Optimist Park [Small But Significant : The Optimist Park Community], 2015 - 2017
Scope and Contents
These interviews, conducted by students from the UNC Charlotte Honors College and Action Research Project, aim to counter that risk and encourage further dialogue about the significance of neighborhood.
Dates
- Creation: 2015 - 2017
Creator
- From the Collection: University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Honors College (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Original audiovisual materials are closed to patron use. Please contact Special Collections to request the creation of use copies for particular items; requests will be accommodated when possible. The remaining materials are open for research.
Extent
17 Interviews
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Abstract
Optimist Park, a small community just outside the 277 beltway, is facing intense gentrification pressure due to the Blue Line Light Rail Extension and Charlotte’s growth. As apartment buildings are planned and begin to take shape, the residents work to maintain Optimist Park’s identity and history, both as an area with a historical connection to Charlotte’s old textile mills, and as a neighborhood representing the city's first major efforts to provide affordable housing through the Habitat for Humanity program. Residents are working to preserve this history and work together amid a changing city.
Repository Details
Part of the Oral Histories, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, UNC Charlotte Repository
Atkins Library, UNC Charlotte
9201 University City Blvd
Charlotte NC 28223 United States
spec-coll@uncc.edu
