For Work to Revitalize Neighborhood, Alumnus Receives Planning Award

For his work in helping to revitalize a challenged Charlotte neighborhood through urban design and planning, Dylan McKnight, a UNC Charlotte urban design and community planning graduate, received the 2014 North Carolina Marvin Collins Outstanding Planning Award in the Graduate Student Project category.

The award, presented by the North Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association in October, honored McKnight for his master planning of a park in the Reid Park neighborhood of Charlotte.

McKnight’s plan, the Learning Participatory Planning and The Reid Park Vision Plan, began as his capstone projects when McKnight was pursuing two master’s degrees in community planning and urban design at UNC Charlotte. McKnight joined Charlotte Center City Partners in March 2014 as Planning & Development Associate.

Reid Park came to UNC Charlotte for assistance, asking Professor Janni Sorensen of Geography and Earth Sciences for student help with design and planning experience. Sorensen connected the neighborhood with McKnight, who held meetings with the Reid Park community to gain their input.

McKnight took ideas and data from residents and used the information to develop a realistic design for an 18-acre neighborhood park and greenway that would replace the overgrown Amay James Park. County officials liked McKnight’s design and allotted almost $1 million to begin formal planning and construction of the neighborhood park.

He gives credit to the Reid Park Neighborhood Association for the success of the project, and, at his request, the planning association also recognized the neighborhood association for its work.

“Reid Park pushed the goals of the project further and I simply helped them get there,” he said. “I want to help make peoples’ lives better; that makes me happy. Community planning means constantly working to improve situations at the neighborhood level. It means neighbors working together to improve the quality of life in their community. If they’ve got the help of a community planner, it can make their efforts much more successful.”

Park Design Extends Opportunities

The design for the new park extends Irwin Creek Greenway and adds pedestrian bridges and trails along with various basketball courts, grills, and pavilions. An outdoor learning lab is included for use by students at nearby Reid Park Academy. Residents have high hopes that the new development will also help make the area safer, as crime and illegal street dumping have been on the rise around Amay James Park over the past 30 years.

Learning how to plan a project and see it through to implementation was the most critical learning experience, while building relationships with the residents was the most rewarding for him, McKnight said.

Prior to joining Charlotte Center City Partners, he worked in real estate research, planning, project management and development in South End. He has donated his personal time to the non-profit, Sustain Charlotte, for three years. He also helped plan the Matheson Bridge project, a public art installation celebrating the history of North Charlotte. He continues to serve on the Reid Neighborhood Park steering committee as the park nears construction.

He is a member of Tau Sigma Delta National Honor Society in Architecture and Allied Arts, the Urban Land Institute, the Congress for the New Urbanism and the American Planning Association. His professional passions lie in adaptive re-use, preservation of historic character and finding creative solutions to improving cities and towns at the neighborhood level. Among his personal interests are home-brewing, organic gardening and the greatest soccer club in the world, Manchester United.

The APA-NC Awards Committee recognizes individuals and agencies who have made notable contributions to the planning profession through outstanding plans, programs, or projects. The Committee was impressed with how McKnight managed the visioning, design, and community involvement process, and favored the quality of his design work and engagement of the local residents.

Words: Tyler Harris, Student Communications Assistant
Images: Courtesy of Dylan McKnight