does,” Fencil said one recent win was the adoption of the Urban Development Ordinance in 2022, which allowed duplexes and triplexes to be built on single-family plots; as well as requiring more bike lanes and sidewalks.
“We still need more opportunities for people to rent or own their homes,” Fencil said.
