I’ve traversed some rugged country in the Uwharries. My dad and I have bushwhacked through laurel thickets and scrambled up and down steep and slippery slopes to blaze trails and mark property lines. In general, though, our land is more accessible than isolated coves in the mountains or impenetrable swamps at the coast. And yet we often have better records of natural communities in those...
Read more“They come from Tennessee in a covered wagon.” That was all I could get out of my grandfather..." So begins this essay by Ruth Ann Grissom, first published in 1998 in the newsletter of The LandTrust for Central NC.
Guest contributor Ruth Ann Grissom is a freelance writer who splits her time between Atlanta and the Uwharries. ...
Read moreDowntowns around the Charlotte region are coming back to life. This video highlights the Town of Davidson and the strategies used there to attract people to the town center.
... Read moreTwenty years ago, the downtowns in our region were believed to be destined for oblivion. Retail was leaving, if not already gone, locating along a major thoroughfare somewhere on the suburban fringe in the vicinity of the latest big box retail store, often Wal-Mart. Professional offices, if any existed at all, were shutting their doors and moving away from downtowns. Residences...
Read moreAt United Way, we talk about “creating lasting change for those most in need.” Fulfilling that mission requires not just measurement of community needs, but a source of data that is sufficiently comprehensive to ensure that changes are far-reaching and can be tracked over time.
Read moreThe Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) at UNC Charlotte expanded the urban growth mapping and forecasting into 19 counties in the Western part of North Carolina: Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Polk, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes,...
Read moreFrom 1976 to 2006, land development in the North Carolina mountains increased 568 percent - from 34,348 acres to 229,422 acres - and is expected to increase another 63 percent by 2030. Population, meanwhile, increased only 42 percent between 1976 and 2006 and is projected to increase only another 25 percent by 2030. The result? An increase in the average number of developed...
Read moreThe Carolina Raptor Center is a unique local resource. Please check out this video to learn more about this organization.
Read moreThe Transportation Service Indicator Report is released annually by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) and compiled at the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute in cooperation with the Institute for Transportation Research and Education at North Carolina State University.
This report summarizes operational data for every North Carolina public school district. Based...
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