Articles

Land conservationists in the Charlotte region face a vexing dilemma. The recession has preserved some tantalizing property that until recently was destined for development. But public and private organizations have precious little money to buy or otherwise protect the parcels they covet. Although conservationists expect the pace of growth eventually will pick up again, the […]

The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute now has office space in the university’s Center City Building. Although the institute will continue to be headquartered on the main campus, several staff members and institute Director Jeff Michael are now regularly spending some time each week in the uptown facility. The Center City Building offers the institute new […]

What happens when you save a wetland, but not the wet? On a winter’s walk last year through Flat Branch Nature Preserve, Chris Matthews, the county park department natural resources manager, saw the answer. The preserve, at Mecklenburg County’s southernmost tip, should have been dappled with pools, spongy with moisture. The water edges should have […]

UNC Charlotte’s Heather Smith, associate professor of geography, researches restructuring cities, immigrant settlement and adjustment, and the causes and implications of Hispanic “hyper-growth” in Charlotte and the South. She spoke recently with UNC Charlotte Urban Institute graduate student Josh McCann. Her remarks, edited for brevity and clarity: Q. You’ve said before that Charlotte is not […]

Whether you’re an avid birder or just enjoy watching those in your backyard, you likely have heard of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Although affiliated with the university of the same name, it is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the study and conservation of birds. Its mission is “to interpret and conserve the earth’s biological […]

It is commonly expected that consolidating Charlotte and Mecklenburg County will result in less government fragmentation, fewer elected officials and lower the cost of service provision. It very well may, but citizens should know that nothing is guaranteed when it comes to city-county consolidation. And some of the commonly held beliefs about consolidation may not, […]

My grandparents depended on fireplaces and a wood-fired cookstove to heat their farmhouse in the Uwharries. Today many of us have the luxury of turning down our thermostats on winter evenings when we want to enjoy the pleasures of a roaring fire. There’s the faint aroma of hickory and oak, the logs shifting and settling […]

The largest known stand of old-growth Piedmont longleaf pine remaining in the state will be preserved as an education forest, protected from development. The LandTrust for Central North Carolina and the N.C. Zoological Park last month completed their purchase of the 116-acre property in northern Montgomery County. Longleaf pine forests historically covered more than 90 […]

This has been a year of change and growth for the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute. As I look back on the year’s highlights – and look forward to a new project we’ll debut early in 2012 – I’m reminded of the role the institute has played since 1969 in the greater Charlotte region. For those […]

MOORESVILLE – “Revolutionary” is not too strong a word for plans laid out Tuesday to a room full of government officials, consultants and interested laypeople. At a public workshop in Mooresville, some 150 people heard a lengthy and detailed proposal for reviving a planned but still unbuilt commuter rail line to Iredell County. Simply the […]

How do you define what makes people think of one neighborhood as “good” and another “bad”? Is it things such as crime, school quality and amenities? What about walkability, accessibility of employment or environmental quality? Whether you consider one or all of these characteristics, they are all important and affect the quality of life for […]

Say you wake up in the middle of the night with a few hives on your arms. You might take some Benadryl and go back to sleep. Another night, you wake up with hives covering your body. You’re also having trouble breathing. Your face and hands might be swelling. You end up in the emergency […]