Keeping Up with County Greenways

It seems as though no member of Charlotte’s Fourth Estate has documented Mecklenburg County Greenway progress like the folks at Axios Charlotte. In particular, staff writer Ashley Mahoney has kept a pulse on local projects, along with other area developments.

Links to her articles about area greenways have been shared and cited across social platforms and other websites following the County’s construction progress.

The New York state transplant has the unique opportunity to report on these projects as a professional journalist, and share her first-hand experiences along the greenways as she explores her new home turf.

“As a kid, I’d never even heard of greenways,” Mahoney told us. “Where I grew up, we had one local community park and you know, your basics, your swimming set, your baseball field, and that was kind of it.. then I came to Charlotte and stumbled upon one off of Route 51 in South Charlotte, and I was like, ‘this is the coolest thing.’”

Currently, Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation has more than a dozen greenway projects in planning, construction, or development. That’s the largest amount of greenway project in play at any one time.

Mahoney says it’s exciting to live in a community that is constantly changing and to be able to report on projects – like greenways — that will hopefully encourage people to explore other parts of the county. She also appreciates her role and responsibility as a journalist to let readers know what’s happening.

“Obviously everything is always ‘reader first,’ but with this particular project, it’s nice that there’s so much to always report on,” she said, “whether it was the Brandywine section that opened last year or three plus mile section that opened from the Polk site to the South Carolina state line last year.”

For her part, Mahoney sees Mecklenburg County Greenways as an “oasis” in one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Nearly 70 miles of existing greenways link neighborhoods, shopping, schools, and workplaces throughout the county. It’s easy to forget that just steps away is the hustle and bustle of the 15 largest cities in the US.

“I think that’s what a lot of us are chasing,” added Mahoney. “We are all busy, busy people. We are in a busy growing city and we just need 5 seconds where we can breathe and we don’t have to worry about anything else. And that, for me, is what greenways provide.”

Ashley Mahoney reports regularly on greenway development and other stories. You can follow her stories here: https://www.axios.com/authors/amahoney You can also follow all of the current Mecklenburg County greenway projects here: https://parkandrec.mecknc.gov/current-projects/greenway-projects

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