A Day for Neighborhoods to Explore Their Future

Residents and partners of 18 Charlotte neighborhoods attended the 4^th annual Neighborhood Board Retreat where they set goals and developed ideas for projects to strengthen their neighborhoods.  The event was hosted by the City of Charlotte’s Department of Neighborhood & Business Services and sponsored by the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute.  As part of the facilitated planning, each neighborhood received a customized data profile containing a snapshot of variables from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Quality of Life Study, covering neighborhood engagement, environmental impact, safety, health and more.  (View the data sheets here.) Neighborhoods were led through a discussion about the data: What are the surprises? Reasons for celebration? Areas for improvement?  This data discussion served as a springboard for neighborhood visioning and goal-setting.  Following the retreat, the City of Charlotte works with neighborhoods to support project implementation, helping connect them to resources throughout the City and across the community.