Optimist Park- A Historic Disinvested Innercity Charlotte Neighborhood Experiencing a Construction Boom thanks to the Blue Line

Optimist Park began developing by the turn of the 20th century but would never became as dense and built out as other inner ring Charlotte neighborhoods like Dilworth or Elizabeth. Mills and factories opened in the areas along the railroad line  (now where the LYNC Blue Line is located) and simple single family homes were built for the workers. In the 50s & 60s the neighborhood become increasingly Black as African American families needed affordable housing after major urban renewal projects, most notably the wholescale demolition of Charlotte’s historic Black neighborhood “Brooklyn” which is now the modern day 2nd Ward, caused widespread displacement.  Optimist Park quickly became a low-income enclave of the City and fell into disrepair.

With the construction of Charlotte’s new light rail system in 2007 large scale multi-family homes began to replace low intensive land uses. Even with a significant number of new apartment buildings, Optimist Park still has a very low-density for an urban neighborhood. Development is focused along Brevard Street (close to the light rail), the southern edge of the neighborhood adjacent to Dwtn, and along Davidson & 34th where some retail exists. The opening of the 25th Street station in 2018 supercharged development demand in the neighborhood. But much of the neighborhood remains low-density single family development and the main arterial road (Davidson) is still very underdeveloped. As the neighborhood fills in it will certainly become more walkable but I would be nice to see more intentionality with rebuilding the neighborhood with a sense of place, with significant affordable housing, more schools, better bike infrastructure, and important neighborhood serving retail amenities.

Click here to view my Optimist Park Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

• Pretty optimal economic diversity and good racial diversity. Most of the neighborhood are young professionals.
• Excellent public transit and very convenient access to Dwtn.
• Some condos units are reasonable prices with 1-beds selling in the 200Ks. 2-beds sell for 300K-500, 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 350K-1 M depending on size and age.
• Tons of rentals available but moderate to expensive in price. Studios lease in the low 1Ks, 1-beds in the low-mid 1Ks, 2 bed around 2K and even some 3-bed units that typical lease in the mid 2Ks.
• Better cultural amenities including the Optimist Park Food Hall featuring many restaurants, bars, and cafes. Also several breweries and cafes spread throughout the district a couple art galleries, a couple night clubs, and convenient access to the cultural amenities in Dwtn to the south and NoDa to the north.
• Good park amenities including the medium sized Cordelia Park which includes a pool, the expansive Little Creek Greenway that runs north to south just a couple blocks east of the neighborhood, and a decent recreational trail that runs along the light rail line.
• Overall a pretty safe neighborhood.
• Lots of urban in-fill that is generally of good quality. Home historic homes remain but not much.
• Still lots of good tree canopy but this is incrementality being reduces as the neighborhood urbanizes.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

• Limited biking infrastructure.
• Very low density for an urban area, but this should shift quickly as the neighborhood is built out with high density apartment buildings.
• Not great connectivity thanks to all the railroads and historic industrial uses here.
• No walkable schools in the neighborhood but a couple in adjacent areas.
• Really no dedicated affordable housing.
• Some retail amenities here but not great. Optimist Park hosts a supermarket, a couple boutiques and salons, several gyms, a couple vintage stores, several bakeries and dessert joints, a couple churches.
• Overall lack of cohesion in Optimist Park. A couple good nodes on Davidson and near the light rail station but lots of dead spaces that still underdeveloped.
• Much of Davidson simply lacks buildings, which is odd for the neighborhood’s main thoroughfare. A decent nodes is emerging at Davidson & 34th and Brevard St and the area adjacent to dwtn continue to fill in with lots of apartment bldgs (but generally limited retail space).
• Still not enough population or retail in the neighborhood to foster lots of pedestrians.”