General News

Charlotte’s growth rests, in the end, on the people who actually build our city: The construction industry. In this episode of the “Future Charlotte” podcast, general contractor Myers & Chapman CEO Marcus Rabun talks about the near-term challenges facing the industry such as covid-19, material and labor shortages. Rabun also discusses what might be an […]

What will Charlotte’s center city look like in two decades? A draft plan quietly unveiled last week after more than a year offers plenty of recommendations, mostly centered around the idea of a denser, more walkable, more equitable district, with more shops, parks and “signature” experiences to draw visitors. “All in 2040,” the latest vision […]

Charlotte-area leaders released their preliminary recommendations Thursday for how to build the region’s first unified transit system, but they’ll keep wrestling with what could be the thorniest issue: How to pay for it. The Connect Beyond initiative, a joint project between the Charlotte Area Transit System and the Centralina Regional Council, is recommending a comprehensive, […]

Bee nirvana. That’s how Gabriela Garrison described one of the fields we’ve converted to native warm season grasses and wildflowers. Garrison, the Eastern Piedmont habitat conservation coordinator with N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, was in the Uwharries to conduct point counts targeting a list of priority bird species, but she kept getting distracted. “I couldn’t tear […]

Charlotte is known for its tree canopy, and if you’ve ever flown in here or driven on streets lined with towering oaks, you know why. But that canopy is under threat, shrinking by the equivalent of three football fields a day as development spreads and iconic trees planted decades ago age and die. And the […]

“The key to its success will be for residents and leaders to dare to dream big ,” Chris Beynon, Center City Vision Plan team leader, MIG consultants, Charlotte Business Journal, August 9, 2019. “We will see our major employers on a timeline to restore the use of office space. It depends on the workforce coming […]

When it comes to growth, Charlotte continues to add not just people, but land. Unlike many other large cities landlocked by either political borders, rivers or oceans, Charlotte is still surrounded by thousands of acres of unincorporated land that can be brought into the city limits. In fall of 2019, a quick analysis showed that […]

A study released this week by the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute sheds light on the unique challenges minority-owned small businesses face and how the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community can better support these enterprises, which are key to community well-being and wealth-building. Defined as businesses with fewer than 500 employees, small businesses comprise 99.9% of all businesses. Small […]

After the City Council narrowly approved the 2040 plan, Charlotte leaders are turning from questions of how we grow to another key part of the city’s future: how we move around. Ambitious transit plans that call for a new sales tax funding the Silver Line east-west light rail, the stalled Red Line to the north, […]

This story is part of Transit Time, a joint production of The Charlotte Ledger, UNC Charlotte’s Urban Institute, and WFAE. Learn more here, and subscribe to get weekly updates on how the Charlotte region moves. With smaller employers returning to the office and the big banks bringing most of their workers back over the next […]