PLANNING

With straw votes on the controversial elements and the final adoption of Charlotte’s new vision plan looming in the next month, there’s a sense that the city’s reaching a finale in the years-long process of rewriting its development rules. But adopting the vision plan might end up – surprisingly – being one of the easier […]

After 18 years as director of UNC Charlotte’s Urban Institute, it’s time to move on. And it’s only appropriate that the same field that first introduced me to the institute’s work is now leading me away to a new chapter, serving as North Carolinas’ Deputy Secretary of Natural Resources. My introduction to the institute came […]

In the months since opposition to Charlotte’s new 2040 Comprehensive Vision Plan started building, staff and City Council have held forums, rehashed the plan in committee meetings, responded to hundreds of public comments and started tinkering with how to modify rules about what can be built where. But the heart of the matter, and the […]

As Mecklenburg County hammers out its budget priorities for the coming year, advocates for the park and recreation system are hoping to see a big funding increase. At a presentation Tuesday, the Park & Recreation Commission, a citizen advisory board, suggested dramatically increasing funding for the county’s parks. That’s after Park & Recreation Director Lee […]

It’s increasingly dangerous for people to walk in the Charlotte area, according to a new, annual report – a trend that’s mirrored in almost every city nationwide. “Dangerous by Design,” published by Smart Growth America, uses federal data to rank metro areas by pedestrian fatalities. The Charlotte region ranked as the 34th most dangerous metro […]

There’s been a noticeable shift in the debate about density in Charlotte’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan over recent weeks. What started as a classic confrontation of progressive planning concepts vs. NIMBY-inspired resistance, has now taken on a different tone, with competing viewpoints emerging about the role that density plays in issues such as equity, affordable housing, […]

Where you can afford to live influences much of the rest of your life: Access to schools, medical care, fresh groceries, air pollution levels and, ultimately, your chance to get ahead and climb the ladder of economic mobility. The Charlotte region continues to grapple with rising housing costs that contribute to segregation and inequality. That’s […]

Charlotte is one of the fastest growing city in the United States. With the city’s expanding population and surging development, there is a need for revolutionary changes to address the growth of the coming years. Over the past year, a group of multidisciplinary designers called “Curators“ have been working on a macro- and micro-level to […]

It’s been a tough year already for big ideas in Charlotte. First, the city’s ambitious goal of a referendum for a 1-cent sales tax to fund a massive, $8 billion to $12 billion transit and mobility plan was thrown into question after worries emerged about whether the legislature would let it on the ballot and […]

Sometimes I feel as if I’m watching a play. It’s one I’ve seen before – performed many times in different venues. It’s called “The City Wakes Up To Its Future.” We have now reached the penultimate act. I’m referring, of course, to the recent cyclone of activity that’s swirling around Charlotte’s proposed 2040 Comprehensive Plan […]