Charlotte Urbanists working to bring more benches to city streets

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — If you’re walking down the street or waiting on a bus, you may see a bench with two words on them — Charlotte Urbanists.

“Last year, I was working as a truck driver in town,” said Jacob Unterreiner, an organizer for Charlotte Urbanists. “So I was driving all over the city, and I kept seeing people standing by these bus stops with nowhere to sit, no cover or anything.”

That’s how the non-profit group was born. The Charlotte Urbanists got inspiration from the Asheville Bench Project, an Asheville group doing the same thing.

“We get together with different members of the group, build them and take them in our different vehicles spread out in the city and place them where they are needed,” added Unterreiner.

With $4,000, the group placed over 40 benches in Charlotte. They even added one next to a broken Uptown bench. They also secured another 18 locations for future benches and want to place them.

“A big part of what we are trying to do here, not just provide seating, but kind of highlight the need,” Unterreiner said. “Our end goal is that ultimately the city would take care of this as they should in the first place.”

Some places, like in NoDA, sit alone. However, CATS added a seat on Toddville Road and placed it beside a bench.

“We have talked to CATS before (and) they said that they believe it adds value and is generally supportive of it,” Unterreiner said. “They have some concerns about liability, of course.”

The group feels to alleviate the concerns; CATS needs to give riders a place to sit. The call to action has drawn attention, but it still needs to be fixed.

“Our goal is to do as many as we can. Obviously, we can’t do every bus stop, and we hope that CATS will step up and improve their own situation.”