This time between the county and city. Essentially, the county claims the city isn’t doing enough — meaning isn’t aiming high enough — to redevelop the site and those justify county money. Or as Commissioner Jim Puckett put it, “It is my opinion the city of Charlotte has a white elephant on their hands and are looking for partners to help spread the financial pain. I have no interest in being part of this poorly conceived land purchase.”
Which gets us to, per the UPoR: “Some commissioners worried the area’s culture would be lost and questioned whether the city planned to revitalize neighborhoods around Eastland Mall.”
What? I grew up within two miles of Eastland, and to put it bluntly, that world no longer exists. I literally have no idea what this “culture” is that some commissioners now seem so concerned about protecting.
Bonus delusion: “We want to see Starbucks; we want to see the same kind of development we see in midtown and SouthPark.” — John Leonard, a board member with the neighborhood Eastland Area Strategies Team. It doesn’t work that way. Retail follows income, and east Charlotte lacks that these days. And people making decent coin don’t want to live in the outdated housing stock in those neighborhoods around Eastland. There’s no simple solution for that.
Which, of course, explains this line from the same story: “Pat Mumford, who oversees the city’s Neighborhood and Business Services department, told commissioners no developers have signaled interest in the mall.”
Goes to show that the potential of streetcars isn’t the cure to all problems.
