Mary:
Welcome to the rod of TOD. To paraphrase a grimy serf, “Now you see the violence inherent in the system!”
Of course transit oriented development doesn’t care about historic Dilworth or existing development anywhere. The entire point of building the trains in Charlotte is redevelopment.
Some of us have pointed this out for years now. Charlotte’s population density is simply too low to support light rail mass transit — not now, not ever — even with massive amounts of government intervention to make it so. But we’re going to get the attempt anyway.
One form of intervention in the outright public subsidy of favored TOD projects of the kind that recently fell through for the Scaleybark station. Another form is the active government taking of property, as was the plan for the Belmont neighborhood. There the targeted properties were mere blocks from the planned $750 million Northeast light rail line. Why else do you think city staff automatically assumed taking that property was a great idea? TOD’s will.
And, as you document with regard to Dilworth condos, city zoning policy — official and otherwise — can tilt development toward ever-denser options. Not just can, must. City policy must pursue higher density as the most important goal in virtually all land-use questions given the massive investment planned for CATS ‘ mass transit system. City officials and staff are being totally consistent in that regard — plan to spend $9 billion on a transit system, expect transit system needs to drive city policy for decades to come.
The interesting question: Will folks in Dilworth be at all consistent?
Will their opposition to TOD in their neighborhood inform and drive a consistent opposition to a transit plan totally at odds with Charlotte’s fundamental character past, present, and future? Or will Dilworth be content to play the “historic” card, call in a few chits with the Powers That Be, and deflect TOD off to gobble up other less influential Charlotte neighborhoods?
Ask around, Mary. The very livability of our city is in the balance. TOD should not destroy Dilworth — or any other Charlotte neighborhood.
