What could make Charlotte an even better city? These two have some ideas
Charlotte is already an incredible city. But what could transform it into an even better one?
Johnny Wakefield and Varian Shrum have some ideas.
They were chosen as K880 Emerging City Champions, two of 25 from around the country who will get support from mentors, training and $5,000 to help develop their ideas.
The fellowship program, supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, chose applicants based on their “ideas to make their cities more vibrant and livable,” according to the website.
The program begins in June. The 25 will travel to Toronto, Canada, for the Emerging City Champions Studio.
Here are the ideas:
(1) “Neighborhood living room” – Varian Shrum (aka @vtshrum)
The Food Truck Friday lot “in the heart of South End Charlotte becomes a dynamic gathering place for four hours every Friday night, but sits empty for the other 164 hours of the week. I will lead my neighbors through the process of envisioning a ‘neighborhood living room’ in an area that lacks quality public space, then seed a crowdfunding campaign to enhance this underutilized space with temporary amenities like flexible furniture, bike racks, and WiFi.
“With this project I hope to engage and inspire a new generation of millennial Charlotteans by showing them what is possible when they work together to implement lighter, quicker, cheaper solutions in their community.”
IS THIS REAL LIFE? Thank you @knightfdn and @880CitiesOrg for the opportunity to be an #EmergingCityChampion! pic.twitter.com/JUQzJCvRuE
— Varian Shrum (@vtshrum) May 28, 2015
(2) Small Town Uptown – Johnny Wakefield (aka @firstwardjohnny)
“I think there’s significant value in real face-to-face interaction with people. I think social media can often keep us ‘in our lane,’ interacting with people like us and related to us, people with similar values and life experiences, and in some ways that connection is great. But people also used to connect with their neighbors and with the people they saw walking their dog or going to the market, and that, I think has dwindled a bit. …
“Small Town Uptown, my little initiative, hopes to connect real life neighbors through awkward door-to-door surveys, apartment building/block parties, localized social media groups, and asset based community development. I’m hopeful that the grant money from the Knight Foundation can be the start that helps us build a tighter-knit, more connected, more attached community in uptown CLT.”
Some of you know me only as the guy who complains about soccer on Twitter. I wear many hats. SOOOOOOO pumped. #880 http://t.co/XZvhnRByF0
— Johnny Wakefield (@firstwardjohnny) May 28, 2015
This story was originally published May 28, 2015 at 11:53 PM with the headline "What could make Charlotte an even better city? These two have some ideas."