The following was posted to Charlotte Agenda now called Charlotte Axios in May of last year, the original post is here. But this highlights the lack of "greenspace" in Charlotte that could be addressed by a NO VOTE on the David Gillespie Property rezoning request.
Charlotte’s parks system ranks near the bottom among 100 U.S. cities, according to the latest annual report from the nonprofit The Trust for Public Land.
What’s happening: Charlotte/Mecklenburg ranked 83rd in the report released Wednesday, moving up eight places since last year.
Between the lines: Parks were also scored on five factors: equity, access, amenities, investment, and acreage.
- Our parks were among the largest, at a median of 22.3 acres, but we received low marks for access.
- Just 37% of our residents live within a 10-minute walk to a park, according to the report.
Why it matters: Access to the outdoors increases quality of life and improves health outcomes. But for decades, government investment in public spaces overlooked low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.
Charlotte has slowly been moving up the rankings but has consistently ranked near the bottom of the list.
Charlotte’s parks were rated the worst of the cities the study examined in North Carolina: Durham was 82nd, Winston-Salem 80th, Greensboro 76th and Raleigh 50th.
What they’re saying: Will Klein, a parks researcher with the Trust for Public Land, cited the expansion of greenways and increased investments in parks as part of the reason Charlotte/Mecklenburg fared better this year.
- Still, the area is in the middle of the pack in terms of its spending per capita, at $106 per resident.
2 comments:
I'm not surprised - Charlotte City Council thinks the parks belong to the homeless and that green space is the planting strip in front of your house or apartment building.
This is actually a really huge point. When we attend the hearing, and request to speak - we need to point out to city council that as their constituents - we are all on the same page and asking/telling them we want them to vote no and we want our green spaces to matter to THEM - since they clearly could care less and only care about how much the developers give to their campaigns (looking at you Bokhari and Driggs).
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