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So its been about 10 years since the Blue Line opened and Charlotte has spent a significant amount of energy talking about how to make the city more walkable and less car dependent. As I think about the walkable portions of Charlotte (Dilworth, Southend, PM, Wesley Heights (needs a grocery store), NoDa, etc.) all of these places were built before cars and they have merely been updated to accommodate modern needs. Try as I might I can't think of a single post-war neighborhood in Charlotte that has been made more walkable. Is there any neighborhood outside of the inner ring where walking to the store, school or transit is possible for more than a token few? The Blue Line created little or no change in the neighborhoods south of New Bern. Birkdale-like places seem much more like malls than neighborhoods to me and feel as isolated as a mall -- but I don't spend much time there so correct me if I am wrong. Brightwalk comes to mind as one of the best examples but AFAIK it lacks retail and is basically cutoff from any other neighborhoods by Statesville Ave and 77. LoSo is another place where people now want to walk, but it lacks the necessary infrastructure (sidewalks and transit access). We have even failed at connecting neighborhoods by means other than the car (e.g. crossing from Dilworth to Southend on bike or foot is still kinda hairy). So my question is what is missing from the development process? Is it zoning (e.g. lot size, sidewalk width, land use mix)? Transit? Traffic engineering (too many car sewers)? A combination of all or something else entirely? Ten years of experience suggests that we have not figured out how to make new walkable burbs -- is it time to give up? Would giving up be a bad thing? EDIT: am I being too pessimistic? Does new multi-family in places like Park Road / Selwyn make new walkability available to some? Please tell me I have overlooked some significant positive change somewhere.

Recently @Jones_ posted in the Triangle Economic News thread about Kane's desire for better transit at North Hills and how it would be amusing if he ended up being what could light a fire to cause light rail to actually become a thing around here. This could be a fun exercise in the creativity of people on here. If you had to figure out how to run a light rail line between downtown (let's say the new Union Station) to North Hills, how would you route it? Would you go straight up Capital and over? Would you add a jog over to Five Points? Where would you have stops (if any)? Are the kind of developer that would be frugal/conservative to the community, would you bulldoze a daycare while laughing from your corner office, would you find a balance somewhere in between? Go go go! I encourage use of Google's MyMaps to facilitiate and share ideas: https://www.google.com/mymaps/

Map Zoom level 18 is the to-scale size of two-lane roads used (can be seen in the URL, "...&z=18"). Probably better tools, this was my choice of impatience, suggestions welcome. Editing open, no personal attachment, new layers can be added if this one is not worth fixing. If a visual Master Plan exists for this with CRTPO, MTS, etc., please post that. Goals: Connect transportation routes (roads initially). Correct bad layout/encourage better future layout. Provide egress/access for developments with insufficient options (ie only one). Guide future development with base nodes. Limitations: Invoke "Eminent Domain" as seldomly as possible (especially on expensive properties). Disturb watershed and the environment as little as possible. Preserve public/civic lands (parks, cemeteries, sports fields, etc.). Resist temptation to "design" (ie neighborhoods/development), just connect or master-plan. Be judicial in rail/water/interstate crossings. Notes/Questions: Violated above principals, notably: Alexander Street Park, because it is adjacent to uptown, and many similar alternatives within walking distance. Three streets bisecting the Elmwood & Pinewood cemeteries. Connecting the grid in 4th Ward, argument being future planning/greater good/access. Left Eastland alone, Chernobyl. Power lines/towers are obviously a problem in Charlotte, many places where it is simply a tangled mess, not sure if that issue will reach a critical point in which utilities such as these can be dealt with, can they? What rail tracks are defunct and can be "erased"? When can a creek be "capped"? Pipe dreams and wishes. Collaborate and listen.