Articles About Environment and Planning
Most people who visit the Uwharrie region for recreation probably know about spots like the Uwharrie Trail and Morrow Mountain State Park. Or maybe you’re used to driving west, to Crowders Mountain State Park. However, there are a lot of lesser-known gems in the region that many tourists miss out on, and some that even […]
Wildlife habitat comes in all shapes and sizes, as does opportunity for improving it. The rural nature of the Uwharries and other areas around Charlotte allows us to restore grasslands and forests on a landscape scale, but the same management techniques have also proven successful on smaller parcels in urban parks and nature preserves. One […]
There’s more momentum building for a regional transit system in and around Charlotte, this time from communities to the city’s north. Local governments in Cabarrus County recently passed resolutions in support of the Charlotte Area Transit System extending light rail across the county line for the first time. The Blue Line extension, which opened in […]
Some birds fly thousands of miles to the pine stands and fields around Charlotte. So why not take a short drive to go see them? The Three Rivers Land Trust held our eighth annual Uwharrie Naturalist Day on May 4, and hosted a birdwatching event on our Smith Branch Longleaf Preserve in Montgomery County. The […]
With Charlotte’s population growing by dozens of people a day, planners, politicians and many residents agree that denser development is inevitable in the city’s future. But just how dense – and exactly where to build that extra density – remain thorny questions, especially when denser developments are proposed in single-family neighborhoods. The tension between wanting […]
A generation ago, the idea of a major financial company moving to South End might have been implausible – and building a luxury apartment tower in the midst of Ballantyne Corporate Park would have sounded even more outlandish. But a pair of recent announcements in Charlotte show how much office and apartment markets have shifted, […]
In the midst of a torrent of growth, new residents and construction, Charlotte’s planning director is hoping the city can find a comprehensive vision for what it should look like in two decades. Taiwo Jaiyeoba is leading the Charlotte Future 2040 comprehensive planning effort. It’s an ambitious project with the goal of creating the city’s […]
Mecklenburg County is poised to substantially increase funding for its park system, after years of stagnating budgets and staff cuts following the 2008 recession. County manager Dena Diorio’s proposed budget, released last week, includes a nearly $13 million boost to the Park and Recreation Department. That increase – almost one-third higher than current spending – […]
Cycling advocates hope the future of Charlotte biking is on display behind a row of plastic bollards lining Sixth Street – but they caution that the city has a long way to go. The Charlotte Department of Transportation last week opened the city’s first substantial, protected, two-way bicycle lane, connecting the Little Sugar Creek Greenway […]
Mid-spring is a heady time for naturalists in the Uwharries. The diversity of flora and fauna often sends us reaching for a field guide. Thanks to Mama’s month-by-month acquisition of the entire Peterson Field Guides series, I have 42 books at my fingertips. Some we consult on a regular basis: Eastern Birds, Eastern Forests, Eastern […]
Density, transit, auto-free living and urban redevelopment are popular topics right now, as many US cities – including Charlotte – continue to boom, luring new residents and coveted millennials by the tens of thousands. But the future of development might still be in the suburbs, according to Joel Kotkin. A fellow in urban futures at […]
Thousands are expected to gather in Charlotte’s historic Plaza-Midwood neighborhood this weekend, attracted by bold visual art and nontraditional performances representing a diverse array of artists. The three-day BOOM festival, a self-described “movement born from a belief in the explosive power of art to unite and strengthen our community,” enters its fourth year buoyed by […]