Articles
With 2021 fading into the blessed rearview mirror, it’s time to take a look ahead at what transit controversies, developments and questions are looming further down the track in 2022. The past year was, once again, wracked by the pandemic and uncertainty about how — even whether — Charlotte can fund the infrastructure to move […]
Which parts of Charlotte use the most water? Where is our growth eating up whatever vacant land is left in Mecklenburg County? Where are the racial, economic and other dividing lines that crisscross our community? You can answer these questions and more with the updated Quality of Life Explorer maps published online today. A joint […]
Charlotte leaders say they won’t know the full impact of a nearly $12 billion funding shortfall for state road improvements until sometime next year, but a pair of projects in University City give a hint on what the funding gap might look like in concrete terms. Think delays for needed roads, bridges and interchanges, plus […]
If all the pieces fall into place, some day in the future a new light rail train will pull out of the station at the Central Piedmont Community College Levine Campus in Matthews and head south into Union County. It will turn down a two-lane country road lined with pine trees; run alongside U.S. 74, […]
Editor’s note: As we approach the climax of the hectic holiday season, let’s take a minute to step back and reflect on that natural wonder all around us in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. At the beginning of November, I challenged myself to pause for a moment every day to contemplate and appreciate something […]
Despite the pandemic and economic uncertainty, 2021 was a banner year for Charlotte, with major developments announced, a long-awaited new vision plan for the city and big – if uncertain – steps towards a new transit plan. The city’s growth isn’t expected to slow in 2022, but the ways in which Charlotte grows could change. […]
Imagine this scenario: Building designers are trying to figure out why pedestrian traffic at one spot in an airport terminal past the security checkpoints is consistently snarled. A decade or two ago, the designers might sit in the terminal, counting passengers with a clicker, and trying to get a select sample to answer a few […]
New projections from North Carolina’s Department of Transportation show the state is $12 billion short on funding its next slate of transportation projects — nearly double the gap reported earlier this year. It’s a serious shortfall that’s expected to leave plans for roads, bridges and other infrastructure throughout the state waiting on the drawing board […]
Nowhere in Charlotte embodies the city’s awkward and aspirational transition from car-centric Sun Belt suburbia to denser, walkable urbanism quite like a pair of fried chicken restaurants in Cotswold. Located next to each other near the intersection of Randolph and Sharon Amity roads, Bojangles and Chick-fil-A have both filed rezoning requests to demolish their existing […]
This research was used by USA Today for an investigative series called ‘Segregated by Section 8.’ The series is available online here (subscriber-only). Housing Choice Vouchers are a subsidy that helps extremely low income individuals and families (defined by HUD as earning less than 30% of area median income) afford housing in the private market. […]
When it comes to planning, development and land use regulation, it’s easy to let your eyes glaze over in the alphabet soup of jargo. So, let’s get a little nerdy and jump right into the alphabet soup of zoning, land use, planning and development on this episode. Join us for a talk with Keba Samuel […]
When it comes to public transit in Charlotte, trains get the spotlight while buses carry the majority of passengers. That’s why the city plans to invest more in improving the bus system in coming years, adding frequency and experimenting with measures like bus-only lanes and traffic lights that give buses priority in order to improve […]