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Grier Heights


archiham04

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I'm a bit slow on this, but what does this mean for Grier Heights, and other distressed areas of Charlotte?

 

And on the topic of Grier Heights, I have always found it interesting how the area is one of the most dangerous areas in Charlotte, yet it is bordered by Myers Park, Cotswold, Eastover, and Elizabeth. Why did the adjunct neighborhoods flourish, but not Grier Heights?

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I'm a bit slow on this, but what does this mean for Grier Heights, and other distressed areas of Charlotte?

 

And on the topic of Grier Heights, I have always found it interesting how the area is one of the most dangerous areas in Charlotte, yet it is bordered by Myers Park, Cotswold, Eastover, and Elizabeth. Why did the adjunct neighborhoods flourish, but not Grier Heights?

 

I don't know the answer to your question but there is currently an effort to revitalize Greer Heights. A year ago or so I considered buying a rental home in Greer Heights for 15k. My concern was that if I went to sell it in 10 years I could only sell it for 15k. Since then some builders/investors have come in and bought up some houses and are building new homes. The great think about Greer Heights is that it is the least expensive real estate within the Myers Park high school district by a long shot. I can't tell you how many times I've had clients tell me to only show them homes for purchase in the Myers Park high school district. Now these clients aren't considering Greer Heights but its only a matter of time before the area is transformed due to location and schools. 

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I don't know the answer to your question but there is currently an effort to revitalize Greer Heights. A year ago or so I considered buying a rental home in Greer Heights for 15k. My concern was that if I went to sell it in 10 years I could only sell it for 15k. Since then some builders/investors have come in and bought up some houses and are building new homes. The great think about Greer Heights is that it is the least expensive real estate within the Myers Park high school district by a long shot. I can't tell you how many times I've had clients tell me to only show them homes for purchase in the Myers Park high school district. Now these clients aren't considering Greer Heights but its only a matter of time before the area is transformed due to location and schools. 

 

 

I consider myself pretty daring regarding where I'll walk or bike through.  I've biked through GH in the day time before and been borderline terrified.  Grier Heights is sketchy as hell.  I don't expect it to change for some time unfortunately.

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I had the same experience. Biking through grier, middle of the day, was one of the few times I've felt unsafe/threatened in Charlotte

I've felt that way in Belmont during the day, but I tried to bike from Loupies to my parents house in Myers Park years ago when I lived in Charlotte and cut through Grier and was ASTOUNDED by what I saw. Its tragic the conditions some people live in.

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I consider myself pretty daring regarding where I'll walk or bike through.  I've biked through GH in the day time before and been borderline terrified.  Grier Heights is sketchy as hell.  I don't expect it to change for some time unfortunately.

 

I've driven through plenty of sketchy neighborhoods in Charlotte but Grier Heights is the only one where I was concerned for my safety. Somebody actually started chasing me when I turned around in a cul-de-sac.

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The # 15 bus winds it way through Grier Heights and I am always saddened when I go through there.  I would like to see that area develop some strength and character.  For a month back in 1999 I lived in the apartments across from Billingsly and it was not uncommon to hear gunshots at night.  Sad.

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Wow I don't think I've even heard of this area in the 3.5 years I have lived here, let alone known an area around here could be so bad. It's interesting it doesn't spill over, but at the very least it is good it is contained in this area. It's also interesting how close it is to Myers Park and extremely nice areas. I'm assuming Randolph Rd is what divides the good from the bad? Does Briar Creek act as Charlotte's own Rio Grande?

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The # 15 bus winds it way through Grier Heights and I am always saddened when I go through there.  I would like to see that area develop some strength and character.  For a month back in 1999 I lived in the apartments across from Billingsly and it was not uncommon to hear gunshots at night.  Sad.

I played little league on Billingsley, I didn't even know that it got sketchy back there... But after street viewing it, wow. These guys look like fun to hang out with, drinking beer in the middle of the street in the day time.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1915949,-80.8006005,3a,75y,318.2h,55.13t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sbOTvhnWrQNulg3hFmeH1aA!2e0

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 Grier Heights goes from Randolph in the west (bordering Eastover/Myers Park/Mint Museum) to Monroe Rd in the East (Lupies) down to Billingsley and Wendover (Habitat Restore and Home Depot). If you know where the attended Goodwill donation truck is near the Mint Museum on Randolph, that intersection is a main access back into the neighborhood. By Lupie's and where the train tracks go over Monroe Rd is the other main access.

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I played little league on Billingsley, I didn't even know that it got sketchy back there... But after street viewing it, wow. These guys look like fun to hang out with, drinking beer in the middle of the street in the day time.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1915949,-80.8006005,3a,75y,318.2h,55.13t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sbOTvhnWrQNulg3hFmeH1aA!2e0

 

 

Kind of how I felt when my gf and I drove from around the NoDa/BLE area and into Belmont.  No one in this map view but guys were hanging out in the street in front of this market at 11 on a Sunday morning and one looked like he was going to try to stop us from moving forward.

 

Shame cause this is a nice little market building.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.2279512,-80.8212655,3a,75y,158.6h,87.17t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sjmF2KqTNwTKTVKJsC_0Q4w!2e0

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 Grier Heights goes from Randolph in the west (bordering Eastover/Myers Park/Mint Museum) to Monroe Rd in the East (Lupies) down to Billingsley and Wendover (Habitat Restore and Home Depot). If you know where the attended Goodwill donation truck is near the Mint Museum on Randolph, that intersection is a main access back into the neighborhood. By Lupie's and where the train tracks go over Monroe Rd is the other main access.

As an aside, if anybody hasn't been to Lupies, go there, its pretty awesome, as far as old school neighborhood dives go. 

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So tying into the Cherry Neighborhood "gentrification" topic,and the Plaza-Shamrock topic... Shamrock Gardens lost almost half the students in the third grade due to an apartment complex raising the rents.  The word is that those students ended up at Billingsville Elementary School (in Grier Heights).  This leads me to think that when Cherry and Plaza-Shamrock and inner Charlotte Neighborhoods push people out due to price, the families need to live close to downtown and are looking to Grier Heights as the next best place. 

Think about the descriptions above.  Think about the development that you post and comment about everyday... and the rising home prices and rising rents.  This is the face of a gentrifying inner Charlotte.  I don't know really what to say about it, but I think that people need to start understanding what is going on.

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Kind of how I felt when my gf and I drove from around the NoDa/BLE area and into Belmont.  No one in this map view but guys were hanging out in the street in front of this market at 11 on a Sunday morning and one looked like he was going to try to stop us from moving forward.

 

Shame cause this is a nice little market building.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.2279512,-80.8212655,3a,75y,158.6h,87.17t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sjmF2KqTNwTKTVKJsC_0Q4w!2e0

This is one of those random urban corners in Charlotte that i love, I've experienced a lot of situations like that in Belmont. The most mind-blowing Charlotte experience I ever had was going to a party at night at Hoskins Mill 8 years ago, the area outside the gates is like another world, prostitutes everywhere, drug dealers, so sad. 

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I played little league on Billingsley, I didn't even know that it got sketchy back there... But after street viewing it, wow. These guys look like fun to hang out with, drinking beer in the middle of the street in the day time.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1915949,-80.8006005,3a,75y,318.2h,55.13t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sbOTvhnWrQNulg3hFmeH1aA!2e0

I bet that Google driver was scared yitless haha

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I played little league on Billingsley, I didn't even know that it got sketchy back there... But after street viewing it, wow. These guys look like fun to hang out with, drinking beer in the middle of the street in the day time.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1915949,-80.8006005,3a,75y,318.2h,55.13t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sbOTvhnWrQNulg3hFmeH1aA!2e0

 

You trying to tell me you don't chug 4Loko at 11am on a Tuesday?  LIES!  LIES I TELL YOU.

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Not to inject too much bleeding heart into this, but it's not just lazy drunks and thugs wasting the hours away in Grier Heights.  There are a lot families that are stuck in the cycle of poverty.  Many of the homes are actually owner occupied, having been paid for long ago by ancestors hopeful that their hard work would help it become an enclave for future generations rather than a trap.  That is one reason that it hasn't been "redeveloped" (gentrified) over the years.  The residents wouldn't be able to afford to go anywhere else if they were to sell the property that they are living in debt free.

 

Same story with Optimist Park, Belmont, etc.  Cherry was the same way but upward pressure on values tipped the balance.  It will happen in Belmont and Optimist park soon too - Grier Heights is a little further away.  But many residents in these areas are well organized with help from social services and churches, and will resist total gentrification.  I believe for the better.  Partly out of compassion, but also because the reality is that the less fortunate need somewhere to live.  It's either in these homes in these neighborhoods, or in public housing, or on the streets, or in prisons...  They have to go somewhere and I think that finding a way to help these neighborhoods thrive is better and cheaper in the long run to society.

 

Ok, climbing off soap box.

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Could not agree more with UrbanGossip. Instead of focusing on how the neighborhood could be gentrified or "sanitized," it would be helpful to look at the ways in which either the city or a nonprofit could step in to improve the overall health of the neighborhood. How many residents have access to fresh foods? If the answer is "not many," what organizations could help combat this and other food deserts in the city?

 

Furthermore, housing equity mechanisms like Community Land Trusts could also be a benefit for residents and surrounding community members alike - both improving the aesthetic and structural quality of the housing stock and ensuring that the housing remains affordable for residents even if the area becomes more desirable for conventional developers.

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I played little league on Billingsley, I didn't even know that it got sketchy back there... But after street viewing it, wow. These guys look like fun to hang out with, drinking beer in the middle of the street in the day time.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1915949,-80.8006005,3a,75y,318.2h,55.13t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sbOTvhnWrQNulg3hFmeH1aA!2e0

 

Reminds me of these guys on S. Tryon. Though they are significantly less threatening looking, they are out there every single day drinking 40s. I mean Every. Single. Day. The crowd hadn't gathered yet when the Google car drove by apparently. Guess it was before 9a.m. when they took this shot:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.2143372,-80.8609424,3a,15y,179h,86.41t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sHT-NkeTGQD2908LmQIRx7w!2e0!6m1!1e1

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  • 3 years later...

I think this is technically Billingsley. Very random. This house is on Ellington St, just off Wendover Rd (behind the police station).

Aside: It's interesting looking at the patchwork of homes on that block, all various eras and ages.

Anyone else seen this yard? My brain says it's just a homeowner with eclectic flair, but my heart wants it to have a history of being an unlicensed speakeasy back in the day, or some romantic crap like that.

Turns out there's a Gin House Rd in Abbeville, SC. They probably stole it.

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