I live uptown. :panthertears:
But there is definitely still opportunity to find good places in the south side. Living in those areas and closish to uptown is definitely a boon for both lifestyle and schooling if you have children.
The Official Charlotte, NC Discussion Thread
- Thread starter Towlie
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But there is definitely still opportunity to find good places in the south side. Living in those areas and closish to uptown is definitely a boon for both lifestyle and schooling if you have children.
Tribal Outkast
Veteran
Nah you good man lol. If I ever find a place I can get into it's over. I would love to live there and probably could but man I got other bills lol. Might think about it when I pay off this damn car.
I like the walk ability, being able to hit the trails on my bike pretty easily, and not having to pay to park for sporting events.
No grass cutting either.
Def try and get a feel for where you will be working. If you work uptown you might as well live there. One thing I regret about moving down is not taking the time to live in the city when I had the chance. We got an apartment in Cornelius and then bought a house up north.
Tribal Outkast
Veteran
Yeah I work near Plaza Midwood and my co workers be wanting to hang out at different bars there. I’m in Concord so I hate hanging out there drinking and having to drive home. I’m slightly jealous of y’all Uptown residents lolI like the walk ability, being able to hit the trails on my bike pretty easily, and not having to pay to park for sporting events.
No grass cutting either.
I hit up Thomas St a good amount. Send a PM if you're out that way.
UserNameless
Veteran
He says tiny house project is quirky, affordable. Neighbors say it will hurt values.
Developer Kelvin Young believes his planned “tiny house” community in northwest Charlotte will create an affordable place for first-time home buyers or for people downsizing. But to neighbors, Young’s Keyo Park West is a threat to their property values. They are asking City Council to stop it. Diedra Laird dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
Business
He says tiny house project is quirky, affordable. Neighbors say it will hurt values.
By Steve Harrison
sharrison@charlotteobserver.com
October 08, 2017 5:43 PM
To developer Kelvin Young, his planned “tiny house” community in northwest Charlotte will create an affordable place for first-time home buyers or for people downsizing.
But to neighbors, Young’s Keyo Park West is a threat to their property values. They are asking City Council to stop it.
“We have been hanging out there for 60 years in Coulwood,” said Robert Wilson, who lives a half-mile from Young’s planned tiny house neighborhood off Cathey Road near Paw Creek Elementary. “All of a sudden this little building started coming up and no one knew what it was. Then it started looking like a house.”
Young’s Keyo Park West would have 56 tiny houses if built out, with the smallest homes – 500 square feet – selling for $89,000. The median home price in Charlotte is about $190,000.
Young is piggy-backing on a national trend of people buying tiny houses, which has been popularized by TV shows such as HGTV’s “Tiny House, Big Living.” In many cases, those homes are truly tiny, with as little as 200 square feet. Keyo Park West would have small homes, but Young’s use of “tiny homes” is in part a marketing strategy.
Wilson, who spoke before council members in opposition to the project in September, said Keyo Park West should be regulated like a mobile-home park.
“You specifically designate areas for mobile homes, and this is no different,” he said. “We want this stopped. We aren’t against (zoning that allows three homes per acre). We are just talking about these types. It will greatly diminish our property values.”
The nearby neighborhood was built in the 1950s. Though only 8 miles from uptown, it’s still a mostly rural area. Homes are appraised at between $175,000 and $250,000.
Developer Kelvin Young inside a tiny house at his tiny house development in Coulwood on Cathey Road. Young’s Keyo Park West would have 56 tiny houses if built out, with the smallest homes – with 500 square feet – selling for $89,000.
Diedra Laird dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
But Young said neighbors don’t understand his project. While TV shows often celebrate tiny homes on wheels, the Keyo Park tiny homes are built on concrete foundations. He said they are no different than a single-family home, only smaller.
The city of Charlotte said that’s correct. Ed McKinney, the interim planning director, said the tiny home that’s been built qualifies as a single-family home. The city doesn’t require that single-family homes be a certain size.
“To be clear, they are only tiny houses in the marketing name only,” McKinney said. “Many of the tiny houses that people are familiar with (from TV) are on wheels. And the only place you can do that now is in an RV park, and you have to have a site zoned for that.”
Young, who is African-American, believes some of the opposition is due to race. The residents near his tiny house are mostly white, and Young said he thinks people are afraid the tiny homes will be bought by black residents.
“We have the most coolest, most eclectic group of people on earth,” Young said about people who have inquired about the homes. “We have 22-year-olds to 72-year-olds. People are moving from uptown, Ballantyne and Pineville. A lot of people think it’s a bunch of young people. But they are people who say, ‘I don’t need all of this.’ ”
Young has so far built one 500-square-foot tiny house on Cathey Road. He has sold it for $89,000 – $69,000 for the house and $20,000 for the land.
The house has a small bedroom in the back with a bathroom. The front room is a combination kitchen and living room.
He has two other lots nearby that Young said are under contract. One is for a two-bedroom house that costs $138,000. The other is for a three-bedroom house with a garage for $170,000.
Kitchen inside developer Kelvin Young’s tiny house development in Coulwood on Cathey Road. Young is piggy-backing on a national trend of people buying tiny houses, which has been popularized by TV shows such as HGTV’s “Tiny House, Big Living.” In many cases, those homes are truly tiny, with as little as 200 square feet. Keyo Park West would have small homes, but Young’s use of “tiny homes” is in part a marketing strategy.
Diedra Laird dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
The city isn’t sure whether Young will be able to build-out his community on the rest of the 19-acre parcel. The council’s Transportation and Planning committee discussed Keyo Park West last month and plans to review the tiny homes again in November.
Young, a former self-described house-flipper, doesn’t own most of the land. It’s owned by Sackville Currie and Malvina Currie, who have a Fort Lauderdale address. Young said he owns the piece of land where the first tiny home was built and recently acquired the other two parcels. He said he will buy the others when contracts are signed.
The Keyo Park West website says prospective buyers must pay a $4,000 non-refundable deposit to reserve a lot.
McKinney said Young has not submitted any plans for his neighborhood, which must comply with city rules on setbacks, streets and sidewalks.
“That would still go through all of our technical review,” he said. “It’s hard to know if all this is for real.”
Young’s tiny home proposal comes as the city is trying to quickly build more affordable housing. After the Keith Scott protests, council members pledged to build 5,000 new housing units in three years, instead of the previous goal of 5,000 units in five years.
Kim Skobba, an assistant professor of family planning, housing and consumer economics at the University of Georgia, has taught a class on tiny houses. She said the popularity of TV shows such as “Tiny House, Big Living” shows people are interested in the idea of owning a tiny house.
“However, having an interest in tiny houses might not translate to community acceptance,” she said. “Opposition to affordable housing, regardless of the form, is common, so I guess I am not too surprised to see pushback on tiny homes.”
There are no income requirements for Keyo Park West, so it’s possible a $100,000 affordable tiny home could be bought by someone earning $80,000 who just wants a simple life.
Chris Galusha of the American Tiny House Association said the Keyo Park West homes are not true tiny houses because they have large lots and the houses themselves are comparatively large. He said he doesn’t think they would affect the property values of older single-family homes nearby.
“People are afraid their property values will drop,” he said. “But a 400- to 600-square-foot home will never be appraised with people across the street. Because of the size, those tiny homes will never be in the same appraisal.”
Wilson doesn’t agree.
“The laws are so loose and ambiguous,” he said. “It doesn’t take into consideration this is a new genre. Just because the land is zoned for (three houses per acre) doesn’t make it right.”
this shyt right here.... is a goldmine. Good look for posting. I was just talking with someone the other day about starting tiny house community in the triangle. Affordable housing is so scarce ... could be a real alternative if folks would just open up their minds.
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Black Restaurant Week is this week: Charlotte BLACK Restaurant Week (Oct 16th -22nd)
This construction on 277 is getting old fast 
Bryan Danielson
Jmare007 x Bryan Danielson x JLova = King Ghidorah
This construction on 277 is getting old fast
Find backroads brehs.
Like it was a East Charlotte ho
Martha
I live uptown, but I like that line.Find backroads brehs.
Like it was a East Charlotte ho
Martha
Bryan Danielson
Jmare007 x Bryan Danielson x JLova = King Ghidorah
I live uptown, but I like that line.
I work Uptown... but used to smash a broad that stayed on in the Vue.
Its crazy how loud Uptown still be at night..... used to smash her while she had her balcony door open and heard sirens all night all the time
Martha
That shyt fukks me up sometimes. I was watching a show the other they and thought the cops showed up at the end of the episode as a cliffhanger. That shyt was outside.
Bryan Danielson
Jmare007 x Bryan Danielson x JLova = King Ghidorah
That shyt fukks me up sometimes. I was watching a show the other they and thought the cops showed up at the end of the episode as a cliffhanger. That shyt was outside.
I cant wait to see how Uptown gonna look after a few years when then Condo area N Tryon past Rock Bottom start to really build up. I think those jawns only been open maybe a few months now. I know it aint been a year. I remember going to work watching the construction day by day.
Its like all the restaurants and entertainment is Up near Trade... but eventually more shyt gonna have to start poppin that way. Cuz I can imagine them cats down there aint trynna walk way down there and back all the time. If I lived there I probably wouldnt go past Spirit Square
Martha