Charlotte City Council has passed our first social district in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood.  

The district will be on Central Ave. and will allow folks to carry open containers of alcohol while walking about and going into businesses. 

As you can imagine there has been pushback and trepidation around lots of people outside drinking alcohol, but Charlotte is definitely not the pilot test for this idea. In fact, other surrounding cities have enjoyed great success with implementing social districts such as Albemarle, Hickory, Kannapolis, Mooresville, and Salisbury.  So there is a lot of proven evidence that these districts are fun, safe, and help businesses.  

5 Points Realty has lots of ties to Plaza Midwood and wanted to know how residents actually felt about this district coming to them.  

  • Tracy Gregg – One of our top agents has been a long-time resident in Plaza Midwood and has helped many people buy and sell in her neighborhood.  She thinks of the art crawls in NODA back in the day and how fun they were, but mostly they helped the Non-bar businesses. Tracy doesn’t live directly by the district, but when asked if she is concerned about any possible noise or negative activity she simply stated, “No, not really.”  
  • Ricia Schanzlin – is a long-time client and friend of 5 Points Realty and a resident just beyond the Commonwealth section of the social district. Ricia and her husband moved to Charlotte a few years ago seeking an area that was more dense, walkable, and social. With that in mind, Ricia thinks it just makes sense to have the social district here. She does have a bit of a concern for the Central corridor for safety reasons. Central is a really busy street and the businesses are more spread out so walking and drinking while on a busy road is a bit concerning for her. Ricia thinks this will be good for business.  

The Social District, which will operate 10am to 10pm, will be managed by the Plaza Midwood Merchants Association. Restaurants will be required to use special cups for to-go drinks.

This district is supposed to officially launch next year, though there will be a soft launch in December to allow business owners to test the new system.