The South's Best Comeback Neighborhoods

We’ve scoured the South to find these neighborhoods that were once down on their luck but are now resurging with community pride. Learn from their inspiring stories.

Wilmore/South End: Charlotte, NC

The Wilmore neighborhood followed a familiar path of growth, decline, and rebirth. From the early 1900s, working-class families lived in small Craftsman bungalows and worked at the nearby mills. The area flourished until mill closings and isolation due to highway construction almost finished it off in the sixties. Then in the eighties, the adjoining Dilworth neighborhood began to take off.

Take the Light Rail Home
In the nineties, as Dilworth became more expensive, people looking for affordable places began to reclaim neglected houses and shuttered warehouses in Wilmore and the South End. “I got in a 1931 bungalow for $50,000,” says 12-year resident Kirk Callahan.“It was fun watching brake lights as people slowed to watch me work.” When Charlotte added train service to the area in 2007, the neighborhood turnaround found new energy. “For these up-and-coming areas, the new rail service has been like throwing kerosene on a fire,” says local real estate broker Terry McDonald. 

To schedule a consultation on the pursuit of short sale homes contact T.J. Larsen at 704.927.4431 or email tj@mytownhome.com. 

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