Achieving 10-Min Neighborhoods in Underinvested Communities: Understanding Transportation Opportunities and Challenges through Resident Stories

Abstract

The City of Charlotte in North Carolina, U.S., recently adopted the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan which envisions the creation of “10-minute neighborhoods” in which residents have access to daily services and amenities within a short trip of their home. Although necessary for social and economic mobility, access to these kinds of basic resources in underinvested communities is often limited by available transportation options. Thus, increasing accessibility of needed resources in these locations will require targeted interventions. We focus on two of Charlotte’s Corridors of Opportunity to understand what basic services and amenities are most important to residents, the transportation barriers residents experience in accessing those resources, and potential interventions that could facilitate resource access. We conduct 30 in-depth interviews to answer these questions from the perspective of residents with a focus on the experiences of renters, immigrants, senior citizens, mobility-impaired individuals, and individuals who do not have access to a car. Our results identify important destinations often overlooked in chrono-urbanism policy goals and highlight ways in which layered transportation barriers contribute to a condition of time poverty and transportation disadvantage for many residents. We conclude with recommendations to guide planners in contextualizing chrono-urbanism policy goals to better serve residents of underinvested urban communities.