| Conversation - Monte Ritchey of the Conformity Corporation |
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| Written by Celina Mincey | |
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What new thing is happening in Charlotte that you are most excited about? There's lots of talk about attracting diversity to Charlotte , but at the same time are we developing an economically diverse range of housing options? We try within our firm to create diversity in two major ways. We encourage economic diversity by building developments that offer a range of price points. Within the same complex there are units which start at one number, and units that sell for more than twice that number. This causes people who wouldn’t normally live next to each other to coexist. That’s something that our city center demonstrates beautifully, something that can occur naturally in an urban environment that is not achieved in the hierarchal development scheme often present in suburbs. We also strive to develop a niche, quality product that will attract a range of discerning buyers looking for more than square footage for the dollar. We believe in unique, quality design and feel really rewarded when people love the features we provide.  Arts vs. sports vs. bars/restaurants vs. Uptown shopping vs. public transportation. Where do you fall in the raging debate over what needs to be prioritized in order for Charlotte to grow into a “world-class city?” In Charlotte ’s quest to become a world-class city, it must include soul searching at the top of the list. Let’s assume that in every such city there is some kind of galvanizing element, like Boston’s got the Red Sox. Charlotte just doesn’t have a soul. When you think about it, what’s Charlotte’s theme? We’ve elected to scrape those things that inherently create a sense of place. We’ve sacrificed some of the real, tangible things we had in favor of economic growth, and we had our reasons, and what’s done is done. But now Charlotte has to manufacture those things, and we are working very hard to do so. A bunch of towers won’t do it, and neither will economic growth, but getting people onto the sidewalk does. We don’t like to talk about these things, but at the end of the day we want to be near each other, we want community. We often hang out in public places not because we plan on striking up conversations with everyone around us but because there is an inherent connectedness and excitement. I think Charlotte has a real chance to distinguish itself. We can get our arts scene right, our public spaces right, and provide connectivity and access to the historic neighborhoods that have so much character to offer. Part of what makes a place real is that it has a lot of fabric, texture. When you walk the ring neighborhoods you encounter different types of buildings and people and uses of public space which were created by the work of many people with individual dreams over many, many decades. It’s a whole tapestry of human experience. This is one reason a large part of our firm's mission involves historic preservation- we pay respect to the diverse vision and talents of those who came before us. Our challenge is to capture and build upon that dynamic, and that's a hard thing to do if we turn over large blocks of land to be developed by single companies resulting in a polished, uniform look. Up till now, Charlotte’s only renown is “a great place to raise a family” which does not a city motto make. Even if we are to build on this, it is difficult to do given the current decaying of our schools. We must make the choice to get a world-class public education system. I certainly don’t have all the answers but I know it starts with conscious choices and then putting our money where our mouth is. When one visits memorable cities, what often stand out are waterfront/riverfront areas, immense parks, and green spaces. Right now, Charlotte has nice fountains and large parks in the suburbs. What is the city/county doing to preserve green space and develop it for pedestrian use? Charlotte has to work with what it’s got. Our greenway system is wonderful. I’ll take my family, grab a bagel and go around the corner to sit in the park, play Frisbee, or walk the trail for a while. We’ll do a little clean up, gather tin cans as we go, and it’s really quite pleasant. When completed it will be something amazing. And it will happen over time. By virtue of how the greenway is constructed, it can happen incrementally and work beautifully as it is being completed. The greenway is not a minor public works project; it takes time and money, but it is being worked on intelligently and steadily. It will be a world-class feature! From your perspective, how do you envision Charlotte 's future? How would you describe it 10 years from now, 20 years from now? Charlotte will continue to sprawl and it will be up to us to determine what direction this takes. Charlotte’s general development policies are pretty revolutionary (by Charlotte standards), as far as how our city's Planning Department scores rezoning applications against a whole matrix of criteria. But we are a city that has none of the naturally occurring boundaries that those cities we think of as world-class have. In most major cities, the urbanity of the environment is contained by insurmountable barriers such as water. We just don’t have that. In addition, we have very liberal annexation laws and are historically pro-business. We will need a strategy that would likely be viewed as dramatic in order to promote urban development that more efficiently leverages the city's existing infrastructure and services (sewer, water, roads, police, emergency response etc.). Of course, suburban development is an inevitable byproduct of growth and frankly presents options that certain buyers need (or want) that the urban offerings cannot. But every house built central to the city prevents the need for additional suburban housing, therefore keeping taxes and traffic down for everyone, including the suburban owner. We have to start having a non-combative conversation between suburban and urban populations to promote urban growth as a strategy that benefits everyone. ~ Celina Mincey |
