UNC Charlotte Center City will be the location for a transit-oriented breakfast on Monday, July 8, where panelists will discuss a variety of issues that resulted from a project that began with students in the Master of Urban Design program.
The student project involved determining what a sustainable, mixed-use development on 200 acres along the proposed commuter rail line in northern Mecklenburg County would look like. Fourteen students in architecture professor Deb Ryan’s class spent four months examining the prospect, and their vision will be the backdrop for the July 8 breakfast discussion on the impacts of how a transit project could impact tax revenue, economic development and the environmental and quality of life of those who live in the area.
Panelists for the UNC Charlotte Center City event include Shannon Binns of Sustain Charlotte; Natalie English from the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce; David Howard, Charlotte City Council member; Marsha Kaiser, from the Washington, D.C., office of Parsons-Brinckhoff; Jill Swain, mayor of Huntersville; and David Walters, a faculty member in the UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture.
“I don’t know of many developers who have the foresight to ask a class full of millennials to come up with a vision for their project,” Ryan said. “The Eastfield project provided the students an opportunity to explore the best and most innovative practices in sustainable development. The community they designed illustrates how transportation choices can create a socially connected, environmentally responsive, vibrant place where people can live, work, play, worship and lead a healthier lifestyle.”
Space is limited for this free event; prospective attendees should email TODRSVP@gmail.com.