Around Town- Wilkinson Blvd

The other day I took some photos of one of the most intersting streets in Charlotte, Wilkinson Boulevard. Wilkinson Blvd is the local way out from downtown to the airport, but most people, except the taxis and public bus, take the highway. It's one of those old main drags that has seen better days, but just for that reason retains some of the old character: run-down motels, a Dairy Queen with an Eskimo girl sign (ah, the golden days of racialized stereotypes in advertising), a drive-in BBQ restaurant, an abandoned 1950's-era supermarket, car repair shops, and honky-tonk bars. Where else can you find a public school bus depot next to a strip club?

There's also a Wal-Mart and a newish shopping center that looks out of place, and the airport is enroaching on Wilkinson as they continually expand parking lots. If you take the bus out to the airport, there is a bus driver who is probably the most pleasant person I've even seen driving public transportation, she always says hello to everybody and even wishes you a good day when you get off at your stop. On the bus you'll see down-on-their-luck men carrying garbage bags with their belongings from SRO to shelter, or to an appointment downtown. Contrast this with the banking highrises uptown or the glitzy Lake Norman suburbs and you get a sense of the juxtaposed wealth and poverty of the city.