Windsor Park is a Great Charlotte Neighborhood Due to Strong Neighborhood Association

From Charlotte.com

Tackling crime on their terms

3 neighborhoods devise watch programs that work for them

DAVID PERLMUTT

dperlmutt@charlotteobserver.com

They stand constant watch, neighbors policing their own communities.

They are neither armed, nor vigilantes. They provide more eyes and ears — taking their watchfulness beyond merely posting a “crime watch” sticker in a window.

As concerns of property crime grow in the Charlotte region, residents are stiffening watch strategies, patrolling neighborhoods and even hiring off-duty police officers to keep the peace.

But as the following three communities show, there’s no such thing as a one-strategy-fits-all neighborhood watch program.

Windsor Park

• 2,616 households• 12 percent are rentals

Four days a week, Jim Roberts (pictured) and his band of six volunteers climb into cars and patrol Windsor Park’s 26.8 miles of streets.

They call themselves “Citizens on Patrol.” It says so on the magnetic signs they stick to their car doors.

Windsor Park in east Charlotte is a conglomeration of seven neighborhoods on 53 streets.

That’s a lot of territory to cover. Roberts, president of Windsor Park Neighbors, said the neighborhood tried traditional community watch techniques — with block captains and a phone tree. They didn’t work.

“We had meetings and encouraged people to set up phone trees, and if they spotted anything suspicious get the phone calls going,” Roberts said.

But they’d need 70 to 75 volunteers just to be block captains. Neighbors said they didn’t have time or didn’t want to get involved, he said.

So the association split Windsor Park into five zones and formed patrols during daylight hours. With more volunteers, Roberts hopes to get the patrols running every day.

The patrols, he said, deter criminals because they are visible with car signs. They watch traffic coming off main corridors that border the neighborhood — Eastway Drive, Central Avenue and North Sharon Amity.

There are two residents to a car. If they see something suspicious, they’re trained to call 311 and report it. They also report zoning violations, or furniture or junker cars left in yards.

If they run up on an actual crime, they report it to 911 and leave.

Some are trained to use radar to clock speeders. They report average speeds to Roberts, who alerts police that speeds are high.

“We still have volunteers on every street who keep a watch,” he said. “But we’ve just found that Citizens on Patrol is more effective because of our size.”

City Unveils Housing Plan for Eastland Mall

From WCNC.com:

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There is a new plan for Eastland Mall and it has nothing to do with shopping.

The revitalization plan unveiled Tuesday night includes more than 300 new homes.

All the homes will average $200,000 each, with no low income, Section 8 or rentals planned.

A packed house saw the plans first hand on Tuesday and neighbors like Ed Garber said they think this could really work.

“If the housing really starts at $200,000 or $200,000 is the benchmark for housing there, I think that is a plan for success,” said Garber, who is chairman of Eastside Political Action Committee. “If they go for around $150, then we’re going to have a real problem.”

The city says the remaining property will be bought and a developer is expected to be named within the next 60 days.

Construction could start in two years.

Mall Redevelopment: 80 Attend Meeting on Eastland Plans

From Charlotte.com:

MALL REDEVELOPMENT

80 attend meeting on Eastland plans

Kinsey pledges to fight low-income housing

KEVIN CASTON

Special to The Observer

Charlotte city leaders met with east Charlotte residents Tuesday night to discuss plans for redeveloping Eastland Mall.

About 80 people turned out for the meeting at the Charlotte Museum of History. On the minds of most residents was getting a commitment that no low-income housing would be included in plans to tear down the existing mall and replace it with a mixed-use town center of offices, retail shops, and commercial space.

“I will fight to make sure the city doesn’t put low-income housing there,” declared Charlotte City Council member Patsy Kinsey.

About a dozen residents peppered Economic Development Director Tom Flynn with questions about a market study that showed future housing would target residents in the $50,000 a year income bracket. Some residents said they would like to see upscale housing included.

Eastland Mall’s fate has been widely debated in recent years, as the once-bustling shopping center has fallen on hard times. About all of the mall’s major retailers, such as Belk and J.C. Penney, have closed and haven’t been replaced.

Instead, several small clothing stores and specialty shops targeting mostly black and Hispanic shoppers have opened.

Last month, the city stepped up its stake in the mall’s future by paying $75,000 for an option on the property where retailer Belk once operated.

The move gives the city the option of purchasing the property for $3.5 million before Nov. 30, which would give the city a seat at the table with the mall’s four other owners.

Save Money, Save the Planet

I’ve been a big cheerleader for how much time and money you’ll save by moving to Charlotte’s Windsor Park neighborhood. One of the ways you can make your home even more efficient is to buy fluorescent bulbs. If you’ve tried fluorescent bulbs before and hated them, it’s time to try again.

They’re not the huge, clunky, slow-to-turn-on pains in the you-know-what they used to be. The newest ones — twisted like a soft-serve ice cream cone — turn on instantly and cast a warm light. Yes, they’re more expensive (around $4-$5 each), but they use about a quarter of the electricity of a traditional incandescent bulb and last 10 times as long, so they end up saving you a ton of money.

Replacing just six incandescent bulbs will cut your annual carbon dioxide emissions by 600 pounds and trim your electric bill by as much as $35 each year. And if you still don’t like the color, take a tip from high-end decorator Jamie Drake: Buy paper lampshades and paint the inside with nonflammable pink paint.

The Future of Eastland Mall

According to The Charlotte Observer’s Real Estate Guru, Doug Smith, the Charlotte City Council is read to make an investment to help transform Eastland Mall’s 90 acres into a commercial – residential development.

Check out what others have to say about Eastland Mall’s redevelopment at Ask Doug Smith.

I Heart Nancy Carter

From Charlotte.com

Fighting for east Charlotte’s life

KEVIN CASTON

Nancy Carter is determined to see east Charlotte thrive again. And it doesn’t matter if she has to lobby Congress or take to the streets for it to happen.

Carter has held her District 5 seat on the Charlotte City Council since 1999. During that time she’s seen her once flourishing district descend into an economic freefall. Scores of businesses have shut down, and the area is far down on the list of choice places in Charlotte for locals or tourists to spend time or money.

“We’ve been challenged by a lot of economic factors that have not been in our control,” she said.

But an east Charlotte rebound is under way, and Carter is leading the effort. Just last week the City Council authorized a $75,000 option agreement to purchase the vacant Belk store at Eastland Mall. The move was a pivotal step toward reinventing the mall, which has lost a quarter of its stores, into a mixed-use town center featuring retail shops, offices and residential space.

Carter is thrilled by the city’s move. But weeks before the council’s decision she was in Washington, D.C., along with several other city council members lobbying North Carolina’s congressional delegation for financial support for a study examining how to reinvent the mall.

While there she also lobbied for another project dear to her heart: Streetcars. Carter is helping push for a $500,000 grant to study the economic impact of streetcars. A proposed line would begin at Interstate 85 at Beatties Ford Road, through Center City, continue eastbound on Central Avenue, and would end where Eastland Mall now sits.

Of course, if Carter gets her way, Eastland Mall will be torn down and replaced by a glistening town center, making the final stop of a streetcar an impressive, must-see destination point.

“(A streetcar) is cheaper, environmentally sound, it serves our citizens, and it promotes economic development,” Carter said.

When talking about east Charlotte, Carter sounds like a mother passionately discussing a troubled child full of potential who’s lost their way.

“We’re part of this city, and we’re doing the very best to live the best we can as the most diverse district,” she said.

While Carter can be passionate about helping the east side recover, she doesn’t mind protesting anything she believes gets in the way. On March 27 she joined a group of 75 east Charlotte business owners and residents protesting the proposed widening of Independence Boulevard. Construction in recent years from uptown to Sharon Amity Road forced the closure of dozens of business.

Further construction between Albemarle Road and Conference Drive is expected to begin in 2010.

During last month’s rally, Carter held up a sign directing motorists to “Honk for Light Rail on Indy!”

Carter has support from several sources in her effort to help revive east Charlotte, from elected officials to the business community to east side residents.

“I can’t do anything alone,” she said. “I’ve got tremendous backing. It’s all of us invested in the east side.”

Power Bills Likely to Climb – Another Great Reason to Choose East Charlotte

East Charlotte neighborhood, Windsor Park, features quality-built homes from the 1960s. These homes are not the giant McMansions that have popped up in suburbia in the past few decades. Rather, they are smart-sized homes that help you have a reasonable utility bill and don’t require a ton of cash to renovate either. Being only a 10 minute drive from uptown Charlotte saves on gasoline with such a short commute.

From Charlotte.com:

Duke Energy power bills likely to climb

Duke’s move would be latest rising energy cost hitting consumers

Power bills are the latest consumer expense set to increase as Duke Energy moves to pass on skyrocketing coal prices to its customers.

The average monthly bill will likely increase this fall by about $3 in North Carolina as coal prices post never-before-seen highs.

It’s another example of how rising energy costs are stressing family budgets as the national and local economies continue to slow.

Earlier this week, the region’s two biggest natural gas utilities asked N.C. regulators for permission to hike rates. And gasoline and diesel prices, though stabilized recently, still hover at record levels, with the effect rippling through the economy.

Higher diesel prices mean higher costs for food and other retail goods delivered by truck. And summer is coming, when fuel prices usually spike.

Lee Tabor, a married mother of two who owns USMortgage in the SouthPark area, said her family is feeling the energy crunch. To battle high gasoline prices, she upgraded on fuel efficiency in December from a gas-guzzling Chevy Tahoe (14 mpg), to a Honda Accord (28 mpg).

But on the home utility front, she and her family just have to take it, she said. It would cost too much to make their 1930s stone home in Myers Park more energy efficient by reinsulating or replacing windows, she said. “Who has an extra $10,000 to throw at that problem?”

The Tabor power bills have exceeded $300 a month in the summer and natural gas bills $400 a month in the coldest winter months, she said. “That chokes you.”

“From a mom’s viewpoint and a businesswoman’s viewpoint, there’s an extra fee on everything you do these days. You go to the grocery store, and it’s higher. It costs a fortune to fill up your car. Families have to find their own way to conserve.”

Most families should be able to absorb rising energy costs, if they plan ahead, said Mary Quinn, director of Charlotte Saves, a nonprofit that counsels families on how to save money.

“It does make it difficult when energy prices go up. But when you’re not keeping track of your expenditures to begin with, it makes it that much more difficult,” she said. “Most people, they don’t change any of their behaviors.”

One reason this energy price spike doesn’t feel as bad as the 1970s and 1980s oil shocks: Energy costs now make up a smaller percentage of household expenses. In the early 1980s, at the height of the last energy crisis, energy accounted for about 8 percent of household spending. In December, energy’s share of disposable income stood at 6.1 percent.

Coal, burned to generate more than half of Duke’s power in the Carolinas, has more than doubled in price since October. And ratepayers will feel the pinch, said James McLawhorn, a director with the public staff, the consumer advocacy arm of the N.C. Utilities Commission.

Rapid power plant construction in China has “put pressure on domestic supply. And coal prices have risen across the board,” he said.

Energy crunch

• Duke Energy has filed a request with the N.C. Utilities Commission for a fuel price adjustment to compensate the utility for the rising price of coal that provides about half of the power for its Carolinas customers. Fuel costs are passed to consumers through an annual adjustment to power bills. The last time it was adjusted downward was in 2002. The request, if approved, would increase the average residential bill 4 percent. That translates to $3 added to the average N.C. power bill of about $80 a month. The Charlotte-based company plans to ask for an increase in South Carolina of up to 10 percent, or about $8 a month. Commercial customers in the Carolinas would see even bigger percentage increases. The N.C. adjustment would take effect in September, and the S.C. adjustment in October.Duke’s fuel rate is separate from its base rate, which is meant to cover day-to-day expenses, major project costs and a built-in profit margin. Duke decreased its base rate in January as part of a special deal with state regulators.

• Piedmont Natural Gas, based in Charlotte, and Gastonia-based PSNC Energy, filed separate requests Monday with the N.C. commission to raise their base rates. Piedmont wants to increase the average N.C. bill by 4 percent, which would tack on an extra $48 a year. The company cited the higher cost of doing business as Charlotte and the state’s population expands. PSNC asked for a 3 percent increase, which would add an extra $36 a year to the average bill.

Coal prices skyrocketing

Coal prices have been increasing for about two years. They’ve touched record highs this year, in the $100-a-ton range on the commodities markets and doubled since October. Last week, prices were hovering in the $85-$110 range, depending on the type of coal, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. They were less than $50 a ton in October. Duke Energy relies heavily on coal, burning it to produce about half of its electricity in the Carolinas and nearly all of it in its three Midwest states of Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. About 46-48 percent of Duke’s power in the Carolinas comes from nuclear plants.

Charlotte Ranks #7 Metro Area in Terms of Population Growth

From CNNMoney.com:

Eight out of the 10 fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the U.S. are in the South

The South also accounted for more than half of the 50 fastest growing regions.

The Sunbelt is the fastest growing part of the country because in large part thanks to its lower cost of living – from housing and groceries to taxes. The region has been one of the fastest growing for years now, says Frey and, “growth breeds more growth.” As more people move to an area, there is increasing demand for goods and services, which creates more jobs.

A few cities were among both the fastest growing and the areas with the biggest population jumps. And two of those double-hitters were in North Carolina. Raleigh, N.C., was the third fastest-growing metro area, up 4.7%, and ranked 12th with a population gain of 47,052. Charlotte, N.C., was the 7th fastest-growing metro area, up 4.2%, and ranked 6th with a gain of 66,724.

Raleigh and Charlotte have been growing rapidly for close to 30 years, according to Bill Tillman, state demographer of the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management. Research Triangle Park, a science and technology hub, and the increasing number of national banks based in Charlotte are the area’s biggest draws.

Charlotte: 8th Best Place to Live and Launch

From CNNMoney.com:

Population: 596,123
Pros: Steady influx of young educated workers, business-friendly banking community, local sports entertainment
Con: Housing costs spiked in recent years

This national financial hub is home to big names like Wachovia and Bank of America, but the oak-tree-lined city is also a great place to launch and grow a small business.

Regional organizations such as the local Small Business and Technology Development Center, the Inventors Network, and the Central Piedmont Community College’s Center for Entrepreneurship supply a mix of mentoring, networking and technical assistance to innovative entrepreneurs, especially those in the finance and technology fields. To help develop the city’s biotech industry, a research complex sponsored in part by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte is set to open its labs this year to scientists and startups involved in healthcare and nutrition research.

Charlotte’s vibrancy and employment opportunities attract young professionals from around the state and help the city retain many of the graduates streaming out of 19 nearby colleges and universities. But as the city’s population has increased, so has its cost of living. Some newer neighborhoods like Ballantyne, Cotswold, and Plaza Midwood offer affordable options.

For sports entertainment, Charlotte residents can snag tickets to Carolina Panthers football games and Nascar races. The city also features a number of premier golf courses including the exclusive Quail Hallow club, where Tiger Woods has played. The Blumenthal Arts Center hosts touring musicians and Broadway shows throughout the year. For those who prefer outdoor recreations, the Great Smokey Mountains offer hiking, rock climbing and white-water rafting, while residents turn to Lake Norman for fishing, sailing and water skiing. -Brandi Stewart

Interactive map: Charlotte, N.C.