Articles
New single-family residential building permits in Mecklenburg County have been on a roller coaster ride since 2003. But preliminary numbers show a promising upswing heading into 2013. Using U.S. Census Bureau data1 to examine the previous decade’s trends tracking back to 2003, what can we expect for new construction as we move forward in 2013? […]
While cities such as Memphis have gained national attention for proclaiming a bicycle-friendly goal, Charlotte has been quietly taking a number of steps to improve its own streets for cyclists. Its bicycle sharing program, B-cycle, the first in North Carolina, has gotten a lot of publicity, but several other small scale improvements have begun, designed […]
Some well-known intersections in the city hide the remnants of a now forgotten, but once major highway through the Carolinas. It was known as Potter Road and its name referred to the one-time pottery industry in western Lincoln County. Today, after neighbors pushed the city to save a piece of the old road’s route, an […]
Containment policies, such as Urban Growth Boundaries (UGBs), are becoming more widespread as metro regions try to control sprawl and revitalize central cities. Mecklenburg County’s northeastern neighbor, Cabarrus County, has tried such an approach in hopes of preserving small town atmospheres and farmland. Disappearing farmland and mounting pressure from developers reached an apex in 2004. […]
Old Man Winter is stingy with his days. He seems to begrudge us every second of tepid light. At sunset, though, he becomes an extravagant spender – the bon vivant who picks up the tab for everyone at the bar. Gaudy colors saturate the sky, becoming more outlandish by the moment. They linger, slowing and […]
The first quarter 2013 Charlotte Business Confidence Index report, released Jan. 2, shows Mecklenburg County business leaders’ optimism about economic prospects in the first quarter 2013 improved compared to their expectations for the fourth quarter 2012. The overall index value of 54.2, an increase of 1.8 points compared to the fourth quarter 2012, represents improved […]
Since 1993 the City of Charlotte has tallied information about some (and in later years all) city neighborhoods, in its regular Quality of Life reports. But this year major changes are afoot for the project, which opened its online doors to the public on Monday. The report now covers all of Mecklenburg County, and it’s […]
In Charlotte: The Praise Connor and Harriett Lee House3714 Country Ridge Road in the Mountainbrook neighborhoodBuilt in 1963; designed by architect Praise Connor LeeDesignated in 2002 The Robert and Elizabeth Lassiter House726 Hempstead Place in Eastover neighborhoodBuilt in 1951 (oldest Modernist house in Charlotte); designed by architect A.G. OdellDesignated in 2003 In Davidson: The James […]
The house at 1154 Cedarwood Lane in Charlotte once sat on the eastern outskirts of the city, a wooded, secluded haven in the 1960s where artists would gather on Sunday afternoons. Today, it’s a potential historic landmark in a city that has never opened its heart to Mid-Century Modern architecture. The original owners, potter Herb […]
2013 may be a year historians look back on as the time local leaders hit the “reset” button on issues that had been at the forefront of public policy discussions before the 2008 economic meltdown. Will leaders revisit these issues following the same assumptions and conventional strategies as before? Or will lessons learned in the […]
It’s that time of year again – when the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and yet to come arrive to haunt the old miser, Ebenezer Scrooge. It is nearly impossible to extricate Charles Dickens’ works, including his beloved A Christmas Carol, from the city in which they are set: Victorian-era, dirty, industrial London. You can […]
When I moved to Charlotte more than 30 years ago, Matthews was the suburb. It lay directly in the path of the major growth trajectory – southeast. The drive to central Charlotte was a reasonable 25-30 minutes. The cute, but miniature, downtown Matthews and a few surrounding blocks of turn-of-the-century houses gave a historic feel […]