We’ll also give you the tools to help influence land use decisions in your neighborhood and ensure they are in accordance with the city’s recently adopted development plans. Plus, there will be free food from Plant Joy and time for networking! 

Register today. We hope to see you there!

Meg Fencil
Director of Engagement and Impact

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We had a fun time with our supporters this week

We enjoyed seeing many of our supporters at our donor appreciation event this week. Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate and thank you, especially, to all of you who have contributed to Sustain Charlotte’s mission this year. Together, we have enjoyed some remarkable achievements thanks to YOUR support. But there’s still much more work to do and we have our sights set on a number of goals for 2023. 

We hope you will continue to join us in the pursuit of equitable and consistent implementation of the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan and Unified Development Ordinance, sufficient funding for 50 more miles of greenways to be built in the next five years, and on both long- and short-term goals of Charlotte's Strategic Mobility Plan, among many other things. 

You can do so by contributing to our year-end fundraising campaign. If you make a one-time gift of at least $120 or a recurring monthly gift of at least $10 between now and the end of the year, you'll be entered into a raffle to win a brand-new Specialized Sirrus 1.0 hybrid bike from BikeSource ($650 value) or a 10-class pass to Khali Yoga Center! Will you help us reach our goal of raising $20,000 by the end of the year?

An update on the Silver Line — and where we stand

This week, Charlotte City Council's transportation committee recommended a LYNX Silver Line route that would bypass — rather than going directly through the middle of — uptown. This was despite two other options being discussed that would allow the proposed light rail line to share tracks with either the existing Gold Line or Blue Line.

We think that ridership should be the No. 1 consideration for the Silver Line, not the potential for development. And we're a bit concerned that the transportation committee recommended a route before ridership projections were discussed.

We're not against smart development built in a way that enhances transit, pedestrian, and bike infrastructure, but we want to ensure that a transit project on this scale puts the people who use transit front and center. We also think that options to share tracks are cheaper and more likely to attract federal funding, which is needed for Silver Line to come to fruition. The Metropolitan Transit Commission has yet to make the final call. We'll keep you posted.

The lead story in this week's Transit Time newsletter included our thoughts on the matter, and WSOC-TV interviewed our executive director, Shannon Binns, about the importance of ridership. You can read that story here.

A must-read on induced demand in the Charlotte area

Axios Charlotte published an excellent article this week about some road-widening projects on the horizon in our area — and why those efforts might actually create more traffic. In short: Wider roads tend to encourage more drivers to use them, adding to congestion. As the article aptly points out: Just think about Independence Boulevard in Charlotte. It's been expanded several times, and it's still backed up on a daily basis. Bigger roads also come with environmental concerns and make commuting even less safe for cyclists and pedestrians.

Our stance is that money in a growing metropolitan area like Charlotte is better spent on improving our transit system and creating safer ways for people to commute without using cars in the first place. The article also includes some input from our urban design specialist, Eric Zaverl. Read it here.

Partner news

💡 Renewing partner spotlight: Lime 💡

Our sincerest thanks go out to Lime, who recently renewed their Bronze corporate partnership with Sustain Charlotte! 

Lime helps Charlotte residents and visitors conveniently get around without cars. That's something we absolutely love. Learn more about Lime and how to rent one of their many e-scooters around the Queen City at li.me.

Businesses that join our partner network are committing to support our efforts towards a healthy, equitable, and vibrant Charlotte for generations to come. 
To learn more about how your company can become a partner visit sustaincharlotte.org/partnership.

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