Crestdale Rising: What Unites Us Is Greater Than What Divides Us

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In the town of Matthews, outside of Charlotte, the Crestdale neighborhood has a rich history dating back to the 1870s as a settlement for freed slaves and their families. Over the years residents have relied on the strong leadership of local churches and community groups, but as the town experiences shifting racial, cultural, generational, and income demographics, Crestdale has lost its collective voice. New economic opportunities are arising in and around Matthews; plans for a regional Sportsplex and the completion of the Southeast Transit Corridor present challenges to maintaining the neighborhood's unique character and affordability. Achieving community-wide support for any one option has become a serious challenge. Requested by the city, CPAT took a role in fostering dialogues that allowed residents to voice their hopes and concerns for the future of Crestdale.

The team's report presents a profile of Crestdale's history and current demographics and the CPAT process. The team’s recommendations are categorized within five focus areas for moving forward: community identity and cohesion; heritage preservation, education and outreach; security and dignity for long-term residents; connectivity and neighborhood improvements; and major adjacent development proposals.

Meet the Team

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Team Leader

Jason Beske, AICP

Jason Beske is a community planner and urban designer with more than 10 years of local government and nonprofit experience. He is senior planner for the City of Overland Park, Kansas, and has focused his planning career on restoring suburban communities into vital pedestrian places. Beske is chair of the American Planning Association's Urban Design & Preservation Division and serves on the board of the Form-Based Code Institute. He is a frequent speaker on the topics of urban design and site planning at American Planning Association National Planning Conferences.

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Team Member

Marijoan Bull, Ph.D., AICP

Marijoan Bull is assistant professor of Regional Planning at Westfield State University in Massachusetts. Before becoming an educator, she spent more than 20 years working in land use planning at the local and regional levels in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Her work ranged from comprehensive planning, zoning changes, and development review to neighborhood revitalization efforts centered on brownfield cleanup and affordable housing and regional smart growth initiatives. For the past three years, Bull has been working with colleagues in western Kenya on a project with subsistence farmers looking at best management practices for sustainability and public engagement.

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Team Member

William M. Harris, Ph.D., FAICP

William Harris is Martin Luther King, Jr. Visiting Professor Emeritus of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Presently he is Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Augusta State University. He is the founder and former professor and chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Jackson State University. Dr. Harris's research interests focus upon the areas of inner city economic development and citizen empowerment. Harris was the first African American elected to the AICP College of Fellows. He is author of four books (African American Community Development: A Plan for Self Determination is forthcoming in Fall 2011) and numerous scholarly articles. He has traveled and lectured throughout the world.

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Team Member

Emil Malizia, Ph.D., AICP

Emil Malizia is professor and chair of the Department of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His expertise is in the related areas of real estate development, regional economic development, and urban redevelopment. For over four decades, he has conducted research, taught graduate-level and in-service courses, and engaged in consulting for private, nonprofit, and public clients. Dr. Malizia is the author or co-author of four books and more than 140 scholarly articles, monographs, and other publications. During leaves, he has been a senior real estate adviser to a major life company, a visiting professor, and in federal service. He has international experience in Austria, Colombia (Fulbright Scholar), Jamaica, and Nova Scotia.

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Team Member

Guy Pearlman

Guy Pearlman is a landscape architect and urban designer. He has managed projects with Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company for more than five years and he has experience in town planning, campus planning, and traditional neighborhood development with a focus on green infrastructure. Pearlman is an accredited New Urbanist and a registered Landscape Architect in North Carolina and South Carolina with more than 15 years of experience in planning, permitting, and implementation. He is a co-author of the Light Imprint Handbook: Integrating Sustainability and Community Design. He recently presented the Light Imprint Initiative at two Congresses for the New Urbanism and at the New Partners for Smart Growth.

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