General News
On-campus bike share arrives at UNC Charlotte
[highlightrule]To sign up for the UNC Charlotte bike-share program visit gotchabike.com/charlottewheels [/highlightrule] Bike sharing has arrived at UNC Charlotte. The program launched July 31 with 100 bikes and 10 hubs for the bikes. The UNC Charlotte bike share program, Charlotte Wheels, is run by Gotcha Bike. The Gotcha Bike app lets users reserve and return […]
The mysteries of birdsong
Since early May, a distinctive eastern towhee has frequented my backyard in Charlotte. The typical song of this common species can be translated as “Drink your teeea!” This emphatic burst of notes ends with a trill. Sometimes the song is shortened to an assertive two-note command. “Drink tea!” The towhee in my backyard sounds as […]
Storm clouds over Charlotte? A Richard Florida page-turner
When Charlotte jumped on the “creative class” bandwagon 15 years ago, I scoffed and muttered to a few colleagues that you could walk down any street within five blocks of Harvard or MIT and spot more dot-coms, book stores and other creative venues than in the entire city of Charlotte. A lot has changed for […]
Nature’s exfoliation – for trees
A while back a friend sent me a picture of the beautiful river birch on her property near Troy. Another friend is proud of the sycamore tree in her front yard, which sold her on the house where she lives. This got me thinking about the trees in our eastern U.S. forests that possess exfoliating […]
Study prize-winning book, ‘Evicted,’ with your book club, or join one of ours
Matthew Desmond, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, is speaking in Charlotte at a free public lecture at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at McGlohon Theater at Spirit Square. As of Aug. 18, no more general admission seats are available, but a waiting list is created and is being […]
To build a better city, start with building a better block
[highlightrule]“Typically, people look at abstract ideas and overwhelming macro-issues like poverty and homelessness. Often missed is the opportunity to tackle low-hanging fruit like sidewalks or improved lighting.” — Jason Roberts[/highlightrule] Sometimes, to build a better city – a city built for residents, not for cars or absentee landlords or development financiers – you start with […]
Houston finds $220 million to build greenways
In addition to studying how to accommodate growing ethnic diversity – needed in many cities, not just Houston and Charlotte – there’s another lesson Houston might hold for Charlotte: Finding the money to build out an ambitious greenway plan. They call them bayous. We call them creeks. But both Houston and Charlotte have a number […]
Can Sun Belt sibling cities learn from each other?
HOUSTON — One city was built on oil and shipping in a hot, humid swampy spot laced with small waterways. Its former biracial dynamics have changed, as immigration boosted Latino and Asian populations. It’s growing rapidly – and that includes rapid growth in income inequality. Another city was built on textiles and banking in a […]
Make your own luck with clover
Growing up in the Uwharries, my sister and I were country girls through and through, right down to the soles of our feet. We went barefoot much of the summer. The red clay stained our feet the color of rust. Our calluses allowed us to traverse the gravel driveway and cross the gooey asphalt on […]
Connecting youth with teachings of Aldo Leopold, ‘father of conservation’
[highlightrule]“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” — Aldo Leopold [/highlightrule] The LandTrust for Central North Carolina has launched a youth initiative, the Leopold Society, named for the […]