Downtown Revitalization

The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute now has office space in the university’s Center City Building. Although the institute will continue to be headquartered on the main campus, several staff members and institute Director Jeff Michael are now regularly spending some time each week in the uptown facility. The Center City Building offers the institute new […]

It took years, multiple political strategies, a bond vote, patience, weathering a brutal and ongoing economic downturn, more patience, and – finally – a multimedia event under a tent on a hot asphalt parking lot. But last Friday, ground was broken for a new park in uptown Charlotte: Romare Bearden Park. It’s notable for many […]

Twenty years ago, the downtowns in our region were believed to be destined for oblivion. Retail was leaving, if not already gone, locating along a major thoroughfare somewhere on the suburban fringe in the vicinity of the latest big box retail store, often Wal-Mart. Professional offices, if any existed at all, were shutting their doors […]

Photos by Nancy Pierce