General News

As you hike along the Uwharrie Trail, you may come upon a newly installed Uwharrie Trail audio tour marker and wonder what it is. If you have cell service, you can click on the QR code shown and hear a short story about the historic, natural or cultural significance of the very spot to which […]

PlanCharlotte.org is asking readers to nominate spots in the Charlotte region that need a design makeover. (See our first installment in this series here.) Urban designers Keihly Moore and Alex Borisenko have launched a website, www.completeblocks.com, where they’re proposing a series of urban design retrofits, many of them nominated by readers. Among their designs so […]

Talk of the Towns is a PlanCharlotte series visiting planners from the 14-county Charlotte region. This installment takes us to Rock Hill in York County, S.C. The former industrial town of about 68,000 people is searching for a new image. Bill Meyer has been planning and development director in Rock Hill since 2006. He talked […]

“A paddle a day keeps the doctor away.” That isn’t quite the famous saying, but it rings just as true. Kayaking and canoeing are fun and healthy ways to enjoy the outdoors, and there is plenty of water to be paddled nearby. One of those great streams in the N.C. Piedmont that’s now easily accessible […]

With the long-delayed final leg of Interstate-485 set to open soon, residents near the new interchange at Prosperity Church Road are bracing for growth. The question is, what will that growth look like? A 15-year-old plan calls for an “urban village” of compact streets and walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods. When envisioned in the late 1990s, it […]

Could a bottle shop and tap room be the stimulus Cornelius needs to follow in the footsteps of Charlotte’s NoDa arts district, Raleigh’s Warehouse District, or Asheville’s River Arts District? The Old Town Public House will open Sept. 13 on Catawba Avenue in Cornelius, a onetime cotton mill hamlet in fast-growing north Mecklenburg County. The […]

If you live in the Southeastern United States, you’ve probably seen the shrub pictured above. Despite its attractive clusters of white flowers that lead to big purple fruits, privet is another invader to hate. Free workshop The Greater Uwharrie Conservation Partnership will hold a free Invasive Species Workshop Aug. 22 at Montgomery County Community College […]

2014 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Sustainability Report Card Category Local Trend National Comparison Air Quality B C Energy Use A C Equity/Empowerment C C Food D C Jobs/Income C C Land Use D D Transportation B D Waste B – Water Use B B Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s first comprehensive sustainability report card is in, and the results are mixed. The […]

During a recent trip to the beach, I realized a number of plants native to the Coastal Plain have found a home in the Piedmont. Yaupon holly, beautyberry, wax myrtle and sweetbay magnolia have become staples in our gardens. Pitcher plants and longleaf pines occur in the natural landscapes of the Uwharries. A botanist friend […]

There’s always a need for more public seating and bike racks in South End, especially now that food trucks and gallery openings are no longer a well-kept hot-spot secret, drawing hundreds of folks. Why circle the block multiple times looking for parking when you can roll up on two wheels right next to your destination? […]