The City of Charlotte was listed as one of just five WalkUPs (Walkable Urban Places) in the Lansing/East Lansing Region in the recent report — WalkUp Wake-Up Call: Michigan Metros. The report is the product of a study conducted by the George Washington School of Business in conjunction with Michigan State University that looked at the economy of walkability in the entire state.
The report lists Charlotte as a Copper Level WalkUP, which is the lowest level of WalkUp included in the report. However, the report states, “these places have at least the potential to function as walkable urban places because they have a significant quantity of destinations and commercial space, as well as a reasonably dense street network.” WalkUPs are considered one of the most desirable locations for development.
The report highlights the efforts that have been made in the last five to 10 years to make Charlotte a walkable community. Organizations such as Charlotte Step-by-Step have been working to enhance the walkability of the community through identifying existing trails and creating a walkability master plan.
More specifically, the study highlights the potential for development within downtown Charlotte.
City Manager Gregg Guetschow said the designation comes at exactly the right time for Charlotte.
“With all of these other things we’re doing right, we can talk to the developer community and say ‘we are one of those spots,’” Guetschow said. “That’s a huge deal for us.”
City officials were informed of the designation at an event put on by real estate investors in Detroit in late June.
“The significance of this is these people are looking to invest their dollars in what they call WalkUps,” City Manager Gregg Guetschow told the Can Do! general membership on June 24. “That’s where they see the best return on their investment dollars. In all the communities that make up the Lansing metropolitan statistical area, we are the only one that is not in East Lansing or Lansing.”
The complete study is available online at www.smartgrowthamerica.org/documents/walkup-wake-up-call-michigan.pdf.