Charlotte wants to close neighborhood stores.

[rockhilljames]

I have to agree with Monsoon on this. It seems to me that it's a huge waste of money to be buying these stores and then tearing them down. There's something inherently wrong about destroying the limited urban fabric by doing this, especially in neighborhoods where walking is the primary mode of transportation.

The police in these neighborhoods aren't idiots, they know which stores are selling drugs out of them and which aren't. It would be simple to allot a few more man-hours and more patrols to these areas to shut this down. It could be done within months. Instead we get this high-minded ideal that tearing the stores down will solve the problem (it won't). If they focused on busting the store owners that are selling it out of the stores, and on more police presence around the stores, and on establishing more neighborhood officers, the problem would be solved for a fraction of the price.

[Charlotte_native]

The police in these neighborhoods aren't idiots, they know which stores are selling drugs out of them and which aren't. It would be simple to allot a few more man-hours and more patrols to these areas to shut this down. It could be done within months. Instead we get this high-minded ideal that tearing the stores down will solve the problem (it won't). If they focused on busting the store owners that are selling it out of the stores, and on more police presence around the stores, and on establishing more neighborhood officers, the problem would be solved for a fraction of the price.

[Raintree21]

In the same token the city is also looking to shutdown the street food vendors on central avenue. Somehow this is OK while at the same kind of vendors in downtown Charlotte get a free pass on this. Is it because the difference is that one serves the business elite while the other mostly serves the non-White population? It will be interesting to see if the city passes this double standard.

I suppose they won't be happy until the entire city looks as sterile as Ballentyne or downtown.

[Charlotte_native]

Could it be because the vendors downtown have permits and the ones on Central are operating illegally?

[monsoon]

Indeed. If they were operating illegally then it would not be a matter for the city council. They would already be closed.

[jednc]

Well the Council passed this but the Mayor vetoed it....so once again Belmont gets the shaft.