General News

Population growth in Charlotte and Raleigh continues apace, driving rapid growth into areas nearby. Example: The historic city of Hickory is now smaller than the former hamlet of Huntersville.  

Digging a hole is one of my favorite garden tasks. I’ve refined my technique over the years, using a stance that protects my temperamental back. The work is satisfying on many levels. I appreciate an upper-body workout that doesn’t require a trip to the gym, and the earthy smell of topsoil enriched by decomposing leaves […]

Did you know: ♦ At one time, if you lived on the north side of 37th Street in the NoDa neighborhood you could keep hogs and sell fireworks, but if you lived across the street on the south side you could not. The city limits line ran down the middle of the street. ♦ A […]

I recently had the opportunity to go out in the field with Kerry Brust, a red-cockaded woodpecker biologist in the North Carolina Sandhills. I went with Brust to put brightly colored and aluminum bands on nestling red-cockaded woodpeckers. It’s part of a research project begun in 1978, initiated by Dr. Phil Doerr and Dr. Jay […]

[highlightrule]Watch this space in early April for information on 2018 City Walks Thank you to our dedicated 2017 volunteer walk leaders and the approximately 350 participants. See a photo slideshow of the May 2017 City Walks.[/highlightrule] Charlotte neighborhoods have stories to tell – stories many residents have never heard. Explore some of the city’s neighborhoods […]

Are master plans really worth the effort? Skeptics discount them, charging that they are little more than feel-good exercises in wishful thinking. Such critiques have currency for some plans but not all. When done right, a plan states which policies are more important and includes metrics to gauge outcomes; it charts timelines for putting recommendations […]

I’ve spent time walking in the woods this spring, and I’m always excited by what I find. The other day, while evaluating a property the LandTrust for Central North Carolina is considering for protection, we found a patch of pink lady slippers with a few in bloom. Another wetland the landowner is considering protecting was […]

[highlightrule]The annual Point-in-Time Count finds that since 2010, the number of permanent housing beds has increased and overall homelessness has decreased.[/highlightrule] Click image to download PDF version of the report. Even while Mecklenburg County’s population has grown, a yearly count since 2010 has found declining numbers of people who were experiencing homelessness during a one-night […]

Charlotte is joining dozens of other cities around the world, as well as the departments of transportation for North Carolina and the U.S., in declaring its intent to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries – including bicycle and pedestrians as well as autos. It’s a movement called Vision Zero. And it might result in the […]

T.S. Eliot claimed April is the cruelest month, but for gardeners, I’d argue it’s the busiest. In the Piedmont, it’s our last chance to plant trees and shrubs until fall. The soil is warm enough to sow cucumbers, peppers, green beans and squash, and it’s finally safe to set out tomatoes and basil. Catalogues and […]