Mary Newsom

Biography

Mary is a lifelong newspaper journalist who spent several decades at The Charlotte Observer as an editorial board member and columnist, concentrating on Charlotte regional urban and suburban growth, planning, urban design, transportation and land preservation. She left the Observer and joined the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute in 2011. She had a year-long Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University 2007-08, and in 2005-06 was a Knight Fellow in Community Building at the University of Miami. Newsom retired from the insitute in 2018 as Director of Urban Policy Initiatives, and is now a freelance writer in Charlotte. 

Education

A.B. Journalism UNC Chapel Hill

Expertise

Urban and suburban issues, Charlotte region and North Carolina politics and government, writing, editing and journalism.

Stories by Mary Newsom

A month of good walks, unspoiled

A hidden inscription. A memorial to a heroic teacher. A mural depiction of well-loved burger cooks. Charlotte neighborhoods have plenty of stories to tell, and during a month of City Walks hundreds...

Cohousing: Square peg development in a round-hole world

The concept dates to the early days in America: Shared common spaces along with smaller, private family dwellings. Today, cohousing neighborhoods don’t fit easily into typical development regulations...

Kannapolis, the town that towels built, faces its future

Podcast: Kannapolis is unlike any other N.C. municipality. For decades it was owned by Cannon Mills. But as textiles faded, its fortunes sagged. Last year, the city bought downtown, to spur...

Historic West End: What’s next for area near JCSU?

Develop a historical asset map. Improve physical connections to public spaces and neighborhoods. Assess businesses’ needs. Explore whether to list the neighborhood on the National Register of...

Experts: SouthPark needs vision, stronger design and champions

Most of the ideas about SouthPark from a group of out-of-town development experts were what you’d hope to hear: create connections, try public-private partnerships, build a better public realm. But a...