INTRODUCTION
In the last two decades Charlotte’s population has grown exponentially, which has resulted in increased pollution, gentrification, and urban sprawl. As the city expanded physically, large portions of forest, agricultural land, and other forms of natural green space have been lost to development. Within the city's limits, urban green spaces, like parks and greenways, have been built in areas that disproportionately benefit wealthy and white neighborhoods. Additionally, the green spaces that do exist in marginalized communities are typically smaller, more polluted, less safe, and less well maintained. As a result of disparities in access to green spaces, many marginalized communities are left without the benefits of outdoor recreation. GreenCLT seeks to embolden the Charlotte community to speak out about the destruction of natural green spaces and to demand equitable access to urban green spaces. Through working with local environmentalists this project will help advocate the need for increased protections for local green spaces and equitable management of the city’s parks.
GREENCLT WILL...
Urbanization in Charlotte
Population Growth (1950-2022)
Urbanization, or the process of an area becoming more urban, has been a defining characteristic of the Charlotte area for the past two decades. In 2016, the Charlotte Observer reported that between April 2010 and July 2015 approximately 109 people per day moved to the Charlotte Metropolitan Area, which encompasses 3,198 square miles of surrounding towns, cities, and counties. Approximately half of those people moved into Charlotte proper, which in 2022 measured 312 square miles. Estimates of current daily immigrants to the city and its surrounding area range from 86 people to a whopping 120 people per day. Regardless of the varying estimates, it is certainly true that Charlotte has experienced a population boom over the last two decades and that the city will continue to grow. The 2020 Census reports that there are 874,579 residents within the city limits and estimated that by 2022 2.8 million people will reside in Charlotte Metropolitan Area. These statistics represent a 51% increase in the city's population between 2000 and 2020. This population boom has led to a number of problems for the city, including skyrocketing land value, an affordable housing crisis, and the disappearance of the vast majority of the undeveloped land. All of these factors have contributed to decreased green space in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area. For the purpose of this project, we define green space as land or bodies of water, both urban and rural, that possess grass, forest, or other forms of vegetation. Green space can used for outdoor recreation and/or a space that provides aesthetic value to an area and/or a habitat for wildlife.
Urban Sprawl in Charlotte
Charlotte's population is not the only thing that has expanded in recent years; the land that the city occupies has also increased. In 1950, Charlotte occupied a mere 50 square miles but by 1970 the city grew to be 76 square miles. During the 21st century Charlotte has only grown in mass. Between 2001 and 2022, Charlotte grew by approximately 70 square miles. The 2020 census reports that Charlotte encompasses 308.29 square miles (currently 312 square miles). This is called urban sprawl, a term used to describe the outward geographic expansion of a city. Charlotte is unlike other major cities in the United States in that the land outside of the city is usable for urban development. Other cities, like Boston or New York City, have geographic limitations such as bodies of water or other bordering municipalities that limit their outward expansion. Though these cities have a larger population than Charlotte, they have less available land to annex. Given the increasing population and the available land, Charlotte could expand for many more miles. The effects of urban sprawl include increased traffic congestion, pollution, and gentrification, which can be detrimental for the health and well-being of urban residents. Urban sprawl can also reduce the amount of available green space as development claims large tracts of forest and agricultural land. This is especially true for poor and minority populations, who are oftentimes displaced from their homes, and therefore their access to green spaces, when cost of living becomes unaffordable.
The History of Environmental Racism in Charlotte
Red Lining: Racial Discrimination in the Housing Market
To explain the impact of race and class-based discrimination on green spaces we must first explain the history of environmental racism in Charlotte. This map is a product of the Home Owners' Loan Corporation and the Division of Research & Statistics' 1935 survey of Charlotte, which rated local neighborhoods based on their perceived credit risk for investors. This is called red lining, a discriminatory investment practice that devalues and withholds services to impoverished and/or majority POC areas. Many Black neighborhoods, like Charlotte's Second Ward, were colored in red to indicate to investors that there was a high risk of losing money on real estate in those areas. Majority white neighborhoods, like Myers Park, Eastover, and the Olmstead portion of Dilworth, were colored green, to indicate low credit risk and high returns for investors. Race discrimination in the housing market meant that Black neighborhoods were continually devalued. Black residents lost out on the improvements and economic benefits that real estate investment provided for majority white neighborhoods. The effects of these racist policies are present today: in 2017 the same areas that were deemed high risk in this 1935 survey still have the lowest rates of home ownership in Mecklenburg County.
Image: “Residential Security Map (Official Map of Charlotte, N.C.)” accessed from Mapping Inequality online archive.
What is Environmental Racism?
Greenaction, an environmental justice organization, defines environmental racism as "the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on people of color."
Pollution in Black Neighborhoods
Low income and minority neighborhoods in Charlotte face higher rates of pollution, which contributes to unsafe green spaces and health issues. In Charlotte, segregation laws and redlining intentionally pushed Black residents into the West side of the city, often in close proximity to industrial polluters, such as factories, rail roads, and highway systems. These industries released noxious emissions and leaked harmful chemicals into the soil, air, and water surrounding majority Black neighborhoods. The environmental hazards that these practices created caused serious health issues for residents, including many different types of cancer, asthma, and other diseases. It also undoubtedly polluted the green spaces that Black Charlotteans used for utility and recreation.
Historic West End
Historic West End neighborhood is just one example of majority Black neighborhoods in Charlotte that were subject to increased pollution exposure. Urban planners used zoning policies to designate where industries could build factories and organize construction sites. West End was targeted for these industrial zoning ordinances, which put industrial polluters directly next to Black communities. Additionally, when highway systems were built in Charlotte they were concentrated on the West side, right next to Black neighborhoods like West End. This meant that Black residents breathed in more air pollution from cars and factories than white residents. The consistent disenfranchisement of Black communities in Charlotte, which had less political power and wealth than most white communities, meant that Black people bore the burden of negative health effects as well as decreased property values. All of these factors exacerbated cycles of poverty and reduced access to healthy and safe outdoor recreation.
See: "Clearing the Air in the Historic West End" digital history project by CleanAIRE NC.
Image: Map of proposed Northwest Expressway, which winds through central Charlotte and the West End neighborhood. Stan Brennan, "Expressway Work Expected to Pick Up Steam This Year," The Charlotte Observer, February 18, 1966, 17.
Other Articles and Digital History Projects about Pollution and Environmental Racism in Charlotte
See: Lung Association Report: Charlotte’s Air Quality is the Worst in the Southeast Region.
Image: Black residents protested the development of the Northwest Expressway, which eventually displaced many citizens from their homes and businesses without fair compensation. The North-South Expressway also displaced many of the city's white residents, but since it was a state funded project those residents received adequate payment. Image Source: Jerry Shinn, "Negro Residents Want Expressway Rerouted," The Charlotte Observer, April 4, 1962, 17. Source for the North-South Expressway: Author Unknown, "Displaced Families Short-Changed," The Charlotte Observer, October 29, 1966, 18.
Map Data: Google, Landsat / Copernicus, Data SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO
Inequality and Access to Green Spaces
Environmental racism directly impacts a person's access to green spaces. Charlotte’s City Government has invested large sums of money into creating urban green spaces. However, these efforts have historically concentrated on predominantly wealthy and white areas. Comparing green spaces in wealthy and mostly white neighborhoods to those in low-income and majority Black and POC neighborhoods exemplifies this issue.
The central region of the city hosts 68 of the city's 203 parks, including many in both the red and green section of the 1935 Home Owners' Loan Corporation's redlining map. Though the Charlotte/Mecklenburg Quality of Life Explorer reports that close to 100% of people in this area have access to spaces for outdoor recreation, this is not entirely true. Wealthy disparities, which are closely connected to race, often determine the quality, size, and number of parks in different neighborhoods.
Race and Urban Park Quality in Central Charlotte
This map combines the location of urban parks in Charlotte with the distribution of Black residents. Areas that have a higher concentration of Black residents are depicted in dark blue and are outlined in red, while lower concentrations are depicted in light green and not outlined. In the central park region, there are approximately 32 parks in or bordering majority Black neighborhoods and 36 parks in majority white neighborhoods. The parks in Black neighborhoods have an average size of 10.9 acres, while the parks in white neighborhoods have an average size of 12.1 acres. Though the disparity in average size is relatively small, there is a greater disparity in the quality and condition of the parks between white and Black neighborhoods.
In 2021, the Mecklenburg Park and Recreation Commission found that 50 parks across the county were in poor condition. Commissioners rated them based on the condition of the park's equipment, recreation options, cleanliness, and accessibility. Two parks in majority Black neighborhoods in central Charlotte received an 'F' grade, while nine parks received a 'D' grade. This means that 34% of parks in Black neighborhoods in central Charlotte were in poor condition. Comparatively, none of the parks in majority white neighborhoods in central Charlotte received an 'F' grade and only seven parks, or 19%, received a 'D' grade. This indicates that race plays a major role in the size, quality, and number of green spaces available to Charlotte's most urban residents.
See: Alison Kuznitz, "Charlotteans Love Their Parks — but Many are Failing, and the Price to Fix Them is Huge," The Charlotte Observer, Web Edition Articles (NC), April 20, 2021, https://infoweb-newsbank-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/181FC92FD0973910.
See: Partial List of Parks in Central Charlotte
Image: Created by Shelby Dains. See usage guide and bibliography for full credits.
Wealth and Access to Green Space
Wealth is one of the largest factors in determining one's access to quality green space. There is no better example of this than the disparities between the green spaces in central Charlotte's wealthiest and poorest neighborhoods. The following analysis compares Freedom Park, which boarders two of Charlotte's wealthiest neighborhoods, and Wingate Park, which is situated in one of the poorest and most crime riddled neighborhoods in the city.
Image: Little Sugar Creek Greenway, which borders Freedom Park.
Freedom Park
Meyers Park and Dilworth neighborhoods are remarkable for their historic architecture and high cost of living as well as their access to safe and clean green spaces. The majority of Meyers Park and Dilworth residents are white, at 83.2%, while and only a small number are Black, at 5%. Additionally, Meyers Park and Dilworth residents make on average between 48% to 179% more income than the average Mecklenburg resident, with an average household income of $193,750 and $102,622 respectively. These two neighborhoods are also situated next to prime urban green spaces. Not only do residents have 10% more tree canopy than most other Mecklenburg residents, they also have direct access to Charlotte's largest urban park. At 98 acres, Freedom Park is far larger than all of the other parks in central Charlotte. In addition to its size, park goers can expect to find a host of amenities, including four baseball fields, twelve tennis courts, four soccer fields, a basketball court, two sand volleyball courts, two playgrounds, a lake and fountain, five outdoor shelters, numerous trails and sidewalks, sprawling lawns, a pavilion for performances, and ample space for outdoor recreation.
Image: Map of Freedom Park. Courtesy of the Mecklenburg Park and Recreation Department.
Wingate Park
In comparison, the Pine Crest neighborhood in central Charlotte, where 95% of residents are Black, has limited access to green spaces. Unlike the wealthy and majority white areas in South Charlotte, Pine Crest has a median household income of $37,206, which is well below the national and county average. They also have 15% less tree canopy than the average Charlotte resident and 25% less than Myers Park and Dilworth. The closest public park to Pine Crest is Wingate Neighborhood Park, which sits on three acres, complete with two modest playgrounds, a singular volleyball court, and a half basketball court. Pine Crest residents would have to cross West Boulevard to reach the next nearest public green space at Clanton Park. Though Pine Crest is roughly the same distance from Uptown as Dilworth and Myers Park, the city government has clearly prioritized creating green spaces that serve wealthier neighborhoods rather than providing equal access for all residents.
Disappearing Tree Canopy
Another problem that contributes to the degradation of green spaces in Charlotte is the city's disappearing tree canopy. Charlotte was once known for its shady tree cover, but now development threatens the city's trees canopy more than ever. Not only are tree-covered cities more aesthetically pleasing, they also offer respite from the sun; which is much needed during the hot southern summer. Environmental racism is one of the factors that contributes to how heat is experienced in urban areas. In fact, cities with higher populations of Black people are more likely to experience extreme heat. This is also true for white and Black Charlotteans. North and West Charlotte, which has a high concentration of Black residents, has significantly less tree coverage than South Charlotte, which is predominately white. This means that Black residents experience more heat when participating in outdoor recreation.
Image: Charlotte's tree canopy in 2016, courtesy of Time Machine.
Natural Green Space and Undeveloped Land in Mecklenburg County
Undeveloped Land in Mecklenburg County is Dwindling
Limited access to man-made green spaces is only one part of the problem; urban sprawl also contributes to the eradication of undeveloped land and natural green spaces, which provides food, recreation, water, and wildlife habitat. Environment North Carolina reported that between 1999 and 2009 the Charlotte area lost 25%, or 270,000 acres, of its total cropland and forest land. The environmentalist organization also predicted that the Charlotte area will continue to lose large portions of woodlands, farmlands, and undeveloped land to development. Developers have already eradicated much of the natural green space in the Charlotte area, but there are still green spaces on city's periphery and in the greater Charlotte Metropolitan area. Today only 16.1 percent of land, or 53,440 acres, in Mecklenburg County is undeveloped, which represents a 2.2 percent decrease since 2011. A large portion of the undeveloped land lies to the west of the Charlotte Douglas International Airport and is set to become the River District mixed-use project. Unless the city or county government prevents development in rural and semi-rural areas, urbanization will claim the remaining natural green spaces in Charlotte and deprive its residents of their benefits.
Nature Preserves and State Parks in or Near Charlotte
List of 26 Nature Preserves in Mecklenburg County
Four State Parks in the Metrolina Region
These parks offer a wide array out outdoor recreation options including, hiking, mountain biking, paddle sports, boating, camping, and other types of recreation not available in more urban areas.
Health Benefits of Outdoor Recreation
The loss of green space is not just important because marginalized groups in Charlotte do not have equal access to parks and other green spaces, but also because there are many proven mental and physical benefits to spending time in nature. Green spaces are natural inhibitors of exercise, socialization, and fun. Parks facilitate playing group sports, such as tennis, volleyball, basketball, and soccer, and provide spaces for other outdoor exercise, such as walking and running. Park playgrounds also give children the opportunity to exercise with peers in a social environment. Green spaces have the ability to bring communities together in a positive and healthy manner.
People who participate in outdoor recreation have better physical and mental health. Outdoor exercise is related to an wide array of health benefits, including "lower risks of type 2 diabetes, cancer, stroke, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and premature mortality." Aside from physical benefits, green space exposure also leads to improved mental health. People who spend time in green spaces reported improved mental health, mood, and self-esteem as well as lower rates of stress than those who do not regularly spend time outdoors. It is a form of environmental racism that some Charlotte communities have unadulterated access to these benefits and others do not.
See: Jennifer R. Wolch, Jason Byrne, and Joshua P. Newell, “Urban Green Space, Public Health, and Environmental Justice: The Challenge of Making Cities ‘just Green Enough’,” Landscape and Urban Planning 125 (2014): 236 for more information about the benefits of outdoor recreation.
Charlotte's Plan for the Future
Fortunately, Charlotte's local government has recognized that the city's green spaces need work. For the past several years Charlotte has scored low on the Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore index, which ranks America's 100 largest cities on the quality and accessibility of their green spaces. In 2021, Charlotte was 91st on the list, but in 2022 the city jumped up to the 83rd spot. However, compared to other cities in North Carolina, Charlotte is still lacking. Durham (82), Winston-Salem (80), Greensboro (76), and Raleigh (50), all have better scores than Charlotte. The good news is that the city is considering how it can improve green spaces to provide a better quality of life to its citizens. In the summer of 2022, the Mecklenburg Parks and Recreation Department announced that it has allotted $50 millions dollars to spend on competing with developers for land as well as funds for repairing parks and green ways that are in poor condition. The city's 2040 plan also includes a dedicated plan of action to improve existing parks and preserve natural areas. Even though these initiatives are promising, the city must recognize the current systems of inequality that affect green spaces. Specifically, these plans must include initiatives to reduce pollution and increase the quality of green spaces in North and West Charlotte. Additionally, the dwindling amount of undeveloped land is a large threat to nature and wildlife as well as access to outdoor recreation. GreenCLT demands that green spaces, both natural and man-made, be protected in perpetuity for the health and betterment of all people in Charlotte.
Resources for Environmental Activism and Equality in Charlotte and North Carolina
Sustain Charlotte, Catawba Lands Conservancy, Clean Aire NC, Equality NC, The Center for Racial Equity in Education, and Strive CLT.
Contact Charlotte's Mayor, Vi Lyles, E-mail: mayor@charlottenc.gov, Phone Number: 704-336-2241, Mailing Address: Office of the Mayor, 600 East Fourth Street, 15th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28202.
Contact a Charlotte City Counsel Member in Your District (to find your district and representative go here).
All of my sources are linked within the text. If they are not available by link, I have included them in the sources below the text. See the Usage Guide and Bibliography for more detailed citations. All images that do not have a caption are Adobe Stock photos, which are open source and credited below. All of the images, graphs, and maps are credited accordingly and covered within fair use or permission has been granted by the copyright owner. GreenCLT is a part of the Climates of Inequality digital history project and exhibit, which is non-commercial and purely for educational purposes.
Credits
This online exhibit was created by Shelby Dains. Shelby is a Master of Public History candidate at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte who plans to graduate the program in the spring of 2023. GreenCLT was made in collaboration with fellow graduate student Olivia Dobbs, whose project on Reid Creek can be found here. Last updated December 2nd, 2022.
Credits:
Created with images by Guy Bryant - "Charlotte Skyline, NC" • Guy Bryant - "Spider Lilies, Catawba River, Landsford Canal State Park, South Carolina" • Rawpixel.com - "Basketball Sport Exercise Activity Leisure" • NAMPIX - "Smoke from car pipe exhaust" • Guy Bryant - " Little Sugar Creek Greenway, Charlotte, NC" • Guy Bryant - "Four Mile Creek on the Four Mile Creek Greenway Trail, Charlotte, North Carolina" • digidreamgrafix - "mountain island lake near lake norman north carolina" • Jacob Lund - "Men playing basketball" • f11photo - "Charlotte city downtown skyline cityscape of North Carolina"