Articles
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 […]
There’s really nothing quite like trout fishing for immersing yourself in nature and becoming part of the landscape. Cool mountain waters swirl around your feet as you gingerly pick your way along a stream bottom of smooth stones in hues of copper, slate, and ebony. Whether fly-fishing or spin casting, the moment you feel the […]
It’s easy to gush about the things we love. Kids, pets, restaurants, sports – no problems there, we understand each other pretty well. (Q: What is “You can’t handle the truth!” A: Best movie line EVER! See what I mean?) But what about our love for all things urban? Maybe it’s time to sort a […]
Your average roadmap of North Carolina represents the Uwharrie National Forest as a large, green blob covering most of Montgomery County as well as portions of Randolph and Davidson. In fact, that’s simply the proclamation boundary. Look at a detailed map of the national forest, and you’ll see a crazy patchwork of light and dark […]
The Baby Boomer generation redefined the lifestyle, consumption patterns, and values of each new life stage they entered. Wherever Boomers flocked, prices rose and businesses changed in response to meet their needs. Will the GenY/Echo Boom/Millennial generation do the same? A flurry of articles citing new reports about Echo Boomers’ transportation preferences say, “Yes.” But […]
For at least the last 50 years, polling organizations have been using two simple questions to get respondents to describe how the last year treated them from an economic viewpoint and how they think the next one will be: Compared to this time last year, would you say your current economic situation is better, about […]
Just like F. Scott Fitzgerald’s character Nick Carraway, who went “East, permanently, I thought,” in 1922 in The Great Gatsby, people today are on the move and looking for a place to rent. Fitzgerald’s Carraway – a recent college graduate, returning war veteran and single – hopes to start his career in the bond business. […]
PARIS – I saw the future in Paris. It looks a lot like the past. To be specific, it looks like uptown Charlotte circa 1989, but with flashier architecture. While in the French capital earlier this year for a conference of urban planners and scholars, we toured La Défense, the huge development just west of […]
Just west of the Yadkin-Pee Dee River, a start-up farm and food council is emerging with a vision to fill small farmers’ wallets with money and the Charlotte region’s plates with local food. The collection of farmers, elected officials, health professionals and educators held its official inaugural meeting last week at Stanly Community College. But […]
Members of the Farm and Food Council for Anson, Montgomery and Stanly counties: Anson County Farmer: Gary Sikes, heritage turkey farmer, Bountiful Harvest Farm. Government: Charles Dunevant, resource conservationist. Public Health/Medical: To be determined. Education: Stuart Wasilowski, vice president, South Piedmont Community College. Interested citizen: Martha Parker, retired nurse, farmer. Montgomery County Farmer: Donny Epps, […]
The big picture may have gotten buried Tuesday as Charlotte City Council members chewed – and chewed and chewed – on different alternative revenue strategies that might enable the city to build the second leg of its proposed streetcar. Most of the discussion was about finding ways to pay for the streetcar project that weren’t […]