West Side story

Special Issue | Beneath the financial frenzy that is Charlotte, urban revitalization remains long, | Jamie Dean

CHARLOTTE— In a small, yellow building near a pawn shop and a used car lot in west Charlotte, the student artwork outside a third-grade classroom at Brookstone School is revealing. Bright letters on long strips of blue, white, and green paper read: "Drugs are a bad thing to do," "Get high on God," and "Gangs kill people."

These third-graders know the realities firsthand. High concentrations of crime and poverty have plagued the West Side for years. Businesses have moved out and prostitutes have moved in. Single-parent homes dominate and public schools report dismal results: Nearly 60 percent of students in the area's major high school failed state tests last year, and the school battles escalating violence.

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March 24, 2007, Vol. 22, No. 11

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