Charlotte

The mission of City of Charlotte Neighborhood & Business Services is to strengthen and grow Charlotte’s neighborhoods and businesses. The goal of the Community Engagement Division is that residents, businesses and youth will be informed, engaged, and empowered to take action that improves quality of life in their neighborhoods and across the community.

The City of Charlotte has been engaged in the collection, analysis and use of neighborhood-level indicators since 1993 when the initial City Within A City Neighborhood Assessment was conducted to describe neighborhood-level conditions in Charlotte’s primarily low-income, inner-city neighborhoods. The purpose of the assessment was to better understand needs for City programs and services, and to demonstrate that there were ripe opportunities within these neighborhoods for community and economic development. Over the past twenty years, what is now known as the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Quality of Life Study has grown from 73 neighborhood areas in Charlotte’s urban core to 464 neighborhood areas covering the whole of Mecklenburg County. As of 2012, the Quality of Life Study contains over 80 variables compiled from administrative records, the American Community Survey, and private sources and is available for view or download in an interactive, web-based dashboard. The study has also been enriched with links that allow users to learn more or discover ways to take action on topics of interest.

In 2013, the City of Charlotte shifted the focus of its indicators work from providing information to facilitating the use of that information by government departments, community partners, residents, neighborhoods and businesses.