CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte’s SouthEnd received national attention for its sustainability efforts.
It was one of 10 neighborhoods in the nation invited to a conference in Portland last week. Now, a group is pushing to make the Queen City more environmentally friendly.
Dartagnan Adams lives in the SouthEnd neighborhood and said he loves that he can walk or take the light rail to almost everywhere he needs to go.
“Everything is accessible. You don’t have to drive; you can save and conserve,” he said.
That environment of sustainability is why the neighborhood was in the spotlight in Portland. Center City Partners showed off what SouthEnd is already doing with a farmers’ market, the light rail and the first LEED-certified apartment building in the city.
“Now it’s trying to tell the story well and cast a vision of how we go forward,” said Ted Boyd.
In the short term, Boyd said the group is planning to offer ways to recycle on the streets. He hopes it leads to a shift in transportation.
“How do we make it so you feel comfortable being a pedestrian or a cyclist or using public transportation?” Boyd asked.
The discussion about sustainability comes at a good time for the area, too. For more than a decade, the city of Charlotte has issued a quality of life report.
This year, environmental variables will be added to the report.
That information will then be shared with neighborhoods throughout Charlotte.
The group will meet with the SouthEnd Neighborhood Association on Tuesday to talk about the trip.
The trip was paid for by the Portland Sustainability Institute.
WSOC
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