Far East Charlotte’s uneven growth

You’re reading Charlotte in Motion, a biweekly newsletter that examines how the Charlotte region is dealing with bumper-to-bumper traffic, rising housing costs, crowded schools and other challenges that come with the ultimate Charlotte story of growth. Charlotte in Motion is produced in partnership between The Charlotte Ledger and WFAE.

Today’s Charlotte in Motion is sponsored by Dyer & Co. Dyer & Co. helps Charlotte-area families plan with confidence. Fee-only, fiduciary, and built around one core belief: your peace of mind. 

by Cooper Hall

For much of its history, Mecklenburg County’s eastern edge was farmland — cotton fields, dairy farms and orchards. 

Rural highways that ran through the area connected Charlotte to surrounding towns like Matthews and Mint Hill. In the 1970s and 1980s, neighborhoods popped up, followed by several slow decades.

Now, though, the area known as Charlotte’s “Far East” is attracting new life. While it has seen a significant increase in residential development, some who live in the area say that the recent growth has largely come without accompanying amenities, like small businesses, midscale and high-end restaurants, or parks, in addition to limited public transportation options.

The residents’ concerns echo those of others in Charlotte who say that infrastructure in the city doesn’t always keep pace with development. And they say they want more than apartments and chain shopping centers.

The area’s new City Council member, JD Mazuera Arias, said the Far East has become a place for people to live, but not a place that serves daily living. 

“It has shouldered tremendous residential growth without receiving a proportional investment in amenities, infrastructure and quality-of-life projects,” Mazuera Arias said. “Residents have helped grow Charlotte's tax base, but the city investments have not kept pace with it.”

Growth in east Charlotte has come in waves.

In 1975, Eastland Mall opened as the largest mall in N.C. and a major employment center for residents of east Charlotte. Then, after years of decline, the mall closed in 2010, and it was demolished three years later. Redevelopment of that property only began a few years ago.

Mazuera Arias said Eastland Mall’s decline and eventual demise is symbolic of years of disinvestment in the area. 

The Far East Charlotte area is defined by four east-to-west arterial roads: Albemarle Road, Harrisburg Road, Plaza Road Extension and Rocky River Road. The eastern boundary is Interstate 485.

Some feel that east and Far East Charlotte were overlooked by the Unified Development Ordinance that went into effect in 2023 and the Charlotte 2040 plan, leaving many of the area’s problems unaddressed — or worse. 

“They made it easier to build housing, but they didn't ensure the accompanying investments in roads, sidewalks, retail, jobs, transit and all these amenities,” Mazuera Arias said.

A Ledger analysis of Mecklenburg County building permit data for ZIP code 28215, which has significant overlap with Far East Charlotte, found that single-family residential building permits have steadily increased since 2018. The number of permits peaked in 2020, with 1,020 filed that year — more than six times as many as were filed in the ZIP code just five years prior. Since 2020, the number of single-family residential permits filed annually for 28215 has hovered between about 400 and 800.

Greg Asciutto, executive director for nonprofit CharlotteEAST, lives in Far East Charlotte and has been similarly disappointed by the recent period of residential growth in the area. He said that on Plaza Road Extension alone, 500 acres have been clear-cut for residential development. 

Asciutto’s organization tracks small businesses in east Charlotte and, he noted, there’s a lack of such businesses in Far East Charlotte, adding that he didn’t know of any mom-and-pop shops in the area. Vernetta Mitchell, chair of the Far East Neighborhoods Coalition (FENCO), said FENCO would like to see more shopping areas and restaurants that aren’t fast food in Far East Charlotte.

Mitchell said FENCO has worked to make sure the Far East is not forgotten about in planning conversations. She said that when larger corporations are brought to Charlotte, the economic development department of Charlotte often looks at places like uptown or Ballantyne.

“We're also staying in front of them to say, when you're talking with potential companies that want to come into Charlotte, let's see what's available in east Charlotte, and try to see if we can build some of those there,” Mitchell said. 

Mazuera Arias said it is important to recruit amenities that people want to see, including grocery stores, local restaurants, coffee shops, health care and child care options. 

Most of the businesses in Far East Charlotte are fast-food restaurants or other companies that pay minimum wage. Mitchell said that residents have expressed a desire for jobs where they can make an adequate income. As Mitchell puts it, the area is in need of more economic development.

Mazuera Arias said specifically that supporting entrepreneurs and recruiting small businesses will help bring economic opportunity to the eastside.

There are two qualifying Opportunity Zones in Far East Charlotte, a federal tax-incentives program that is meant to spur investment in economically distressed communities. The second iteration of the OZ program is underway now, and Mazuera Arias in a City Council committee meeting earlier this summer recommended a Far East Charlotte tract for OZ designation (ultimately, the state will decide which Census tracts will be recommended as an OZ). 

“My goal is to ensure those investments create quality jobs, neighborhood-serving businesses, affordable housing, where appropriate, and community amenities, not just speculative development,” Mazuera Arias said.

A growing number of residents and more driving to get to amenities and jobs have also created greater — and more dangerous — traffic. 

The Far East is not walkable, and there are limited Charlotte Area Transit System transit options, with only microtransit zones — which function like Uber in designated areas — and a few bus routes.

Mitchell said the average time it takes for a person living in the Far East to get to a grocery store, gas station or other amenity or service is 15 to 20 minutes. She said that the area does not cater to residents' livelihood, calling it a “burden” on many people to have to travel so far to get to amenities.

Asciutto noted that, for some in the Far East, it’s easier to drive to Harrisburg to do their shopping, which means those people are spending their tax dollars in Cabarrus County instead of Mecklenburg. 

Mitchell, Asciutto and Mazuera Arias also noted that there has been a swell in serious traffic accidents in the area because of dangerous intersections and more cars on the road. Based on N.C. Department of Transportation and Charlotte’s High Accident Location reports, the Albemarle Road and East W.T. Harris Boulevard intersection in the Far East consistently ranks as one of the most dangerous in Charlotte. 

A strategic investment area — one of 22 in Charlotte identified by the city — on Harrisburg Road will include improvements for walkability and mobility, focusing on intersection improvements, sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, stop lights and more. But that’s the only project in Far East Charlotte currently focused on transportation and traffic.

Mauzera Arias said he opposed last fall’s transit tax referendum because it overlooked Far East Charlotte. 

Ed McKinney, special assistant to the city manager for mobility, told The Ledger that there is a package of bus, rail and microtransit investment happening in East Charlotte that, when combined, will give residents better access to the city. McKinney stressed the importance of microtransit on the eastside, as it can meet the needs of residents getting to the grocery store or to a doctor’s appointment.

Mazuera Arias said being able to walk to amenities like a park, coffee shop or school creates communities that are more connected and more “economically vibrant.” Further, he said, growth should pay for growth.

"Here's the reality: We can't undo the residential growth that's already happened, nor should we,” he said. “People need a place to live. Families have chosen Far East Charlotte because it is a great place to live. Our responsibility now is to make sure the infrastructure, amenities and economic opportunities catch up with that growth.”

Cooper Hall is a summer reporting intern for The Charlotte Ledger. She is a rising junior at UNC Chapel Hill, double-majoring in media and journalism and exercise and sport science. She can be reached at [email protected].

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In the face of rapid residential development and few amenities, McLawland Farms LLC is hoping to become an east Charlotte community hub.

Jason McLawhorn and Larry Land opened McLawland Farms, 20 minutes outside of uptown, in 2018 as a you-pick berry farm. Now, the farm has grown to offer you-pick blueberries, flowers and figs, in addition to hosting events like Mother’s Day brunch, educational classes and more under their outdoor pavilion. The farm also functions as a venue for weddings and corporate events, with three places to stay overnight onsite.

“I want the farm, as we continue to really cement ourselves in this community, to be that third space for people, to give people a chance to come out to have a place where they can be,” McLawhorn said.

The pavilion on the farm overlooks a field of flowers and functions as a space to host large events. In the future, McLawhorn said he envisions it as a space where people can come to hang out or work.

On Wednesdays in April, May, September and October, McLawhorn and Land switch their McLawland Farms signs out for ones that say East Charlotte Farmers’ Market.

This market is one of the big ways McLawland Farms helps to cultivate community on the eastside. It is held in their pavilion every Wednesday from 3 to 6:30 p.m.

With exclusively local vendors, the event is non-compete, meaning no two people are selling the same goods. McLawhorn said their vendors are usually familiar faces for repeat customers.

“A lot of the public really wants consistency when they come out. They want to see the same faces every time they’re here. They want to get to know the people that are making their bread or growing their vegetables,” he said.

On the fourth Wednesday of each month, the vendors grow to include crafters, featuring goods like jewelry, clothes and art. Some markets also include a food truck.

The market gathers an average of 100 people each week, and McLawhorn said they had an extremely successful April and May this year, serving around 2,000 customers over nine Wednesdays.

At the Earth Day edition of the farmers’ market this year, the farm added a food truck and beer vendor, and tortoises and alpacas, leading to over 250 visitors coming through the market.

The market has grown rapidly since McLawland Farms started it in the spring of 2025, swelling from just six vendors to 10 to 20 today.

McLawhorn said he thinks the event fills a need for east Charlotte.

“People are just looking for that. They’re looking for something local. There is nothing like it in this part of Charlotte,” he said. —Cooper Hall

A new poll released today suggests that a majority of Charlotte residents are open to the idea of toll lanes — and that many would like the expansion of Interstate 77 to start ASAP.

Oh, and solid majorities of respondents are down on the Charlotte City Council and think taxes are too high.

“Charlotte voters support transportation improvements that address congestion and favor moving forward with the proposed I-77 South expansion,” said Bryan Holladay of CLT Public Relations, which commissioned and released the poll. “However, they clearly prefer funding the project through tolls paid for by those who use the new lanes rather than through higher taxes.”

The poll of 370 registered Charlotte voters was conducted earlier this month. It found:

None of the questions referenced the points of opposition to expanding the lanes, such as the need to demolish several dozen houses in Black neighborhoods to make way for the widening or whether building toll lanes reduces traffic congestion.

The poll, conducted July 15-18, has a margin of error of plus or minus 6.1 percentage points. —Tony Mecia