We are excited to have recently received a grant from AARP to help connect the neighborhoods of Charlotte’s North End with trails and signage. North End has the lowest street connectivity index and sidewalk availability for areas surrounding Uptown Charlotte. Gaps in the sidewalk network and lack of crosswalks put people in danger and prevent them from walking and biking.

Last year Charlotte City Council approved a plan that aims to make Charlotte a low carbon city by 2050. And last week 75 people gathered with us at Triple C Brewing to hear more about how this plan is getting off the ground.

The impacts of climate change are already apparent here in North Carolina. More frequent and severe storms are seriously impacting maintenance budgets, and could threaten NCDOT's ability to keep our transportation infrastructure well maintained.

Hurricane Florence's floodwaters destroyed a section of U.S. 421 last year. (image: NCDOT)

If you've been to a meeting where government staff are seeking public input, it's likely gone something like this: watch a short presentation, walk around to different stations to view maps, and put some colored dots or sticky notes with your comments onto poster boards. It's a time-tested strategy that connects residents directly with the staff who build and implement plans.

But now Charlotte's Planning, Design & Development Department is taking engagement a step forward. At the June 24 City Council Transportation and Planning Committee meeting (view the full meeting notes here), planning staff shared an in-depth overview of a new board game that's designed to be played by residents to educate them about land use and solicit feedback on how Charlotte should grow.

Unlike a traditional board game, the goal isn't for one "winner" to emerge victorious. Instead, the goal is for the whole group of players to make the best use of space within Charlotte.

Our interns Jaire and Tamara enjoyed checking out the Growing Better Places board game!

Last week our executive director Shannon Binns and program director Meg Fencil traveled to Philadelphia to attend the Knight Foundation Public Spaces Forum along with more than a dozen Charlotteans. We explored how parks, sidewalks, streets, and even libraries can be transformed into vibrant community spaces.

After arriving at the airport, we hopped on the train for a short ride that took us within a block of our hotel.

We loved the convenience of the train from the airport right to downtown!

“You can’t talk about sustainability without talking about equity,” according to Ray McKinnon, the pastor of South Tryon Community United Methodist Church, and keynote speaker at our Charlotte Sustainability Summit.

My name is Tamara Mrad and I’m a rising junior at Davidson College. I am majoring in Biology and minoring in Spanish.

Hello there! I am Asia Bartholomew, the former Communications Marketing Intern and now Digital Content Coordinator at Sustain Charlotte. I was born in Gardena, California but have called Charlotte home for half of my life.

My name is Jaire Clarida. I am a rising junior social work student and I attend North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University.

The City of Charlotte’s Planning Department started hosting stakeholder meetings in March with the goal of updating its Tree Ordinance, and invited Sustain Charlotte to be a part of them. We participated in each of the four meetings, providing our knowledge and insight into how important trees are to our Urban Neighborhoods.