Author: Joseph Wingenfeld

I am an urbanist with a passion for neighborhood level initiatives including community development, business district planning, affordable housing creation, historic preservation, and improvement of the urban environment. Geographically, my experience and interest is "Rust Belt" oriented with a focus in cities across the Mid-West and East-coast with historically manufactured based economies.

Fairfax- A quasi-urban neighborhood located on the St. John’s River

“Fairfax sits just south of Avondale and was mostly developed between the 1920 and 1960s. The northern edge of the district is where the best urbanity lies with older homes and the Hershel commercial district which has a couple blocks of decent urban form. The rest of the neighborhood, while on a good grid, is mostly single family homes where sidewalks are optional. Highway 117 is the other Fairfax commercial district creating the district’s western boundary and is a classic American Stroad lined with lots of strip malls and autocentric uses.

Fairfax has the typical suburban strengths of good safety, full tree canopy, decent retail amenities (albeit often car centric) and a lots of for sale housing diversity. While I don’t consider Fairfax a quality urban district yet, there is hope that it could transition into a more urban neighborhood thanks to its existing urban grid and semi-urban biz district along Hershel Street. A good place to start this transition is to upzone the Hershel Street corridor allowing mixed use infill. Fairfax also needs bike infrastructure, walkable schools, better public transit, and more consistent sidewalks to be a functional urban district.”

Click here to view my Fairfax album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

*Convenient access to Dwtn by car, along a 15 min drive. Takes about 45 minutes by bus and no protected bike paths to Dwtn.
* Solid grid and good block connectivity.
* Decent For sale options but no 1-beds available.  2-bed for sale homes sell anywhere btwn 100K-450K. 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 180K-700K with a handful of mansions selling over 1 M.
* Overall a pretty safe community.
* Great tree canopy.
* Decent retail amenities but half of them are located in a suburban shopping mall. The neighborhood has a supermarket, a department store, a couple drug stores, a hardware store, several banks, a book store, a couple boutiques and antique stores, several salons, a couple gyms and dessert joints, and a couple churches.
* Decent historic homes much of the commercial infill is in suburban shopping malls.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

  • Public transit is so so and bike infrastructure non-existent here.
  • Poor density for an urban district.
  • Good sidewalk and ADA along the main arteries of Fairfax. But sidewalks only existing on about 1/3 of all residential streets.
  • Pretty Caucasian neighborhood with limited racial diversity. Better economic diversity.
  • No schools within the Fairfax boundaries but a quality elementary school just north of the neighborhood and several small schools to the west.
  • Rentals are very limited in Fairfax.
  • Pedestrian activity is pretty limited
  • Parks are concentrated in the southeast corner of the neighborhood. Stinson Park is very nice along the riverfront and a couple parklettes nearby.
  • Cultural amenities are limited to a handful of restaurants & bars, a lively night club, a coffee house, and a couple art galleries.
  • Hershel Street has some urbanity and semblance of a business district esp. near St. Johns Ave but still several small shopping malls. As a 6 lane road Highway 117 is a lost cause has host the bulk of Fairfax’s strip malls.”

Avondale-a well planned early 20th Century Jacksonville Community with a great Urban Business District

Avondale was developed a couple decades after Riverside mostly between the 1910s-1950s. It was developed as an exclusive upscale subdivision by a development group out of Cincinnati which is why it was named after a high-end Cincinnati neighborhood of the time… Avondale. Sadly Avondale has a legacy of segregation as blacks were excluded from this extensively planned community. Fortunately the neighborhood has obtained a fair level of diversity in its present state by far less than it could have been. Avondale excels at having an intentionally designed 3 block business district along St. John Ave also referred to as the “”Shops of Avondale””. The neighborhood also developed with parks and parklettes being included intentionally to provide more residents with easy access to their own walkable park. Avondale also features well signed homes from the 1910s-1940s often in the Mediterranean Revival style and has good access to Dwtn and a thick tree canopy.

But due to its design corresponding with the rise of autocentric neighborhoods, Avondale is pretty low density, lacks the rental diversity of Riverside to the northside, lacks economic diversity, and has many residential streets without sidewalks. Retail amenities are also very concentrated at the shops of Avondale effectively making many parts of the neighborhood unwalkable to retail and cultural amenities. The neighborhood also needs bike infrastructure, more walkable schools and several key retail amenities (i.e. grocery store, drug store, etc.) to truly be a walkable urban neighborhood.

Click here to view my Avondale album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

  • Good connectivity here.
  • Only a 10-15 min drive to Dwtn but no dedicated bike access and Public transit takes 40-45 mins.
  • Very attractive historic homes especially along Edgewood Ave and near the riverfront. Post WWII housing is generally urban including many of the commercial buildings along St. John’s and some newer condos near Big Fishwier Creek.
  • Decent for sale diversity but less one-bed options than Riverside. Similar price point.
  • Overall a very safe community with limited blight issues.
  • Excellent tree canopy.
  • A major state college sites on the western edge of Avondale.
  • Great set of parks including medium sized ones, sports facilities, playgrounds, riverfront parks, and several parklettes spread throughout the neighborhood.
  • Lots of food & beverage amenities concentrated along the St. John’s business district, a couple art galleries, a couple live music venues but not much else culturally.
  • Retail amenities concentrated in the St. Johns biz district including lots of boutiques, gift shops, several dessert joints, gyms, antiques, and home good stores and several churches.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

  • Almost no bike infrastructure here. Mediocre Public transit access.
  • Pretty low density for an urban area.
  • About 40% of residential streets have sidewalks and many of those don’t have modern ADA curbs. The business district along St. John’s however has excellent sidewalks and ADA infrastructure.
  • Some rentals options but much less than Riverside to the north. Price points are similar to Riverside.
  • Decent but not great access to walkable schools. Two well rated elementaries and a below average high school in the neighborhood.
  • Missing several key neighborhood amenities including a supermarket, drug store, hardware store, hospital/medical offices, and local post office and public library.”

Riverside- Neighborhood with Jacksonville’s best preserved Historic Architecture

“Riverside and Brooklyn (neighborhood just to the north) saw modest growth until 1887, when the city of Jacksonville annexed them and established a streetcar line. The neighborhood really exploded between the Great Fire of 1901 and Florida’s real estate bust in the 1920s. This was a great period to develop architecturally as some many different revival styles were in vogue. Riverside probably contains the best diversity of historic home styles in all of Florida. Riverside and Avondale helped to preserve their architectural legacy by creating one of the City’s largest historic districts in 1974. Riverside also became a cultural center for Jacksonville’s LGBTQ population and is now one of the City’s most in-tact urban districts.

In additional to preserving many of its historic homes, Riverside all has three commercial districts making it one of Jacksonville’s most walkable neighborhoods. These districts include several blocks of King St. and the Five Points commercial district centered on Park St. and a more limited biz district along Stockton St. The neighborhood also has typical suburban amenities including good schools, safety, solid park space, and extensive tree canopy. The neighborhood excels at providing a diversity of for sale and rental options and price points and has solid cultural and retail amenities. Riverside escaped, for the most part, the post WWII disinvestment of many parts of the City except for the north edge of the neighborhood along I-10 where many homes are dilapidated or demolished. Not surprisingly this was the part for the neighborhood with the highest concentration of African Americans historically. This area is slowly rebounding but lacks sidewalk and ADA infrastructure. For Riverside to become a premiere urban district it needs additional density to drive better walkability and amenities. I’d also like to see more bike infrastructure and more park amenities in the north edge of the district.

Click here to view my Riverside and here to view my Five Points Albums on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

  • Pretty good grid and connectivity.
  • Go access to Dwtn across all modes of transit. Decent bike connection to Dwtn and pretty good transit service. Only a 10 M drive to Dwtn.
  • ADA infrastructure is pretty good sidewalks exist on about 80% of streets (less so in the more blighted areas along I-10) and ADA standard curb cuts existing on about 40% of intersections with better consistency in the biz districts.
  • Pretty good schools with several well rated elementary schools and a high school, albeit not rated well.
  • Good for sale diversity including a good # of 1-bed condos that sell btwn 150K-330K, 2-beds sell btwn 100K-500K (some more expensive) with lots of diversity and 3 & 4 beds sell anywhere btwn 150K-1 M with some price mansions & bay front condos.
  • Good amount of rental product and decent amount is moderately priced. 1-beds lease anywhere btwn $850-2K, 2-beds btwn $900-2.5K and a good # of 3-beds homes for a bit more.
  • Overall very safe but some blighted areas remain around 1-10.
  • Several quality parks but I’d like to see several more in the Northern edge of the district where none exist.
  • solid tree canopy across most of the neighborhood.
  • Lots of attractive historic homes throughout. Modern in-fill is pretty good but a decent amount of autocentric commercial uses.
  • Excellent food & beverage amenities, several breweries, several art galleries, the Cummer Art Museum, a couple historic homes and several night clubs.
  • Good retail amenities including a couple supermarkets, a farmers market, several drug stores, plenty of boutiques & gift shops, a couple book stores, banks, plenty of dessert shops, a couple gyms, several antique & home good stores, a public library, a major hospital, plenty of medical offices & churches.

URBAN STRENGTHS:

  • No bike share stations in the neighborhood or across Jacksonville.
  • So so density for an urban area.
  • Some economic and racial diversity but the district is majority white and affluent with the exception of the low income parts near I-10. Neighborhood is also pretty old on average with limited family households.”

Rock Hill, SC- A Major Charlotte Suburb and South Carlina’s 5th Largest City

Its very difficult to create a defensible urban evaluation area of urban Rock Hill. I did my best to include only areas built before WWII with sidewalks and limited blight. I used Lucky Lane and State as the rough western boundary, the southern border is Albright Rd, Spenser, Eastbrook, Willow brook, and Charlotte as the eastern border, Cherry as the northern border, but north of Dave Lyle Blvd I only include the area between White St and Charlotte St.

Rock Hill is 5th-most populous city in South Carolina. The city is also home to three colleges, including Winthrop University, which enrolls 6K students. Rock Hill was a tiny settlement until the construction of the railroad in the 1850s. Due to its position on the railroad, Rock Hill became a transfer point for Confederate soldiers moving supplies to and from the front. Most of the merchants in Rock Hill around 1870 were former Confederate soldiers; many were entrepreneurs who were new to town, trying to start over. The town was not officially incorporated until 1870. The City’s population quickly grew to 5,500 by 1900 and then 15,000 by 1940s. After the WWII,  most of the City’s growth was come from sprawl, which got supercharged with the City being within the rapidly growing Charlotte Metro area. By 1980 Rock Hill reached 35K souls and currently sits at 75K residents.

Rock Hill has done a good job stabilizing its Dwtn and turning it into a destination and more recently a place to live. Main Street has a great streetscape and urban fabric. But when the urban fabric quickly turns into surface lots and low intensity uses in the ring outside of Dwtn. Residential areas west and south of Dwtn are spotty with some intact streets but others that contain many vacant lots. North of Dwtn the residential areas are more intact thanks to their proximity to Winthrop University. Some apartments buildings are popping up on the edge of Dwtn. Hopefully this trend continues and the core of Rock City continues to densify.

Click here to view my Rock Hill Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Dwtn Charlotte is  a1/2 ride with no traffic. Bus service to Dwtn is pretty infrequent.
* Good economic diversity across Rock Hill as a whole but very concentrated poverty south and west of Dwtn. Similar trend with racial diversity.
* Excellent age diversity thanks to the college and many families living here.
* Sidewalks and ADA curb cuts are pretty good across the City but certainly better at Winthrop University and Dwtn than the poorer neighborhoods to the south and west of Dwtn.
* Several decent elementary schools within central Rock Hill but not walkable middle or high schools.
* Good array of rental options with studios and 1-bed units leasing btwn $800-mid 1Ks, 2-beds lease btwn 1K-2K, and a handful of 3-beds that lease in the 2Ks.
* For sale housing is pretty affordably priced. 2-beds lease btwn 80K-400K, 3 & 4 beds sell anywhere btwn 150K-750K.
* Good parks including a several dwtn plazas, a large cemetery, a Botanical Garden, and a large park with sport fields, and a major recreation center.
* Overall a pretty safe community but a decent amount of blight remains.
* Good architecture dwtn including a good mix of historic and quality urban in-fill. Some nice housing north of Dwtn but a good amount of autocentric uses along the main streets outside of Dwtn.
* Good urban form in the core of Dwtn
* Cultural amenities are concentrated in the small Dwtn core including a good array of food & beverage businesses, several theaters, a handful of art galleries, a handful of night clubs, several museums, and the cultural amenities of Winthrop University.
* In the dwtn core this is a nice array of boutiques, clothing stores, banks, a book store, a couple home good stores, a dwtn public library, and several churches.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

  • No bus service in Rock Hill but there are several decent shuttle routes connect the core City and to the University. There is also commuter service to Dwtn Charlotte which is over an hour.
  • Pretty low density for an urban area but par for the course in the Carolinas.
  • Biking infrastructure is non-existent.
  • Ok retail amenities including.
  • The Dwtn core is missing important neighborhood amenities including a supermarket, drug store, etc. Some of these are located in the suburban shopping mall located on Cherry Rd just north of the University. Outside of this shopping mall and the Dwtn core, retail amenities are pretty limited.
  • Good pedestrian activity in the Dwtn core but limited outside of it.”

Wesley Heights- a Gentrifying Charlotte’s Westside Neighborhood with one of the City’s best Historic Districts

“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.

Villa Heights- One of Charlotte’s First Working Class Suburbs now Undergoing Rapid Gentrification

Villa Heights originated around 1900 as a new suburb but a working class community. Villa Heights along with Belmont and Optimist Park  were Charlotte’s first entirely working-class suburbs. This represented Charlotte’s growth as a City as it became a major textile producer. Like most other Charlotte suburban areas, Villa Heights had only white residents until the major urban renewal projects of historic black neighborhoods like Brooklyn (the modern day 2nd Ward) in the 60s. Sadly the influx of African American residents lead to White flight and an increase in poverty, crime, and blight for the neighborhood. But Villa Heights stayed in much better condition than neighboring Optimist Park and much of its historic SF homes remain.

Village Heights has gentrified significantly in the past couple of decades like much of inner City Charlotte and this has lead to new multifamily construction along Davidson, new townhouses along Parkwood and the Villa Avenues, renovation and new construction of single family homes and less and less affordable product. Homeownership is certainly out of the reach of working class families but some product selling in the 300Ks & 400Ks is still affordable to middle class professionals. The gentrification of Village Heights has improved its urbanity as the major thoroughfares (Davidson, Parkwood, the Villa, and Mattheson) are urbanizing albeit still have lots of dead spaces and auto centric uses. Bike lane, ADA curb cuts, and sidewalks existing along the main roads but sidewalks are missing in about 1/2 of the residential streets. Villa Heights also has good public transit access & convenient commute to Dwtn, excellent diversity (esp. racial), a thick tree canopy, good parks, lots of apts, and good food and beverage amenities. To become a solid urban district Village Heights needs to build up its business district, densify, create more affordable housing options, build new walkable schools in the neighborhood, and add some key retail amenities (i.e. more local shops, post office, and public library). With Charlotte’s rapid growth I feel Villa Heights will continue to urbanize but hopefully with more attention to creating a higher quality urban environment.

Click here to view my Villa Heights album on Flickr

URBAN STREGNTHS:

  • Excellent Racial Diversity with about a 40% white and Black population with decent Hispanic population.
  • Solid public transit access thanks largely to good access to several Blue Line stations. This comes with convenient access to Dwtn as well with good bike and transit access along with convenient car access.
  • Good economic diversity and decent age diversity.
  • Historically the neighborhood had some safety issues but this is rapidly improving.
  • Very thick tree canopy.
  • Attractive early 20th century single family homes.
  • Some good urban infill along Davidson but some autocentric commercial uses along Parkwood and The Plaza.
  • A moderate # of apartments but on the expensive side. More focused on 2 & 3 beds. 1-beds lease in the mid to high 1Ks. 2-beds mid 1Ks to mid 2Ks and 3-beds 2K-5K.
  • For sale is generally SF homes but a handful of condos selling in the 300Ks. 2-beds sell btwn 300K-700K with a handful of condos selling in the 300Ks. 3 & 4 beds sell anywhere from mid 300Ks to low 1Ms. As you can see a handful of moderately priced homes but more for sale product is pretty expensive.
  • Expansive Cordelia Park sits in the SW corner of this district with a public pool. A couple other smaller parks with playgrounds spread throughout the district.
  • Decent food and beverage amenities with a good # of restaurants, the urban district market (a small food hall), breweries, and cafes along Davidson (near 24th) a handful along Plaza, which is a pretty residential and semi-autocentric road.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* About half of the streets are without sidewalks but when sidewalks exist there is generally good ADA curb cuts. Main streets have sidewalks.
* Pretty low density for an inner city neighborhood.
* Pedestrian activity is pretty limited. Some along the commercial node on Davidson.
* Really no affordable housing here.
* One quality walkable elementary school in the neighborhood. Well rated but not walkable Montessori school in neighboring NoDa and not so well rated public high school to the south.
* Really not other cultural amenities other than food and beverage stores.
* So so retail amenities thanks to a supermarket, drug store, a couple boutiques, a bakery, several salons/barbers, a couple gyms,. several churches,  and a couple medical offices.
* No public library or post office in Villa Heights.
* Urban massing of the main streets (Davidson, Parkwood, the Villa, and Mattheson) is improving with new urban apartments and townhouses but still plenty of dead spaces and autocentric uses.

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.”

Brookhill- Another booming urban district in Charlotte adjacent to the trendy South End District

I only included the half of Brook Hill east of Tryon as it is significantly more urbanized. West of Tyron is largely  mid-century low density project housing, but urban mixed-use developments are incrementally replacing parts of it. Fortunately 100 of the mid-century projects will be renovated and preserved as affordable housing, providing crucial affordable housing as the neighborhood continues to gentrify.

Brookhill is very young professional oriented and thus most of the residents are renters. But a sizable amount of 2-bed condos and 3-bed townhouses are filling in. Brookhill was historically a mid-century low century warehouse area with limited historic single family homes. Given its proximity to Charlotte’s new light rail, and parallel recreational trail, it became an ideal place for new urban apartments with lots of retail and food & beverage amenities. Given its proximity to the two light rail stations and the trendy South End neighborhood Brook Hill is arguably one of Charlotte’s top 5 urban districts. But the district has been rather haphazardly developed and thus lacks a strong sense of place and quality connectivity. It also lacks important urban amenities more conducive to families including larger single family homes, few parks, limited walkable schools and a lack churches, medical offices, a public library, and post office. Quality urban development is well on its way to transforming the previously autocentric South Blvd but Tyron Avenue remains very car oriented. But with more urbanization, Brookhill will continue to densify and urbanize hopefully with better comprehensive planning and placemaking. than the previous decade of development.

Click here to view my Brookhill neighborhood on my Flickr Page.

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Excellent public transit access including a light rail line running along the eastern edge of the district.
* Very convenient access to Uptown across all modes of transit. A  well design bike/recreation trail runs alongside the transit line.
* Great retail amenities including a small format Lowe’s and smaller format hardware store, a Publix’s, several high end clothing and furniture stores, a couple drug stores, a large array of home good and furniture stores, and boutiques, a couple banks, and the Atherton Mall and great urban format mall with lots of amenities. Broomhill also contains a several dessert joints, several gyms, a miniature golf course,
* Excellent economic diversity and solid racial diversity as almost half of the population are minorities.
* Great cultural amenities including tons of restaurants, bars, several breweries and cafes, a couple art galleries, a couple live music venues.
* Tons of rental product but on the more expensive side. Studios sell anywhere btwn 1.5K-2K, 1-beds lease btwn 1.4K-3K, 2-beds btwn 2K-4K, and  even a lot of 3-beds product, which lease  btwn 2.5K-4K. Thankfully a couple 100 units from the 1950s Brook Hill village product development will be preserved.
* Lots of quality urban infill but almost all are larger block apartments with ample parking underneath creating not the best urban fabric nor imaginable neighborhoods. Still a lot of bland post WWII warehouses remain in Brookhill.
* Urban infill is certainly improving the urban massing on the district but plenty of autocentric uses remain especially along Tyron St. Urban design of the neighborhood is also not cohesive and each new apartment product seems to be on an island as opposed to messing with the neighborhood as a whole.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Only a couple dedicated bike stations on the edges of Brookhill.
* Streets do connect but very sinuous and often large blocks.
* Most of the population are young adults so not a ton of generational diversity.
* Missing places of worship, a post office, public library, and hospital or medical offices.
* Parks are limited  in Brookhill to only a recreational trail and the southside recreational park on the southern edge of the neighborhood.
* Tree canopy is so so.
* Some for sale product but on the expensive side. Really no 1-bedroom condos. 2-bed product sells around 400K-500k. 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 500K-700K.
* No schools in the Brookhill boundaries but some small schools on the edges.
* Really no historic buildings left in the neighborhood.
* Pedestrian activity is so so.

West Greenville- An Inner Greenville Neighborhood on the Rise

“Outside the city limits and policed by a single “rural policeman,” Stradleyville (that old term for West Greenville) was a place where illegal activities flourished. Eventually residents had enough and Stradleyville finally incorporated as a separate town in 1914 to help establish some semblance of law and order. Slowly the neighborhood filled in and by WWII West Greenville had a thriving business district where Pendleton and Lois Streets meet. The town merged with the City of Greenville in 1948. The neighborhood like many other inner city districts in Greenville slid into a slow decay likely in the 60s and 70s thanks to the closing of the mills and suburban sprawl. Thankfully West Greenville is on the rebound capitalizing on the rise in fortunate across all of Greenville. Revitalization started with the business district, which is now thriving, and many expensive new homes are being built here.

While the business node at Pendletown and Lois Street is in-tact and thriving, the neighborhood as a whole still has a fair amount of blight and is low density for an urban district. The eastern edge of West Greenville remained most in-tact and currently hosts the neighborhood’s best market values thanks to its proximity to the West End. Other than the Pendletown/Lois node, the main streets in West Greenville are pretty dead and autocentric. Public transit is also mediocre here and parks and good schools are limited. Important amenities including a full service supermarket, drug store, and consistant sidewalks are also crucial for West Greenville to be a more walkable place. But with the urban boom in Greenville as a whole, I am hopefully that the neighborhood will fill in and urbanize.”

Click here to view my West Greenville Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Great access to Dwtn being only 1.5 miles away.
* Good amount of affordable housing but lots of higher end new housing is being constructed.  2-beds sell btwn 100K-400K and 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 150K-900K.  Decent amount of public housing here.
* Good Tree canopy but not as good as more affluent neighborhoods.
* Nice in tact urban commercial node at Pendleton and Lois Ave. Also hosts attractive historic commercial bldg but historic residential homes are generally nothing special.
* Good cultural amenities including plenty of restaurants, bars, cafe, a couple live music venues, a  brewery, and a couple art galleries. Residents living in the Eastend of West Greenville are pretty close to the cultural amenities of the West End.
* Decent retail amenities including several boutiques & gift shops, a couple salons, several banks, a bakery, a jeweler, plenty of churches, and a major hospital just south of the neighborhood

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Very low population density for an inner city neighborhood.
* About 1/3 of the streets don’t have sidewalks.
* Mediocre public transit access.
* 1/3 of the residents live in poverty but it seems that well is starting to move into the neighborhood.
* Some rentals but all single family homes leasing in the 2Ks.
* Other than a small community garden there really aren’t any other park spaces. There is an extensive park (Unity Park) just north of the neighborhood but across railroad tracks.
* Until about the decade West Greenville was pretty impoverished and high crime area. With the revitalization that came to the neighborhood the past decade crime is being enough less and less of an issue.
* Only one quality school on the edge of West Greenville. Also a small Catholic grade school.
* Other than the urban node at Pendleton and Lois Ave the arterial roads (Pendleton and Academy St) are very auto centric.
* Urban commercial  in-fill is limited but lots of decent new urban homes.
* Missing a proper supermarket, drug store, or a walkable library or post office.
.

Greenville’s North End- an emerging Urban District just north of Downtown

The Concept of the Greenville North End is pretty new  and rather fluid. But there is an emerging consensus that it includes the area North of Dwtn running along North Main extending all the way  North into more suburb development. For this evaluation I included  only the more urban areas and therefore used Ashley/Gallivan St as the northern border between Rutherford St and Church Street with Academy Blvd as the southern border.

There are a collection of smaller historic districts within the North End but there are all tiny and not  worth evaluating on their own. This includes Viola Street Historic District, Heritage Historic District, Colonial Elias Earle, and East Park. These istricts, however, collectively still make up the majority of the North End area that is included in this evaluation.

The North End has a lot of standard suburban amenities including good schools, safety, large #s of families, thick tree canopy, and quality parks. The district also has attractive early 20th century homes, excellent access to Dwtn given its proximity just to the north of Dwtn, a wide variety of housing options and price points, decent cultural and retail amenities, and pretty good economic and racial diversity.

To become a great urban district, the most important thing the North End needs is to densify. This is starting to occur with more apartments going up along Stone and Park Ave but the neighborhood is still closer to a suburban density. More density will help foster a much more vibrant neighborhood with better retail/cultural amenities and hopefully encourage the City to establish better public transit frequency.

Colonial Elias Earl Historic District and the Heritage Historic District

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Stone street is starting to fill in with more mixed-use urban infill.
* Generally good ADA infrastructure but a couple streets without sidewalks and several without modern ADA curb cuts.
* Excellent access to Dwtn, esp driving but there is also a good dedicated bike station running north to south along Main St.
* Some Income diversity and racial here but def a solid upper middle class area.
* Lots of families here and generally generational diversity.
* Decent number of rentals. 1-beds lease btwn 1K-2K, 2-beds lease btwn 1.5K-2.7K and a handful of 3-beds.
*Good for-sale diversity but only  a handful of 1-beds. 2-beds sell anywhere from 150K-800K, 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 275K- to the low Millions.
* Several small-medium sized parks with McPherson as the largest most diverse park space and includes a small rec center.
* Decent schools with an excellent public elementary school,  Catholic school and several pre-schools.
* Cultural amenities include a decent # of restaurants, a brewery, several museums, a performing arts theater, and a couple escape rooms. Good access on the southern edge of the North End to the Dwtn amenities.
* Decent retail amenities as well including a supermarket, a couple drug stores, a record store, several salons, a florist, a couple gyms & churches.
* Attractive historic homes.
* Excellent tree canopy.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

  • Mediocre public transit access esp for an inner-ring neighborhood.
  • Mediocre density for an urban area.
  • Connectivity is so so here.
  • A good amount of autocentric modern infill but more recent infill is decent mixed-use development.
  • Best urban form is at the intersection of Main and Stone Ave. Some quasi-urban form along Stone and Park but also plenty of autocentric stretches.
  • Not great pedestrian activity.