Articles About Environment and Planning
If you’ve been paying any attention to national politics in recent weeks, you’ve surely heard remarks like: Why don’t politicians listen to the people? How can we get through to them? Why can’t government get anything done? But when people say “the government,” what government do they mean? It’s likely they’re thinking of the sclerotic […]
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Department won’t pursue zoning regulations aimed at dealing with rent-by-the-bedroom apartment complexes near colleges and universities. But it will continue working to solve parking and transportation issues near the schools. The staff recommendation October 21 to the City Council’s Transportation and Planning Committee means students and residents living near UNC Charlotte and […]
The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute’s online publication, PlanCharlotte.org, has won a $12,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to boost a project that will look at Charlotte’s creeks. The grant from Knight Foundation Fund at Foundation For The Carolinas will pay a researcher in local history who will examine the role […]
Sphingidae is a family of moths that are commonly referred to as hummingbird, sphinx or hawk moths. Some of the largest moths on earth, they have a heavy body and narrow wings. They are agile fliers and have the capability of rapid wing movement that allows them to hover over plants, and even move side […]
After months of steady – and sometimes excessive – rain, we’ve recently seen a more typical pattern of precipitation. Autumn is our driest season. If this trend continues and we don’t receive a soaking from a hurricane or tropical storm, our total precipitation for 2013 could be deceptively average. It’s been a banner year for […]
A key city advisory committee Monday deferred a recommendation on a proposed rezoning to allow for an auto mall near a proposed light rail station in University City. The deferral by the Zoning Committee of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission until its Oct. 30 meeting means the decision on the proposal will fall to a newly […]
There was that glorious day toward the end of August when the humidity dropped and the heavens parted. The air felt fresh for the first time in months. I knew it wouldn’t last – we were bound to have another spell of muggy weather before the start of autumn – but I convinced myself the […]
TORONTO – Maybe the game-changer is 3-D printing. Or maybe it’s robotic cars and “autonomous driving,” an innovation that may well mean we’ll never again have to learn to parallel park. Maybe it’s “the Internet of everything” – the idea that sooner or later almost everything will be connected via the Internet. It’s obvious big […]
One lucky parking spot in NoDa gets to become a park for eight hours this Friday. From 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. volunteers will transform a space on North Davidson Street into a place for many people, instead of a place for one car. In doing so, they’ll make sure Charlotte once again joins an […]
Charlotte-area residents will have an additional opportunity to voice their opinion on the region’s growth. The Centralina Council of Governments added a fourth Mecklenburg County workshop, and a second location, to the “CONNECT Our Future” planning program at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 24 at Mahlon Adams Pavilion in Freedom Park. The public workshop is one of […]
A University City-area rezoning petition quietly winding toward a public hearing Monday raises serious questions about whether the city can stand behind its plans for transit-friendly development along the proposed Blue Line Extension light rail line. The case also highlights this fact: Today, almost all the properties in the station areas north of the NoDa […]
It took them two years to design and build it, but over the next two weeks, a team of UNC Charlotte architecture, business and engineering students will tear down their solar-powered home, Urban Eden. But that’s only because the home must be deconstructed, loaded on a flatbed trailer and shipped to Orange County, Calif., where […]