Reid Park Neighborhood Association

Reflections ….Making a Difference

Oct 02, 2003

Excerpt from October 24, 1994 City Council Meeting ?– Speaker: Mr. Marvin Woods, a Reid Park resident, and then Board member of the Reid Park Community Development Corp.
I have lived in Reid Park since 1957. I built my own house just as a lot of other residents did at that time. There was a logo that said ?‘A PROUD CHARLOTTE COMMUNITY SINCE 1935?’.
Most people today say they don?’t see anything to be proud of. The residents are not as proud as they were at one time. A lot of the original residents were WWII and Korean War veterans, and they were just anxious to get a house or something to call their own. Reid Park was their opportunity. A lot of the homeowners worked on their jobs, then worked at building their homes. Now, Reid Park has become a place with absentee landowners. At the time they were building Reid Park it was in the county. The city limits were at Remount Road, which is just a little more than a mile this side of Reid Park and building codes were not as strict as they are today. Some of the new homeowners had the forethought to build according to the city code, although we were in the county, because they felt that sometime in their lifetime the City limits would come out to Reid Park.
A few years ago, some of the original residents decided that they wanted to revitalize Reid Park. They organized a community organization, and later a Community Development Corporation. They wanted to rid the neighborhood of some of the dilapidated buildings, build good houses to entice some of he younger people to move back into the neighborhood. No matter what you say, you are going to have to get younger people to help do what we want to do. We have formed a partnership with First Union, First Citizens, Neo Center, and Smith Reynolds. We have had a lot of help, including the City of Charlotte, but we still need help.?”
When we look at Reid Park in 2003, what do we see? Is this a neighborhood that we can be proud of??”
Each of us must ask ourselves ?—

What can I do to make a difference?