General News

Plant obsessions can run in different directions. Some plant lovers amass a deep collection of a single species – say, iris, roses or hostas. Others go wide — they want one of everything. I’m definitely on the wide end of that spectrum, but I’m moving toward the center. I’ve come to appreciate how a mass […]

Brookings Institution Press (February 22, 2022) From $24.99 (paperback) Length: 210 pages Who should read it? Fixer-Upper is a great book for policymakers and people interested in understanding the nitty-gritty of how some housing policies have distorted the market and driven up prices. The data and anecdotes agree: people in the Charlotte region are struggling […]

For three years, transit advocates have lobbied for the proposed Silver Line to bring passengers closer to uptown — instead of the planned route that would follow Interstate 277. The Charlotte Area Transit System refused, saying the I-277 route north of uptown would spur more development. The transit system also said bringing the train into […]

As COVID-19 fades from the front pages but normalcy still hovers out of reach, Charlotte’s two biggest employment centers want to resemble each other a bit more in the decades to come. On the surface, University City (a sprawling, suburban landscape dominated by cul-de-sacs, strip shopping centers, the university campus and office parks) doesn’t seem […]

This might surprise some people who think bicycling in Charlotte is serious, or scary: Riding is fun! If you come and ride your bicycle with me, you’ll most likely have a good experience. I’ve been leading bike rides since 2013, sometimes three per week. I also teach CyclingSavvy, a skills course that equips riders to […]

This story originally appeared in the Charlotte Ledger business newsletter, and is reproduced here with permission. The start of summer beckons in the region’s extensive greenways, but Mecklenburg County’s publicly owned green spaces are under attack from a half-inch-long insect that’s turning whole areas of our urban forest into tree graveyards. The emerald ash borer, […]

Update: On June 13, Charlotte City Council approved changes to eliminate the petition process for traffic-calming requests) Where you live in Charlotte has a big effect on whether neighborhood safety measures like speed humps, stop signs and lower speed limits are installed nearby. Charlotte’s traffic-calming policy has been in place since 1997, and remains “very […]

As Charlotte’s transit system struggles to attract bus riders back post-COVID, officials are considering adding more on-demand options and replacing some low-ridership, fixed-schedule routes with services people could summon when needed. The idea is still in its early stages, but it could eventually lead to replacing some full-sized buses with smaller, nimbler vehicles. It’s part […]

For two years, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented Charlotte City Walks from hosting in-person walking tours to introduce people to the history, food, culture and challenges facing our diverse neighborhoods. In 2020, the program was canceled. In 2021, City Walks went virtual, offering self-guided video tours and tours via the Clio app. This year, City Walks […]

At a work session about the city’s new unified development ordinance this week, Charlotte City Council members repeated several phrases so often they sounded like mantras: Middle ground, finding a balance, and trade-offs. The ongoing work illustrates the balancing – and sometimes the tension – inherent in translating a high-level document like the Charlotte 2040 […]