Articles

At the end of last autumn, I set out to rediscover our evolving metropolis with a bit of caffeine. Staking out the independent coffee shops that dot our region, I began an informal weekly motorcycle tour of the 14-counties that surround Charlotte’s urban center to observe and learn, but mostly to relax. Are the open […]

Would you spend $750,000 to put your name on Charlotte’s new uptown bus station? A consultant told a City Council committee this week that he expects a company would buy the naming rights to the new facility, scheduled to open by the end of the decade. Sean Moran with the Innovative Partnership Group said the […]

The Philadelphia Eagles Have the Right Idea: Preventing Violence in Our Community In January, the Philadelphia Eagles launched a campaign centered around preventing firearm violence in Philadelphia, citing poverty and unemployment as contributors to violence. They’re not wrong. Socioeconomic status is linked to multiple types of violence. This campaign comes as an Eagles player was […]

In honor of (last week’s) Groundhog Day, and to mark the city’s transit discussion that keeps circling back to the same core points, we’ve compiled a list of the recurring questions that just keep poking their head out of the hole. To briefly recap: Charlotte wants to spend $13.5 billion to expand its transportation system, […]

We are now four weeks into the new year and already past the expiration date of many resolutions. Effective cultural and economic programming normalizes January as a season of change and improvement, as if the other 11 months of the year are not as suitable for such reflection and action. As this season of self […]

Over the years, my husband and I have hiked many trails near the Blue Ridge Parkway – Graveyard Fields, Mt. Pisgah, Black Balsam Knob, Looking Glass Rock. This fall, we lucked into an opportunity to hike on the parkway itself. We happened to be in Asheville after remnants of Hurricane Nicole passed through the mountains. […]

The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute, with generous funding from the Mercatus Center of George Mason University, is participating in a national research project designed to collect data about zoning laws from around the country. The Charlotte Region Zoning Atlas will collect information about zoning ordinances that have been adopted across the fourteen-county region served by […]

Editor’s Note: This article is the first in a series of guest contributors considering the question, “What small tweak or large shift would you make in 2023 that would catalyze sustainable growth and ensure equitable wellbeing in our region?” The construction of I-277 was a failed urban renewal ploy during the mid to late 20th […]

Our wish for 2023….a new colleague! The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute is looking for a new colleague in 2023. We are seeking applications for the Director of Research Translation and Engagement. Our new colleague wish list includes: Extensive experience creating content and using research to tell effective stories to a variety of audiences, particularly around […]

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. If you are like me and most other people, you like ice cream—a food that almost perfectly matches our brains’ evolved desire for sweet, fatty, calorie-rich foods. So what policies should we adopt regarding ice cream—should we subsidize it? Should we mandate certain minimum amounts […]

The Charlotte Area Transit System’s governance and organizational structure need a major overhaul, according to a consultant hired to review the city’s transit agency. That consultant, Management Partners, found that CATS has unclear goals, departments that compete instead of cooperate, and a lack of transparency about its budget. The agency’s overall governance structure, which includes […]

As 2022 drew to a close, Charlotte’s transit ambitions appeared to be pretty much where they started the year: in limbo. There’s been progress on some of the incremental question marks about how we get from here to there. The route for the planned Silver Line is coming into focus, some express bus routes canceled […]