The REACH team visited Charlotte in both 2017 and 2018. One of our research partners is based in Charlotte, which also is home to several of their construction projects. In July 2017, our research team made our first visit to Charlotte. We stayed around the downtown area and by walking during our visit, found focal places and inspiration. With the individual perspectives of our team, we shared our insights and further built our team spirit.

For two days the REACH team had meetings with our developer partner. Beginning with introductions, Dr. Rider led the meetings. During the structured discussions, our team concentrated on how the developer works not only at the organization level but also at the individual level. From the mission and history to specific strategies on projects in terms of community and health, our REACH team and developers partner interacted and shared knowledge, experience, and questions. With three sets of meetings and one project presentation, our team members collected the developer’s words and outlined their implementations and outputs. We completed our time in Charlotte with a construction site visit to better understand their development strategies related to site context.

Since the first visit to Charlotte in 2017, the REACH team has spent time deciphering the partner’s work by coding the transcripts of the interviews. As the team research has outlined multi-family housing development in terms of community and health, the team planned and visited Charlotte again in spring 2018. This time the REACH team concentrated on the evaluation and decision-making process of the developer based on the outline of the first meeting. Through the second meeting, the REACH team began to identify influencers and determinant factors of healthy multi-family housing development.