Goal 3
COMPLETE, AFFORDABLE NEIGHBORHOODS
Residents in all Center City neighborhoods will have access to attainable housing as well as essential amenities, goods and services within a 10-minute trip from home.
BIG IDEA: Consider creating Housing Incentive Overlay Zones to build more affordable housing
Why is This Important?
The price of Center City housing is quickly rising, and disparities between Center City neighborhoods are growing. Some neighborhoods, particularly in the North End and West End, still lack access to basic goods and services such as grocery stores, pharmacies, sidewalks, and bike lanes. As rents increase and neighborhoods are gentrified, renters - including small businesses and community organizations - are being displaced. After housing, transportation is the largest expense for many families, and these costs tend to go up the farther out housing is from jobs. The increase in these household expenses have contributed to increased housing insecurity and homelessness throughout the City.
Creating opportunity and a place for everyone in Center City requires building more housing of all types and price points, providing affordable public transportation, supporting local small businesses, artists, and community organizations. It also means providing housing and services for the most vulnerable residents, including unsheltered residents and those at risk of losing their housing. People from all income levels and cultures should be able to afford housing in Uptown and close-in Center City neighborhoods.
COMMUNITY AMENITIES
Several clusters of community amenities and destinations are located throughout (see Figure 5.3.A) Center City, including libraries, recreation, community centers, public spaces, and entertainment venues. The following are general observations and recommendations which are reflected in the strategies and recommendations that follow.
Walkability: By applying a radius of a comfortable walking distance around larger destinations or institutional amenities (shown in light yellow on the amenities map 5.3.A) and existing neighborhood or community amenities (shown in light blue on the amenities map 5.3.A), several significant gaps in access can be seen, particularly in lower-density residential neighborhoods to the North and West of Uptown.
A walkshed analysis (which shows the area around an amenity that can be reached on foot in about ten minutes) demonstrates that the recommendations of this Vision Plan will reduce, but not eliminate, some barriers. Improving access to existing amenities in under-served areas should be a primary consideration for all Center City Community Area Plans. As specified in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, Community Area Plans are the next phase of neighborhood planning, which will go into greater detail for each community.
Future planning should include service area analysis that take roadways and barriers into consideration to assess true walkability.
How Can We Achieve This?
STRATEGY 3A: PREVENT DISPLACEMENT OF RESIDENTS, BUSINESSES, AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS
As the cost of living in Charlotte gets more expensive, many economically challenged residents have to relocate to other neighborhoods, often further out from Center City and work, friends and family, and community destinations like places of worship, one-of-a-kind cultural venues and employment. In addition to residents being “priced out,” many small businesses, non-profit organizations and community groups are displaced because the cost of commercial space is also rising. These trends contribute to Uptown being less diverse than other residential areas, and to its perception as an exclusive and homogeneous neighborhood that does not reflect the myriad of Charlotte’s cultures nor offer opportunity for all.
RECOMMENDATIONS
3a-1 Establish a commercial Center City Equity Fund to support and/or subsidize affordable spaces for small local businesses and nonprofits in Center City.
3a-2 Identify a suite of options for increasing access to affordable commercial and nonprofit spaces while addressing ground-floor vacancies and other underutilized spaces, including:
› Using publicly owned land or buildings
› Supporting flexible, short-term leases
› Funding loans for small businesses and nonprofit organizations to buy their buildings
› Locate micro-retail spaces (under 1000 sf) on the ground floor of new and existing buildings
3a-3 Support community-led efforts to establish cooperative ownership for neighborhood businesses and services with technical assistance and/or funding.
3a-4 Protect, rehabilitate and improve existing “naturally occurring” (i.e., non-subsidized) affordable housing.
3a-5 Extend the length of time that publicly subsidized affordable housing units (such as those funding with Low Income Housing Tax Credits) are required to be below market rate.
STRATEGY 3B: IMPROVE NEIGHBORHOOD ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL SERVICES AND AMENITIES
Many Center City residents cannot easily reach day-to-day necessities and conveniences such as a bank or ATM, post office, pharmacy or grocery store. This means that people often have to travel further to meet their basic needs, travel on routes that are uncomfortable and unsafe, or forgo necessities all together.
RECOMMENDATIONS
3b-1 Build upon and add detail to the Charlotte 2040 Comprehensive Plan equity metrics to inventory and map locations and access to basic infrastructure, essential services and amenities in Center City neighborhoods, including:
› Install new pedestrian infrastructure including sidewalks and crosswalks
› Fresh, healthy food options, grocery stores, and co-ops
› Parks, nature preserves, greenways, trails or other public spaces
› Basic neighborhood goods and services including health clinic; post offices, banks, credit unions and ATMs
› Low-cost health care and pharmacies
› Community facilities (libraries, schools, senior centers, community and recreation centers, early childhood education and eldercare centers, etc.)
› Neighborhood and cultural destinations including restaurants, cafes, theaters, galleries and affordable art studios.
3b-2 Review equity data with residents and community groups to prioritize new services and amenities, and to map sites and opportunities for improved neighborhood connections.
3b-3 Require commercial space for services, stores, and bodegas to be built in the ground floors on main streets and on corners in multifamily developments located on side streets or in more interior areas of neighborhoods.
STRATEGY 3C: PURSUE FUNDING SOURCES FOR IDENTIFIED COMMUNITY-SUPPORTED IMPROVEMENTS FOR CENTER CITY NEIGHBORHOODS
RECOMMENDATIONS
3c-1 Work with local stakeholders to create a customized and prioritized set of Center City neighborhood programs and improvements that directly address the goals of this plan, including:
› Investment and entrepreneurship opportunities for residents
› Space or funding for high-priority community priorities such as childcare facilities, full-service grocery stores, pharmacies and health clinics
› Encourage contracting and hiring neighborhood residents that will be impacted by new development and infrastructure
› Public spaces, parks, greenways, trails
› Affordable housing and commercial space
3c-2 Explore the feasibility of RFP requirements or social covenants to provide community benefits for publicly subsidized projects.
3c-3 Promote and encourage the integration of desired community improvements to developers and investors in projects using the Opportunity Zones program or in “Corridors of Opportunity”.
STRATEGY 3D: INCENTIVIZE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT TO INCREASE RESIDENTIAL OPTIONS AND AFFORDABILITY
While a lot of housing has been built in Center City in recent years, the type and cost of this housing was mostly determined by the private market and decisions of property owners and developers. In Uptown, South End and other adjacent neighborhoods, most new units are rentals at a relatively high price point. The City and its partners should continue to work with developers to create more types and sizes of housing at different affordability levels to better meet community needs.
RECOMMENDATIONS
3d-1 Establish and monitor annual housing production targets by income range and tenancy through 2040, with updates at least every five years. Consistent with the Center City Growth Projections Study:
› Develop 1,750 net new residential units per year
› Capture at least 25% of City-wide housing development in Center City
3d-2 Provide support and incentives for the development of for-sale, multifamily units and projects that provide a range of housing types and sizes (excluding single-family development in Uptown).
3d-3 Aggressively promote the use of vacant publicly owned land as sites for affordable housing development.
3d-4 Explore programs/partnerships with the private sector that encourage or incentivize employees of Center City businesses and institutions to live in Uptown.
3d-5 Provide alternatives and exceptions to required ground-floor retail in UMUD to create opportunities to locate childcare providers and community or arts groups.
STRATEGY 3E: INCREASE RESOURCES AND REMOVE BARRIERS TO AFFORDABLE AND WORKFORCE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT
Creating housing that is affordable for low-and middle-income residents and families is very challenging and expensive. Encouraging and supporting the development of this type of housing involves a two-pronged approach – increasing funds and resources for housing and eliminating factors that make it more difficult and expensive.
RECOMMENDATIONS
3e-1 Coordinate across government and non-profit sectors to advocate for state legislation enabling inclusionary zoning.
3e-2 Consider establishing a public organization like a redevelopment authority to facilitate developer/partner relationships, strategic land banking, and streamline affordable housing development.
3e-3 Create and implement a City Center-specific toolkit of alternatives, such as conditional zoning and incentive overlays.
3e-4 Strengthen or create programs including community land trusts and strategic land banking programs to increase the scale of affordable and workforce housing development.
