Urban Design

Fact No. 1: A sidewalk runs beside the light rail tracks through South End, from Morehead Street to a little north of the Scaleybark Station. Fact. No. 2: South End, which grew up from what had been an industrial sector of the city (nearby Dilworth and Wilmore neighborhoods notwithstanding), does not have a park. Add […]

If you know who Jane Jacobs was and understand the role her work has played in revolutionizing thinking about cities and planning since the 1960s, you’ll understand why her birthday is a time to encourage city-dwellers to get to know their own places a little better. For example, she wrote that new ideas must use […]

Two of the region’s main streets have won this year’s Great Places in North Carolina competition. Union Street in Concord and Main Street in Davidson were recognized among the state’s top downtowns in the competition sponsored by the N.C. chapter of the American Planning Association (APA-NC). Concord’s Union Street competed with more widely recognized main […]

The N.C. House is scheduled to vote this afternoon on a bill, “Zoning/Design & Aesthetic Controls,” (House Bill 150) that has enthusiastic support from the state’s home-building industry but that gravely concerns planners around the state, as well as some local elected officials. (Update: The N.C. House on Tuesday passed the bill 94-22 on second […]

In recent years, progressive developers have made an important discovery. If they incorporate design features into their development proposals to make them look and function better, communities will allow them to build more product. But their investment can be fundamentally devalued if communities aren’t allowed to establish basic design standards to ensure a similar quality […]

The debate over “Zoning/Design & Aesthetic Controls,” (House Bill 150) concerns two basic issues: first, how much control we want government to have over our power of consumer choice, and second, whether we want government in North Carolina to function as its founding fathers intended. Let’s address the latter issue first. To understand why the […]

After hearing concerns about some of the new apartment construction in South End, the Charlotte Planning Department has hired a local urban design consultant to recommend possible changes to city zoning ordinances. With 11 South End multifamily projects under construction, Historic South End director Ted Boyd at a public presentation in January urged “raising the […]

Concord’s Union Street, downtown Belmont and Charlotte’s First Ward and Plaza Midwood neighborhoods have all been nominated for “People’s Choice” awards in this year’s “Great Places in North Carolina” contest. North Carolinians are being asked to vote. Polls are open until March 15. North Carolina residents can vote online by going to www.greatplacesnc.org. At that […]

If trees could talk, what stories they’d tell. They’ve been silent witness to children shinnying up their branches and young lovers picnicking beneath their shade. They endure, watching over us from cradle to grave, and beyond. Charlotteans have a strong affinity with their trees, and for good reason. The city has some 160,000 street trees, […]

Brightwalk is unique among Charlotte’s new developments. Part of that is size and location. It’s on 98 acres of redeveloped infill property along Statesville Avenue, about 2 miles from uptown. It will offer more than 1,000 single-family homes, townhomes and apartments – including senior housing and a day-care facility, all of it arranged around green […]