Articles

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, […]

“In 1965, if you had a good back and a good alarm clock, you could make a good living in Milwaukee,” Mayor Tom Barrett told a recent Raleigh conference, because of the strength, at the time, of that city’s manufacturing sector. Although rural Stanly County is very different, that Milwaukee attitude was also the prevailing […]

HOT (High Occupancy Toll) lanes proposed on I-77 are a red-hot topic, and residents were vocal about their concerns Wednesday at a public information meeting at Huntersville Town Hall. Jim Trogdon, chief financial officer for the N.C. Department of Transportation, introduced a group of experts to meet with citizens and answer questions. “The existing revenue […]

In Charlotte’s Madison Park neighborhood, Gretchen Gregg didn’t search for a magnet school, a charter school or a private school when her daughter entered kindergarten last fall. She enrolled her at the neighborhood public school, Pinewood Elementary, even though many parents in her middle-income community refuse to send their children there. In Sedgefield, another older […]

Not in my neighborhood. That is what many people think when they hear about child abuse and human trafficking. In reality, these crimes occur in neighborhoods across the nation, and Charlotte is no exception. Still, there are numerous advocates who are standing up for victims and working to create awareness around these issues. The Council […]

The Charlotte City Council, with no discussion, Monday unanimously OK’d a measure to try to encourage developers to build more low-income housing in affluent neighborhoods. The council also heard a series of pro- and con- speeches concerning a proposed outlet-store center in southwest Mecklenburg County. The affordable housing measure, an amendment to the city zoning […]

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 […]

Nationwide, schools of concentrated poverty have poor academic outcomes and limited educational opportunities.[1] Our local schools are no different.[2][3] Education reform is a priority across the political spectrum and throughout the community. But are we basing our reform efforts on accumulated evidence or simply on stories that tug on our emotions? The students pictured above […]

This winter’s pattern of hot and cold weather has made it challenging for people and animals to adapt. The recent wet weather and warmer temperatures must have been a cue for the upland chorus frogs that their breeding season has arrived. I heard them calling loudly from the small stream at my apartment complex. Their […]

Since Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx gave his State of the City speech Monday, most of the publicity has focused on his remarks about the proposed streetcar, about a proposal in the legislature to remove Charlotte/Douglas International Airport from city control, and his comments about the Charlotte Chamber. Those are important issues. But another issue may […]

A group of local brewers and beer lovers is working with the city’s planning department to make Charlotte a more beer-friendly city in an unusual way: zoning amendments. The group held its second meeting at NoDa Brewing Co. last week, continuing a process craft brewers hope will adjust the city’s zoning ordinance, which currently restricts […]

Birds flock to Mama’s feeders this time of year. She has several seed and suet feeders hanging from the maple outside her living room window. At times, upwards of a hundred birds – maybe a dozen species – joust for perches, flit among the branches, scoot up and down and around the trunk, and scratch […]