“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.

The message was clear from attendees at our May Grow Smart CLT event: People want to live in a place where they can easily access amenities, and they want to feel safe doing that, no matter how they choose to get around.

At our May Shifting Gears event attendees got to experience riding Charlotte's first protected bike lane, the Uptown Cycle Track along 6th Street.

Vendors lined the street as thousands of Charlotteans came out to Open Streets 704 on Sunday, April 28th!  People of all ages were able to enjoy car free day from 1pm to 5pm on a perfectly sunny Sunday!

We're so excited to see progress being made on Charlotte's first protected bike lane, on 6th Street! Check out the progress so far and watch a sneak peek of what it's like to ride the lane, below!

By: Eric Zaverl

Back in December the Charlotte Planning Department hosted Todd Noell of Noell Consulting Group at the Powerhouse Studio in South End. Noell Consulting Group (NCG) is based in Atlanta and Todd has 20 years of experience in market analysis. Todd presented forecasts on potential market opportunities and demand for housing, retail and office growth in Charlotte for the next 20+ years, with a particular focus on areas around transit stations.

We have some exciting news!  We are proud to share that the first half of the Uptown Cycle Track is going to be built a lot sooner than any of us thought -- i.e., IN TWO MONTHS, and in time to be explored by YOU for Bike!Charlotte Week and Shifting Gears!

We’ve been talking a lot recently about the newly approved Silver Line alignment. Last week, Sustain Charlotte members heard more details about the 2030 Transit Plan from CATS CEO John Lewis and transit planner Jason Lawrence at our March Grow Smart CLT event.

Sustain Charlotte has been serving on the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Advisory Committee since 2017, providing a voice for smart growth in the Charlotte community, and raising up solutions for how our community can continue to grow while staying sustainable.

Over the past year, we have been providing input on a total re-write of the city’s Transit-Oriented Development Ordinance, which are the rules for development that occurs in areas adjacent to our rapid transit stations.

We spoke at the Charlotte City Council meeting in support of the ordinance, and sent a letter to the Council prior to the meeting, asking them to approve them. Read the full letter below.

Charlotte's 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.

Sustain Charlotte is working with the North End Community Coalition to calm traffic and make the community more walkable and bikeable. This area spans 8 neighborhoods: Druid Hills, Tryon Hills, Graham Heights, Park at Oaklawn, Genesis Park, Lockwood, J.T. Williams and Brightwalk at Historic Double Oaks.