Johnson & Wales Way/Fourth Street Extension Public Meeting

City representatives will host the first public meeting regarding the Johnson & Wales Way/Fourth Street Extension improvement project on June 17th. The meeting will begin at 6:30p at the Johnson & Wales Academic Center, 801 West Trade Street (free parking is available at the Doubletree).
This meeting will focus on the Johnson & Wales Way portion of the project. After a short presentation attendees will be invited to break into small groups and offer feedback.
For more information, see the Development + Infrastructure page as well as this postcard, which will be distributed to addresses within 1/4 mile of the project limits.

County Budget Hearing

This Thursday evening, the County Commissioners will consider additional money dedicated to Public Safety and Law Enforcement. Neighbors for a Safer Charlotte is inviting all interested parties to attend in support of public safety. The meeting will take place at the Government Center at 6:00p. See this letter for Chairman Jennifer Roberts' perspective on the issue.

MEETING TONIGHT

Reminder that tonight's meeting will take place at 7:00p at the Gateway Village YMCA. Speakers include various representatives of Parks & Recreation, and Michael Smith of Charlotte Center City Partners.

Education + Outreach Committee

I am pleased to report that Past President Eric Davis has agreed to chair the Education + Outreach committee! Eric has a specific commitment to the Lunch Buddies program, the Book Bash, and Uptown schools. Volunteers are needed to fill out this committee, whether in pursuit of these activities or others. Contact Eric if you are interested in becoming involved.

Speed Street Map

A map of Speed Street activities can be found here.

Uptown High School

The Observer reports the advocacy of Center City Partners and others to rebuild a high school in Uptown Charlotte. The school would alleviate overcrowding at Myers Park High School and West Charlotte High School. It has been suggested that the school would serve up to 2,000 students and would be located on the former site of Second Ward High School, which closed in 1969.
Interested in supporting this effort? Please contact me!

A Farmers Market of Our Own

And one more opens! On Thursdays, beginning June 5th, Gateway Village will begin hosting a weekly farmers market. The market will run through the end of August. June purchases will benefit Mothering Across Continents.

Charlotte Walks Together - June 1st

On Sunday, June 1st, from 1:00-3:00 pm, Gateway Village will host Charlotte Walks Together, a fundraising walk benefiting youth leadership development programs of the Charlotte Coalition for Social Justice. CCSJ is a Third Ward-based non-profit agency dedicated to building an inclusive community.
In 2007 the Walk raised over $85,000, allowing CCSJ to serve 1,400 students in 21 schools – an increase of 40% over the previous year. If you would like to join the effort, please contact Beth Walker via e-mail or at (704) 535-9220.

Police Chief Candidates Public Forum

Neighbors for a Safer Charlotte invites you to a public forum to meet the candidates for Charlotte's police chief. The event will take place Tuesday, May 13th at the Blake Hotel, beginning at 6p.
Interested in giving direct feedback to Charlotte's City Manager regarding this or other issues? See this page.

South End Farmers Market

The South End Farmers Market is open Tuesdays and Saturdays at the Corner of Park Avenue and Camden Road. It will run through the summer and feature organic and local products. Utilize Bland Street Station on the Lynx Blue Line for light rail access.

MSD New Services Funding

Property owners within Uptown Municipal Service Districts (MSD) 2 and 3 (map) are expected to be subject to a forthcoming rate increase. This will affect current Third Ward residents in Gateway Village, TradeMark, and 230 South Tryon. The rate increases will add 1.15¢/$100 (or $115/million) of assessed value and will fund additional programming for Charlotte Center City Partners. The public hearing with the City Council will be Monday, May 12th. Questions?

Revitalization Continues

Citiline Resortline's upcoming project on the site of the Victoria Apartments - with the working title "Western Gateway Anchor" - is featured in this week's Charlotte Business Journal. Citiline Resortline plans ground floor retail under an office tower and hotel tower; the rear portion of the site will include townhomes along Irwin Avenue. The company's collaboration with Third Ward in its rezoning efforts is documented on the Development + Infrastructure page.
Just over the border in Fourth Ward, Crosland and Trinity Capital Advisors have finalized longstanding plans to redevelop the Polk Building site into 500 West Trade (featured in this CBJ article and this Charlotte Observer article). 500 West Trade will feature 400 luxury apartments, and will bring additional ground floor retail to the Trade Street/Gateway Village corridor. Construction is slated to begin this fall.

Development Map

A Development Map of Third Ward is posted under Development + Infrastructure.

Oak Park

Thanks to Wade and Julie at Oak Park for hosting Chris Metzler and me along with their fellow Oak Park residents. I enjoyed getting to know you as neighbors. Thanks again!

third-ward.org

A couple of interesting data points from third-ward.org, tracked from April 4th to May 3rd. All data courtesy of Google Analytics:

Number of Visits: 273
Unique Visitors: 156
Pageviews: 661

Interestingly, we have had visitors from five countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Peru, and Singapore. The U.S. accounts for 98.17% of all visits.

2008 Center City Green Market

Next Saturday, May 10th, the Center City Green Market opens for the year across from Reid's Fine Foods in First Ward. The market will run every Saturday from 8:00a to 1:00p, through the summer (with the exception of May 24th).