Articles

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Too much of a good thing: Bunny boom
   February 4, 2022
Ruth Ann Grissom

No spiderworts. No asters. No threadleaf ironweed or liatris. Very few brown-eyed Susans and even fewer green beans. That was the sorry state of my garden last year. No, it wasn’t weather-related, it was rabbit predation.

My neighbor and I noticed a rabbit hanging around our yards last winter. One of its back legs was lame.  Given all the red tailed hawks and barred owls in the...

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When it comes to transit, everyone wants ‘regionalism.’ But no one’s quite sure how to get there.
   February 2, 2022
Ely Portillo

There’s consensus in the new crop of local transportation plans: Whether we’re talking about trains, buses or roads, we’ll have to cross county borders and state lines to fund and operate an effective transit system. 

But in the traditionally siloed Charlotte region, how do we actually create some kind of regional entity — and who will get to control the purse strings and make...

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Join us: Talking Policy in the Queen City
   January 31, 2022

TALKING POLICY IN THE QUEEN CITY

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Application deadline extended for the next Gambrell Faculty Fellows cohort
   January 27, 2022
Ely Portillo

Update: The deadline to apply for the fourth cohort of Gambrell Faculty Fellows has been extended to April 15. Interested faculty can d...

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Transit Time: A Plan B for Charlotte's transit expansion
   January 27, 2022

Steve Harrison, WFAE

Charlotte’s proposed $13.5 billion Transformation Mobility Network is in limbo.

City staff and council members seem paralyzed about when to approach Raleigh — and with what message.

Congestion relief? Economic development? Economic mobility?

There is, however, another way.

The city can just build the plan itself, or more realistically build part of the...

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What does the 'Great Resignation' mean for Charlotte?
   January 25, 2022
Sydney Idzikowski

More people than ever are voluntarily leaving their jobs. This phenomenon, known as the Great Resignation, is happening in nearly every employment sector and across a broad range of income levels. Fueled by the pandemic, changes in how we work, increasing work demands, other opportunities and more, workers of all types are looking for a change. 

Records started shattering in the heat...

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More drive-thrus near the light rail? City decisions worry advocates
   January 19, 2022
Ely Portillo

Charlotte City Council on Tuesday approved two auto-centric developments in transit-oriented zones along the Blue Line light rail, a move some advocates fear will set a bad precedent as the city tries to move away from its dominant car culture. 

The developments — a Fifth Third Bank on Woodlawn Road with a drive-thru and a Chick-fil-A on South Boulevard near Interstate 485 — both won...

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Finally, biking in uptown without fear
   January 13, 2022
Ely Portillo

Pedaling through uptown last week alongside cars and pedestrians, I felt something that I’ve rarely felt before on city streets: Relaxed. 

That’s because I was riding not in lanes of traffic or in a tiny, painted “bike lane,” but in a full-sized, two-way, striped and painted lane for bicycles, separated from cars by a concrete...

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An ‘economic halo’ for rural churches in North Carolina
   January 11, 2022
Ely Portillo

In small towns across North Carolina, churches function as more than places of fellowship and gathering for people — they’re also de facto economic engines. 

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Podcast: How parking can strangle a city, and what to do about it
   January 5, 2022
Ely Portillo

Abundant, convenient, cheap — or even free — parking, right where you want it, so you can drive up to your destination and find a space right by the door.

Sounds great, right? Maybe so — unless that abundant parking is killing your city. Donald Shoup is a distinguished research professor at UCLA in the department of urban planning. His work has...

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