Wilmore finds its voice

A version of the following article appeared in the Friday, June 26, 2026, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.

Need to subscribe — or upgrade your Ledger e-newsletter subscription? Details here.

Editor’s note: All of Charlotte’s neighborhoods have a story to tell. Some have histories dating back centuries. But as the Queen City booms, it sometimes alters the unique places Charlotteans call home. Neighborhood Walk is a new, occasional series that puts a spotlight on Charlotte neighborhoods and how leaders of these places are navigating a changing city.

Today’s featured walk is Wilmore, a neighborhood in the heart of Charlotte bordered by Remount Road, Revolution Park Drive, Interstate 77, West Summit Avenue, Camden Road and Tremont Avenue. But the walk is primarily concentrated in Wilmore’s historic district, which is roughly bounded by South Tryon Street, Woodcrest Avenue, Spruce Street, Merriman Avenue and Summit Avenue.

by Ashley Fahey

During an unseasonably cool (although welcomed) June morning walk along Wilmore Drive, Rebekah Taff thinks back to the fall, when plans for the Interstate 77 project came to light.

“A lot of people were totally blindsided,” said Taff, who is president of the Wilmore Neighborhood Association. “It was a bit of a panic, and then we came together and planned.”

For the Wilmore neighborhood, which has a long, rich history in Charlotte, the I-77 fight was the most prominent recent growth-related conflict. But there are others, too, many of them driven by Wilmore's high-profile location straddling South End and uptown.

Wilmore, established in 1914, is one of eight local historic districts in Charlotte, although only a portion of the 2,000-home neighborhood is within the designated historic district.

But as much as can be said about Wilmore’s past, a lot is going on presently and expected for the future. This was most acutely seen with the I-77 toll lane plan — support for which was pulled by the city of Charlotte and the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization last month.

Wilmore was one of the neighborhoods that came out fiercely opposed to the proposal by the N.C. Department of Transportation. With one of its boundaries touching a key stretch of I-77 — the portion that merges onto I-277 — one of the neighborhood’s amenities, Wilmore Park, would have completely disappeared under the original plan. So would homes.

In fact, on Spruce Street, I-77’s morning commute is taking place in those residents’ front yard. The interstate is also in the backyard of Wilmore Park, a 1.4-acre shady park with a playground. Taff acknowledged that having a park right on an interstate isn’t exactly ideal, but it’s still a draw for residents, especially those on nearby streets like Spruce and Dunkirk Drive.

“Taking away that little amenity was not something that anybody saw as desirable,” Taff said.

She said so many of her neighbors put in a lot of time and effort to study the I-77 plans — no small feat, she added, because “they are not meant for laymen’s eyes.”

“It was just tough,” she said. “We would ask questions and get really vague answers.”

The biggest contention was that Wilmore would lose park spaces and homes and, the neighborhood contended, get no benefit in return, with Taff adding that her neighbors were relieved when support was pulled for the project.

The neighborhood isn’t sure yet what it wants to see for the future of I-77, though Taff acknowledged that “something has to be done,” adding that she hopes NCDOT engages Wilmore and other affected residents on Charlotte’s westside much sooner next time.