Gallery

A rendering of the planned redevelopment of Ballantyne Corporate Park, adding apartments, shops, restaurants and amenities in place of parking lots and a golf course. Rendering: Northwood Office.

Putting the Urban in Suburban

Categories: Gallery, Mecklenburg Tags: Urban Design

Across Charlotte, developers are planning to add dense, mixed-use developments to parking lots at malls, shopping centers and office parks. See some of their plans, along with what’s there now.

People explore UNC Charlotte's greenhouse. Photo: Elaine Jacobs.

Exploring Charlotte with the 2019 City Walks

Charlotte City Walks 2019 wrapped up after a record-setting year, with 40 walks and more than 600 attendees. The programs explored food, history, art, murals, the lived experiences of being blind or homeless in Charlotte, tree canopy and more.

Neon lights from the decades-old South Boulevard adult entertainment venue, Leather and Lace, illuminate the parking lot of beloved burger and ice cream shop, Mr K.s, which dates to 1967. In the background, a short walk from the East-West Boulevard Station, Crescent Communities' Novel Atherton "luxury apartment homes" is set to open in 2019. Photo: Nancy Pierce

Images along Blue Line tell city’s unheralded stories

While Charlotte’s light rail line runs through the city’s glittering uptown – a tunnel of office towers and parking decks – at the farther reaches, the landscape tells different stories. Along the route of the Blue Line, from the edge of Pineville on the south to the UNC Charlotte campus at the north, you find […]

The May 13 tour of University City startled this gaggle of goslings, who escaped into the University Place lake. Walk leader Tobe Holmes described ongoing development as well as plans for the area when the Blue Line Extension light rail opens in March 2018. Photo: Mary Newsom

Scenes from Charlotte City Walks 2017

Did you know: ♦ At one time, if you lived on the north side of 37th Street in the NoDa neighborhood you could keep hogs and sell fireworks, but if you lived across the street on the south side you could not. The city limits line ran down the middle of the street. ♦ A […]

A new Piedmont prairie?

Categories: Gallery, General News, Piedmont

Part of the 2017 KEEPING WATCH initiative By Meredith Hebden The Charlotte Coliseum on Tyvola Road had just opened to much fanfare when I arrived in Charlotte in September 1988. Yet it became outdated within 13 years and was demolished in 2007. When I went back last fall, 28 years later, almost all traces of […]

Can’t wait for Blue Line Extension? Watch as it grows

Construction for the 9.3-mile Blue Line Extension light rail project began in January 2014 and is expected to be completed in time for service to begin in 2017. The $1.16 billion project is funded with federal, state and local money. On June 11, photographer Nancy Pierce documented the huge construction project as it sweeps northeast […]

Off Brickyard Road near U.S. 21, Fort Mill, S.C.: In 1763 Thomas Spratt – the first white settler in Fort Mill area, Revolutionary War soldier and friend of the Catawba Indians – built his home near the Nation Ford Road. The Spratt family cemetery remains on the spot in a wooded area near the present-day bustle of U.S. 21.

A road runs through it: U.S. 21 tells the region’s story

Photographer Nancy Pierce’s visual story of people and places along U.S. 21 offers a window into the way the road, like the region, has reinvented itself over time. The map (left) shows the areas along U.S. 21 that the photo gallery shows. The links to the three inset areas give a PDF map with more […]

Artist's rendering of the proposed redevelopment of Gastonia's Loray Mill. Image courtesy City of Gastonia

Mills on the Mend

Redevelopment of textile mills across the Carolinas has increased in the past decade as local officials have been able to offer state tax credits for properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In Charlotte and across the region, mills have been turned into condos and apartments, senior housing, offices, shopping complexes and restaurants. […]

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Contributor: 
Mary Newsom

(Read the full article about the contest winners here.)

Although all excellent photos speak for themselves, sometimes comments from the photographer add another layer of meaning.

Kevin J. Beaty, about his photos of the Torance House and Store and of uptown Charlotte: “We used to call it the ‘Ghost House’ when I was a kid, so approaching it late at night to get this shot was particularly scary.” (Read about the house here.)  And: “On a warm night, uptown Charlotte is a fantastic place for a long romantic walk ended, of course, with a Sabrett's hotdog and a Coke.”

Jason Walser, about his photo of a rural Rowan County field: “I snapped this photo of a conserved property in western Rowan County off of White Road. (I) looked east towards the sunrise. Roosters were crowing in the distance when I took this, and it was the only sound I could hear.  I … felt like I was part of something special as West Rowan County came alive between 6:30 and 7 a.m.  Cows mooing, birds chirping, and roosters crowing.  This is a beautiful place that, thanks to conservation efforts, will look pretty much just like this for countless generations to follow.”

Michael J. Solender, about his photo of the Firebird: “One Charlotte place I love is the plaza in front of the Bechtler Museum at the Levine Avenue of the Arts and South Tryon Street. I especially enjoy it at night when the Firebird gleams and the foot traffic from the adjacent Knight Theater spills out onto the plaza. I took this photo when my sister-in-law was in town for a show, and the moment I took the photo the plaza was clear – moments later it was filled with people.”

From Fitz Lee of Charlotte, about his creek photo: “There is about a 50-yard stretch of Briar Creek behind Myers Park High School that I feel is Mother Nature's proudest display. From most vantage points it appears that you are hundreds of miles away from the city. Beautiful rock-laden waterway covered with low-hanging greenery - great hangout for all kinds of birds."
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Winner, by Kevin Beaty A spooky look at the historic Hugh Torance House in north Mecklenburg County. Photo: Kevin J. Beaty

Beloved places in the Piedmont

(Read the full article about the contest winners here.) Although all excellent photos speak for themselves, sometimes comments from the photographer add another layer of meaning. Kevin J. Beaty, about his photos of the Torance House and Store and of uptown Charlotte: “We used to call it the ‘Ghost House’ when I was a kid, […]