On this week's episode of Flashpoint, Ben Thompson discusses the future of Uptown Charlotte with Mayor Vi Lyles. For much of the pandemic, Uptown was a ghost town. The vibrant foot traffic brought by the banks and other employers for decades evaporated overnight. In the last six months, companies have slowly brought back workers, but often on hybrid schedules.
Restaurants, bars, and shops are reliant on the business brought by weekday workers, still not at 2019 levels.
"I don't think that you'd see it today. But will we see it at some point in the 2022-23 timeframe? I do believe that there's the opportunity to see it then," Lyles said.
Lyles doesn't see an active role for the city to play in forcing the return of workers. Instead, she believes the free market will force the issue.
See the full interview on Flashpoint, only on WCNC Charlotte.
Read more here: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/politics/flashpoint/charlotte-mayor-vi-lyles-predicts-full-uptown-rebound-by-2023/275-7a585fa1-a8a5-47e2-a906-6f5d1f44d37c
