“I followed the standard boundaries for Wesley Heights with the exception of extending it southward to I-77. Wesley Heights was first developed after 1911 and includes one of Charlotte’s most in-tact historic districts including a nice mix of Bungalows, Craftsman, Colonial Revival, and Tudor Revival style architecture. Wesley Heights had a downturn post WWII thanks to white flight and historically had issues with crime. But the neighborhood has turned the corner taking advantage of the general rise in value across Charlotte. Wesley Heights has seen newer in-fil development especially on its edges including mixed-use apartments along Morehead, a major townhouse development (sky Terrance Towns) in a former industrial area, and attractive new urbanist development along the Steward Creek Greenway.
Wesley Heights also has a wonderful greenway with multiple arms spreading across the neighborhood, which also hosts paved recreational trails connecting seamlessly to Dwtn. The district has lots of housing product mixing new and historic for-sale options but lacks much affordable housing. Tree canopy is generally thick and lots of food and beverage amenities. But like most of Charlotte urban neighborhoods Wesley Heights needs more density to be able to support more retail amenities and ultimately improve its walkability. The neighborhood also only has one walkable school and poor urban form along Freedom Dr and Thrift road.”
Click here to view my Wesley Heights Album on Flickr
URBAN STRENGTHS:
- Great set of dedicated bike lanes with great connections to Dwtn.
- Lovely new urbanist development with even some attached housing on the western edge of the neighborhood.
- Excellent access to Dwtn which is just to the easter of Wesley Heights across all modes of transit.
- Solid diversity categories, especially age and economics.
- Historically a higher crime area but this has changed significantly as the neighborhood has gentrified. Generally considered very safe.
- Market rate housing is diverse and plentiful here with a good mix of historic and new product. A handful of 1-bed condos selling in the 200Ks. Good array of 2-bed product including SF homes, Townhouses and condos. Range anywhere from 260K-700K. 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 400K-900K.
- Good # of rentals but 1-beds are a bit limited. Lease in the low-mid 1Ks. 2-beds are more plentiful and lease btwn the high 1ks to mid-2ks. Good # of 3-beds but pretty pricey. Lease in the mid 2ks-mid 4Ks.
- Excellent park amenities with the Irwin and Steward Creek cutting through most of the neighborhood and creating several greenways and very wooded paths. Bryant Park also sits on the southern edge.
- Good tree canopy with the exception of the more industrial western edge of the district.
- Generally attractive architecture with interesting mix of historic and quality urban in-fill. Still some crummy autocentric and industrial uses in parts.
- Decent pedestrian activity thanks to all the greenways and urban node on Morehead.
- Good food & beverage amenities and art gallery and convenient access to all the Dwtn cultural amenities.
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
- Pretty low density of an urban area.
- Good elementary school just to the north in Seversville. Some decent schools in neighboring neighborhoods but not walkable to Wesley Heights residents.
- As Wesley Heights gentrifies there seems to be less and less affordable product. Not enough dedicated affordable hsg is being built.
- Not much other than food & beverage amenities for cultural amenities.
- Ok retail amenities including a couple boutiques, several furniture stores, a bike shop, a couple banks, several salons, only a couple churches.
- Decent urban massing along Morehead but Freedom Dr and Thrift Rd are very autocentric and industrial.
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 