Community Needs & Goals

The Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan includes 10 goals that reflect the values and guiding principles for creating an equitable city. While it is important to advance all 10 goals across Charlotte, some goals are more of a priority for specific CAP areas based on existing levels of:

  • Access to housing choices
  • Access to job opportunities
  • Access to daily goods and services
  • Presence of existing environmental impacts

These metrics are assessed using the Charlotte Future 2040 “Equitable Growth Framework” (or “EGF”) – a tool used to understand disparities and, combined with the “Vulnerability to Displacement Overlay” (“VDO”), measure levels of equity/inequity. The four EGF metrics together include 27 geospatial and land use measures, while the VDO includes four demographic measures.

With scores ranging from 1 to 8, the City’s goal is that all geographies have scores above 5 for each of the four EGF metrics. If a CAP area’s EGF scores are below the City’s goal, then future development should address these most pressing needs.

Vulnerability to Displacement Overlay (VDO)
Measures: Poverty Rate, Race, Educational Attainment, Age
Part of West Outer is within the VDO
Access to HousingAccess to JobsAccess to AmenitiesEnvironmental Justice
Measures: Housing Unit Diversity, Housing Cost, Housing Size, Subsidized Housing, Tenure, Level of (Re)InvestmentMeasures: Proximity to Employment, Employment in Commute Shed, Wage Levels, Middle Skill Jobs, Knowledge Based JobsMeasures: Proximity to Childcare and Early Childhood Education, Parks, Open Space, Trails; Community Facilities, Fresh Food, Health Care & Pharmacies, Financial Services, Internet ServiceMeasures: Tree Canopy, Impervious Surfaces, Proximity to Heavy Industrial Uses, Proximity to Major Transportation Infrastructure, Floodplain
2125
Key
Scores < 5 = priority
1st Priority
2nd Priority
3rd Priority
4th Priority
White Background = not priority

West Outer’s greatest need is to increase access to employment opportunities. Based on this need, as well as needs for increased access to housing choices and daily goods and services, and the geography’s proximity to existing and planned rapid transit, the following Comprehensive Plan Goals are a priority for the geography. Goal 5 (Safe and Equitable Mobility) and Goal 10 (Fiscally Responsible) are not directly tied to EGF metrics and are thus a priority across all geographies of the city.