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In general, Charlotte is not a very walkable city, but the Southend neighborhood and Uptown are very walkable. Southend gas lots of shops, bars and restaurants, plus the light rail. Same for Uptown, plus the new baseball stadium and Time a Warner Arena. I loved living in both those areas.
If you mean walkable like NY, Boston, or SF, then no. There are no areas with great shops, there's no great architecture (unless you moved from the middle of nowhere and find Charlotte's two major buildings interesting), there are no great museums (let's not even discuss how pathetic the Bechtlern is), there is nothing historic, there are no great monuments, etc. The only reason to go to Uptown unless you're seeing a concert, circus, or work there.
OP didn't ask if Charlotte had architecture or museums equal to those found in much larger cities. He/she asked if Charlotte is "walkable". Not even remotely the same thing. But continue bashing Charlotte if it makes you feel better...as we say, bless your heart!
It's perhaps worth noting that each year, tens of thousands of your brethren move to Charlotte rather than the cities you mentioned...perhaps there is a reason?
NY has way more trees than Uptown. Clearly, you've never walked the streets of Greenwich Village, The UES or the UWS.
Also, if you think Uptown is hilly you're delusional.
NYC - 305 sq miles
uptown charlotte - 2 sq miles
So I'd certainly hope NY has more trees than Uptown you fool. Charlotte, as a whole, has a far superior tree canopy. I'll take Elizabeth, Myers Park or Dilworth over any of NYC's neighborhoods for tree canopies any day of the week. I've been to New York plenty of times, you're not impressing me. I don't recall Greenwich looking like this:
And regarding uptown and hills, you are wrong again. Uptown is surrounded by creek beds (Little Sugar and Irwin especially) which bound it on the east, west and a large portion of it's southern end. If you are walking into uptown from ANY of the surrounding neighborhoods, as I do on a weekly basis, you are doing so UPHILL. Additionally, being that Charlotte borders the NC foothills, this should be simple for you to understand. Charlotte is notoriously hilly among running communities. It's road race, the Thunder Road Marathon is...you guessed it, notoriously hilly. (Here is an example of a race re-cap detailing just that, assuming you are too lazy to google Long May You Run: Thunder Road Marathon Race Recap) Biking and cycling are challenging in Charlotte because of (you should recognize a theme here) it's HILLY.
Back on the actual topic, Charlotte as a whole, has an atrocious walk score. The specific neighborhoods I've cited however, have excellent walk scores.
Fourth Ward, First Ward, "downtown charlotte" - I'm not sure what that refers to, Cherry and Dilworth all score greater than a 70, which is considered "very walkable".
It's too bad all the walkable areas are so darn expensive!
Unfortunately that is true. The city is making great strides to improve more neighborhoods though. Every time we re-pave a road, we are adding bikes lanes and new sidewalks. The infrastructure that was put in place during the sprawl period of the 60's - 90's was just poor planning across the board. The great news is, it can only improve and become more accessible!
LosHogan - I love how you say "we" instead of "they" when you talk about the city. Shows you are connected to it and care. That's how I would talk about my current city and hope to talk about Charlotte or nearby town (we are currently really interested in Belmont) if/when we move. Would you consider Belmont a walkable town?
LosHogan - I love how you say "we" instead of "they" when you talk about the city. Shows you are connected to it and care. That's how I would talk about my current city and hope to talk about Charlotte or nearby town (we are currently really interested in Belmont) if/when we move. Would you consider Belmont a walkable town?
Well thanks! I adopted Charlotte a while ago and am really happy with it. Like most, I'm a transplant from up north. It's a great place to live.
I do not have a lot of information to give you regarding Belmont. It has a great little downtown that is really doing some smart things and I've talked to people that enjoy living there, but I don't know if "walkability" is very synonymous with it.
The fact is, most of NC is a bit behind in walkability. Especially the smaller towns. I don't know who was in charge half a century ago, but as roads got built, sidewalks did not. And we are having to make up for it now.
If you are looking for outlying cities in towns that I would consider walkable, there are really only a couple options. Davidson, if you can afford it, is the clear winner. If I didn't live in the city, I'd live there.
Baxter Village in Fort Mill is also nice, though much more of a "fabricated" design similar to it's identical brother Birkdale up in Huntersville, north of the city. Both are great though, if that's your cup of tea.
I tend to also lump Concord, Mooresville and Gastonia together as well. They are a little further out, have more traditionally established "downtowns" that offer actual options for restaurants/bars, but again and let me stress, at a very minute scale. Mooresville has superior schools to the other 2. Concord even has a "food truck friday night" now in downtown and Union Street is probably one of the prettiest streets in the country during the spring time.
Wonderful new ideas for me to explore LosHogan. I am glad you love your adopted city. We are not moving by choice but by job transfer and it is hard for me to leave this city I have spent the last 12 years growing up in as an adult. I am on the city council, started my own non-profit project here, ect. and hope to find a town that embraces me as much as I it. Your suggestions above are right up our alley. We are looking for something that has some "soul" and the downtown areas of towns are appealing. Oh, and the dreaded commute time. We are so luck now my husband has a 12 min commute to work. We don't want to take on much more than 25 when we move, so that is a huge factor. His new job is south of the airport.
Wonderful new ideas for me to explore LosHogan. I am glad you love your adopted city. We are not moving by choice but by job transfer and it is hard for me to leave this city I have spent the last 12 years growing up in as an adult. I am on the city council, started my own non-profit project here, ect. and hope to find a town that embraces me as much as I it. Your suggestions above are right up our alley. We are looking for something that has some "soul" and the downtown areas of towns are appealing. Oh, and the dreaded commute time. We are so luck now my husband has a 12 min commute to work. We don't want to take on much more than 25 when we move, so that is a huge factor. His new job is south of the airport.
I don't blame you regarding your concerns on the commute. If that's the case, you can rule Concord out of your search, as well as Matthews, Harrisburg or Mint Hill. And Mooresville to the north.
It's a shame Ballantyne is not walkable, otherwise it would be optimal. But you will need your car to get your mail there.
Belmont and Baxter Village are likely your best choices. I still think that Huntersville would be viable if you lived near Birkdale. It would offer you the walking options you desire as well as a brief commute. I485 on that side of town heading south has very light traffic.
You may also want to look at the Ayrsley Town Center, near Steele Creek. Less well known, but basically another Baxter Village or Birkdale.
If you are looking for outlying cities in towns that I would consider walkable, there are really only a couple options. Davidson, if you can afford it, is the clear winner. If I didn't live in the city, I'd live there.
On netflix there is an episode of House Hunters Collection with a couple looking for a home in Davidson. Season one episode 4 named Southern Style in Charlotte. They show a little of the downtown area of Davidson.
I've been considering moving to Raleigh for a while but now considering Charlotte. A downtown area like Davidson is what I'm looking for but closer to uptown area. Like Dillworth or Southend.
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