Articles About Environment and Planning
I’ve seen this cute little animal in some very different places – the chipmunk. I’ve seen them in the N.C. mountains as I hiked the Appalachian Trail, on the sidewalk in Chapel Hill at the UNC-CH campus, and in Colorado (a different species) while I climbed Mount Elbert. I’ve never seen one of these little […]
A while back a friend sent me a picture of the beautiful river birch on her property near Troy. Another friend is proud of the sycamore tree in her front yard, which sold her on the house where she lives. This got me thinking about the trees in our eastern U.S. forests that possess exfoliating […]
[highlightrule]“Typically, people look at abstract ideas and overwhelming macro-issues like poverty and homelessness. Often missed is the opportunity to tackle low-hanging fruit like sidewalks or improved lighting.” — Jason Roberts[/highlightrule] Sometimes, to build a better city – a city built for residents, not for cars or absentee landlords or development financiers – you start with […]
In addition to studying how to accommodate growing ethnic diversity – needed in many cities, not just Houston and Charlotte – there’s another lesson Houston might hold for Charlotte: Finding the money to build out an ambitious greenway plan. They call them bayous. We call them creeks. But both Houston and Charlotte have a number […]
HOUSTON — One city was built on oil and shipping in a hot, humid swampy spot laced with small waterways. Its former biracial dynamics have changed, as immigration boosted Latino and Asian populations. It’s growing rapidly – and that includes rapid growth in income inequality. Another city was built on textiles and banking in a […]
Growing up in the Uwharries, my sister and I were country girls through and through, right down to the soles of our feet. We went barefoot much of the summer. The red clay stained our feet the color of rust. Our calluses allowed us to traverse the gravel driveway and cross the gooey asphalt on […]
[highlightrule]“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” — Aldo Leopold [/highlightrule] The LandTrust for Central North Carolina has launched a youth initiative, the Leopold Society, named for the […]
I recently had the opportunity to go out in the field with Kerry Brust, a red-cockaded woodpecker biologist in the North Carolina Sandhills. I went with Brust to put brightly colored and aluminum bands on nestling red-cockaded woodpeckers. It’s part of a research project begun in 1978, initiated by Dr. Phil Doerr and Dr. Jay […]
I’ve spent time walking in the woods this spring, and I’m always excited by what I find. The other day, while evaluating a property the LandTrust for Central North Carolina is considering for protection, we found a patch of pink lady slippers with a few in bloom. Another wetland the landowner is considering protecting was […]
T.S. Eliot claimed April is the cruelest month, but for gardeners, I’d argue it’s the busiest. In the Piedmont, it’s our last chance to plant trees and shrubs until fall. The soil is warm enough to sow cucumbers, peppers, green beans and squash, and it’s finally safe to set out tomatoes and basil. Catalogues and […]
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Department has begun a large public initiative to produce a new zoning ordinance – the first big rewrite since a contentious one in the 1980s-1990s. PlanCharlotte editor Mary Newsom met with interim Planning Director Ed McKinney to hear how the process is going. They talked about how to preserve neighborhood character, what […]
The northern flicker (Colaptes auratus) is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba and the Cayman islands. It is one of a few species of woodpeckers that migrate. Flickers in the northern part of their range move south for the winter. It is a medium-sized woodpecker, brown with black spots and […]