The five-points area’s pesky perception problem

Listen to this article

Drive along the so-called five-points intersection near Johnson C. Smith University and you’ll see in an area that could use, well, some sprucing up.

It’s run-down in places — some might even call it sketchy — the kind of area that is home to fast-food restaurants, dollar stores and some churches but not exactly a magnet for corporate headquarters, fancy office parks or high-end hotels or eateries.

It’s one of those places that could use some TLC, a turnaround — maybe even a miracle, depending on your point of view.

Some people are hoping to do something about the area. Among other things, there are plans to put lights on a nearby underpass and open a mixed-use development, all with the hopes of, in the words of state Sen. Malcolm Graham, to turn it into the “Trade and Tryon” of Charlotte’s northwest corridor.

All of that stuff would change the way the northwest corridor looks and give it a bit of a facelift.

But if the area is ever to see a true rebirth, something else will need to change: perceptions about crime in the area.

Those perceptions, deserved or not, exist. A Gallup poll from December shows that even residents of the northwest corridor see crime as a problem. According to the poll, less crime is high on the list of things they want for their area.

Still, some with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department say crime is not bad in the area.

Last week, CMPD Capt. Bruce Bellamy, whose Metro Division includes the area near the five-points intersection, said how the area looks can be deceiving.

There’s “only been” 13 Part I crime crimes reported within a quarter-mile radius of the university this year as of Thursday, down from 16 by the same time last year, he said. Part I crime crimes are serious offenses, those monitored by the FBI, he said.

The perceptions of crime in the area are unfounded, he said, saying 13 crimes is a low number and pointing out that nine of them, or 69 percent, were property crimes, as opposed to violent crimes against another person.

I guess investors haven’t gotten that memo about the five-points area.

Even Bellamy concedes that there’s a stigma looming over that slice of Charlotte.

“It’s hard to get people to move over to this area, business to relocate to this area, when the perception that people have is one that’s negative,” he said.

Not only does it remain to be seen whether all the projects — one of them is Smith Square, which is supposed to include a park and conference space — proposed for the area will see the light of day but also whether they will be able to deliver a TKO to that part of town’s troubled reputation.

Bellamy said things have been looking up for the area. The revitalization of Morehead Street and Freedom Drive has helped lure businesses to the region, such as real estate companies, he said.

“I think that the corridor’s on the upswing,” he said. “This is an untapped jewel in the city, the Beatties Ford Road corridor.”

A park. Some lights on the underpass. A mixed-use development. Will those things bring about the “Trade and Tryon” vision that Graham is hoping for?

We’ll have to wait and see.

But if those projects aren’t enough to change perceptions about the northwest corridor, then that so-called jewel will remain untapped.

Editor Deon Roberts can be reached at [email protected].