Davidson is located 30 miles north of Charlotte, N.C., a small, Southern college town with engaged and active citizens who care deeply about their community. They have a mayor, Town board, manager and staff, all dedicated to providing residents with a splendid quality of life.
Home to Davidson College, they have a certified arboretum and remarkable students who contribute to the life of the town. They have a local post office - a place to catch up on the latest news from neighbors. The main street has shops, wide sidewalks, a community library, and flowers everywhere. Their town green is used for pick-up football games, coffee sessions, play dates, festivals, croquet matches, and outdoor concerts.
     Davidson is built for pedestrians and bike riders, not for the car. No drive thrus are allowed here. They believe in connectivity and walkable streets. Passionate about diversity: they require that 12.5% of all new development is affordable to encourage all types of homes and all types of citizens. They believe in open space. In the last five years the Town has acquired almost 500 acres of open space.
Their miles of greenways and walking trails connect neighborhoods providing citizens with alternate ways to get around town and access nature up close.
     Even their interchange is different. When you drive off the interstate into Davidson, you see offices, restaurants and hotels but you also see green space, homes, schools and shops all accessible by pedestrians. Development is different in Davidson. We require public input sessions for all new developments, we follow new urbanist principles, and we believe in the importance of good design.
The Town of Davidson was awarded the 2004 Smart Growth Award for Overall Excellence in town planning and design.

 

On a personal note: Throughout high school, Davidson was always known as just the college town. Over the years, I grown to know it as not only a town serving host to a fine historic college but also a community with a deep understanding and desire to grow and develop responsibly. It like the two towns to its south share a common neighbor in Lake Norman.