CLT Blog

Piedmont courts was once the most notoriously run down housing project in the city. It was located close to uptown, bounded by 12th, 10th, and Seigle Ave. From the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission website:

“Piedmont Courts opened in 1940 and was the City of Charlotte’s first public housing project. Like many public housing projects of that era, Piedmont Courts adopted the Superblock plan. Built during the years of legal racial segregation, Piedmont Courts was originally only for whites. Fairview Homes, now destroyed, was built only for blacks. Piedmont Courts is now abandoned and scheduled for total demolition. Staff believes that Piedmont Courts has the requisite special significance to warrant placement on the Study List for historic landmark designation.”

I toured Piedmont Courts in 2005, while a few residents were still living there before it was torn down. Unfortunately I just had a little disposable camera – I wish I could have documented this housing project and the people who lived there before it was destroyed. It is interesting to look at what was there – dilapidated brick structures – with the new housing development. The first photo I took from 10th St. in July of 2005, and the second photo I took in May of 2009:

photo: James Willamor; view this photo on Flickr

After searching online, I’ve found that the 1999 Mecklenburg County Greenway Master Plan identifies Doby Creek as a future greenway corridor. Doby Creek, which runs just north of and roughly parallel to I-85, connects Derita, University City, and empties into Mallard Creek. I’ve only been able to find a rough estimate of the future location of Doby Creek Greenway, so I created to map to propose a route and connectors for the greenway. Click View Larger Map to see the details of my plan.

View Doby Creek Greenway Plan in a larger map

• The green line represents the approx 3.5 mile Doby Creek greenway, and each green placemark represents a street or neighborhood connector.
• The red line represents an old abandoned railroad bed, formerly used by IBM, that could at least partially be incorporated into the Doby Creek Greenway. This could provide a connection to Nevin Rd. near the realigned Mallard Creek Rd.
• The dark blue line represents a small creek that could be incorporated into the Doby Creek greenway. This would run between the (formerly) Wachovia and IBM campuses and provide connectivity to IBM drive near Solectron Dr.
• The light blue lines represent alternate routes for the previously mentioned connector, including a connection to a large apartment complex located between Mallard Creek Rd. and IBM Dr.
• The yellow lines represent future road realignments and extensions to provide an overall view of the future connectivity of the area. Nevin Rd. and possibly IBM Dr. have been selected to be future bicycle routes. Also, the small light green line represents an existing pathway.

The future Dobly Creek greenway will be part of the much larger Mallard Creek/Clark’s Creek/Toby Creek Greenway system. It will provide pedestrian and bicycle connectivity to the LYNX light rail line. The proposed Shopping Center Dr. extension will have 8′ sidewalks and bicycle lanes on its bridge over I-85. The greenway is not, however, currently scheduled to be built in the next 5 to 10 years as part of the greenways action plan. The plan does include extensions to Mallard Creek and Toby Creek greenways.

Saturday night, March 7th 209, Caldwell Rd. was blocked off from 15th St. to 17th St.  as at least a dozen police cars and a police helicopter converged on the area.

photo: James Willamor; view this photo on Flickr

photos: James Willamor; view this photo on Flickr