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I work for The Salvation Army in Flint, MI and there is a good chance I may be reopening one of the Salvation Army locations in Charlotte. The work I am involved in is with underserved communities full of crime, poverty, etc.. We don't so much provide social servivces but rather community development especially among youth in an effort to break the cycle of generational poverty/crime/etc...
Anyway, I'm seeing tht the east and west Charlotte areas are not the best places to live. I am not sure if I move down there, that I will work in the same are that The Salvation Army was wroking (JT Williams area) or another area. Currently my family and I live in Flint, which for 2010 the FBI ranked the most violent and dangerous city in America. We live in an area pretty racially diverse, also economically diverse, and with a dense population within a small area.
I have a 15 month old and another on the way, and so I'm not looking to bring my family into a warzone so to speak, ora place with super substandard housing that would put my kids health at risk (lead paint, asbestos, etc..) yet a place with real needs.
In our city, the north end is where all the craziness is, but there are pockets all over of crime and poverty. So we can kind of pick what is a good fit for us. Looking for something along those lines, where there may be gun fire close by (what I consider the worst part about living in the hood), but not on a daily or hourly or all night long basis. I don't mind crackheads, prostitutes, break ins, etc...
There are some transitioning neighborhoods here, where you could be somewhat the urban pioneer, help stabilize the community and still fulfill your mission. I am not the best person to recommend those areas, so I hope someone else who has more knowledge of current situations will weigh in.
But just wanted to let you know - that YES - there are such places and you are exactly the type of person who is needed to help those communities move forward. Good luck on your move and bless you for the work you do.
Looking for something along those lines, where there may be gun fire close by (what I consider the worst part about living in the hood), but not on a daily or hourly or all night long basis. I don't mind crackheads, prostitutes, break ins, etc...
You won't find anything like that in Charlotte. There are no gangs in Charlotte...
HA! We don't have too much gang acticity here. It's mostly the fact that at any time we have 2-8 police patroling for our whole city. There are 47,000 outstanding warrants for people here because we don't have enough jail space. They just write a ticket/summons to appear and the criminals fail to show up. It's one of those cases where if an area has little governing, then people feel they can get away with anything and they often do. Unless you call 911 about a murder, rape, or violent crime with a deadly weapon, the cops will not come.
I think you put it best when you said transitioning neighborhoods that need help stablizing.
There is also Grier Heights, the Belmont neighborhood (not the suburban city!), and Villa Heights/North Charlotte.
My neighborhood, Cherry, is definitely on the upswing but still transitional; there is a public housing complex here, with plenty of kids that don't seem to have much to do. This is a low-income neighborhood, in general. There are groups of kids who roam around - they don't cause much mischief, actually, but could use some kind of community center and some support. I don't hear gunshots here, and there's not much crime, but I have wished for a while that the community was doing more to provide these kids with something to do before they DO start getting into trouble - or that I had time & energy to start something.
I think your work could really, really help in several areas in Charlotte - as ani said, bless you for doing it!!
Just from personal experience and driving around....the areas off of Little Rock Rd near the airport side of town and then behind the old Independence Arena Hwy 74 E (Bojangles Coliseum) seem to be fairly impoverished and in need of assistance. Of course The Plaza area near the old mall off of Independence needs help too. As far as specific neighborhood names I am clueless. Sorry. Wish you the best of luck.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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I would suggest that you look at the areas listed, but consider looking at areas outside of Charlotte as your kids approach school age. There are ways to kill 2 birds with one stone. If you could go in to set up programs, with someone who does not have school age children following to run the programs, there are towns near Charlotte with bad areas but better schools. (There are good schools in Charlotte, but not in the areas that you would be going into.) Smaller cities & towns would probably be thrilled as they are frequently overlooked. Just a thought. . .
I work for The Salvation Army in Flint, MI and there is a good chance I may be reopening one of the Salvation Army locations in Charlotte. The work I am involved in is with underserved communities full of crime, poverty, etc.. We don't so much provide social servivces but rather community development especially among youth in an effort to break the cycle of generational poverty/crime/etc...
Anyway, I'm seeing tht the east and west Charlotte areas are not the best places to live. I am not sure if I move down there, that I will work in the same are that The Salvation Army was wroking (JT Williams area) or another area. Currently my family and I live in Flint, which for 2010 the FBI ranked the most violent and dangerous city in America. We live in an area pretty racially diverse, also economically diverse, and with a dense population within a small area.
I have a 15 month old and another on the way, and so I'm not looking to bring my family into a warzone so to speak, ora place with super substandard housing that would put my kids health at risk (lead paint, asbestos, etc..) yet a place with real needs.
In our city, the north end is where all the craziness is, but there are pockets all over of crime and poverty. So we can kind of pick what is a good fit for us. Looking for something along those lines, where there may be gun fire close by (what I consider the worst part about living in the hood), but not on a daily or hourly or all night long basis. I don't mind crackheads, prostitutes, break ins, etc...
Nothing here compares to Flint...n.o.t.h.i.n.g and I can say that I worked in flint for years before moving here this past February. However, we did not live in Flint. It is a completely different feel, they have areas here of poverty etc but nothing like you have in that area of Michigan. If you want you can direct message me.
Good luck with your move if you decide to come down.
adding: transitional here is more like the bad parts of burton versus the bad parts of flint.
Last edited by uswith6; 06-30-2011 at 04:57 PM..
Reason: adding
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There are no gangs in Charlotte... 
