Ely Portillo

Stories by Ely Portillo

From textiles to trails: A river’s changing path to prosperity

Cramerton’s mills are long gone, as they are in most of the small towns that depended on textiles for generations. But Cramerton and other former textile towns are embracing the South Fork for what...

High rent, cost burdens, and inadequate supply: Five new, key facts about housing

Charlotte and Mecklenburg County are still facing a large gap between the supply of affordable housing and the number of residents who need it, as inreasing rents and a tight housing market are...

Should Charlotte make one of its major streets pedestrian-only?

Charlotte has a reputation as a car city, but many of its leaders badly want to promote more biking, walking and transit use. That’s one reason an intriguing idea kept surfacing at this week’s City...

When developers ask for a zoning change, Charlotte usually says yes

In the past decade, City Council has only denied 27 rezoning petitions out of more than 1,200 filed, according to city records. That means there are more new breweries in Charlotte since 2009 than...

How can we reconnect North Carolinians to opportunities and good jobs?

To move up the ladder of opportunity, there’s generally consensus that people need jobs that pay a living wage, where they can grow their earnings over time. But what’s the best way to get workers,...