Urban Design
Join Charlotte’s celebration of neighborhoods May 2-4
When you get right down to it, any city or town is built of neighborhoods – block by block and street by street. That formula is part of the magic behind the idea of Jane’s Walks, an international movement that encourages people to get out for a neighborhood walk on the first weekend in May. […]
Imagining Charlotte places, remade: Week 2
In honor of our second anniversary, PlanCharlotte.org is asking readers to nominate spots in the Charlotte region that need a design makeover. (See last week’s article, the first installment in this series, by clicking here.) Urban designers Keihly Moore and Alex Borisenko have launched a website, www.completeblocks.com, where they’re proposing a series of urban design […]
When a place needs a design makeover
Imagine a spot in your city or town that you think needs a makeover – only instead of adding a new haircut and stylish clothes, you add trees, sidewalk cafes, bicycle lanes or parks. PlanCharlotte, with urban designers Keihly Moore and Alex Borisenko, invites you, the public, to nominate places in the Charlotte region that […]
Celebrate some of North Carolina’s great places
We know North Carolina is filled with great places: both natural landscapes and cultural and historic treasures, from main streets to parks to neighborhoods. Here’s your chance to suggest places that deserve public recognition and celebration. The N.C. Chapter of the American Planning Association wants nominations from the public for Great Main Street and Great […]
Resources for neighborhoods
Whether you want to look up data or understand an issue or trend affecting the Charlotte region, the online resources of the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute are available to help you. There are also many other programs on campus that work with local groups. The institute offers articles and data on a range of issues […]
Planners envision new zoning ordinance by 2018
Charlotte city planners are moving forward with a plan to look – in stages – at revising the city-county zoning ordinance, hoping to finish that multiyear process by 2018. A city-hired consultant last July reported that the ordinance, adopted 22 years ago, too often works against the goals of the city’s adopted plans. Plus, said […]
Neighborhood design expert speaks at UNC Charlotte
An expert in planning neighborhoods for walkability will speak Thursday at the UNC Charlotte uptown campus. Julie Campoli, author of Made for Walking: Neighborhood Density and Urban Form, gives a presentation at a 5:30 p.m. event that will also see the launch a new regional group focused on transportation choices, the Transportation Choices Alliance. The […]
What’s in a name? Defining ‘urban’ in the South
It’s a quirky fact about all three of the most recent directors of the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute: We all came, not from large urban centers, but from small, rural communities. Jim Clay, director from 1979 to 1984, was from Crum, W.Va. Bill McCoy (director 1985-2001) hailed from Ekron, Ky. And me? My friends are […]
After decades, Reid Park may get its park
After nearly three decades of hoping for a new park, the Reid Park neighborhood in west Charlotte may be on its way to getting one designed, not by the county, but a student. UNC Charlotte urban design and community planning student Dylan McKnight began working on a park design for the neighborhood as a major […]
Key decision on auto mall rezoning is deferred
A key city advisory committee Monday deferred a recommendation on a proposed rezoning to allow for an auto mall near a proposed light rail station in University City. The deferral by the Zoning Committee of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission until its Oct. 30 meeting means the decision on the proposal will fall to a newly […]