Articles About Transportation

Can Charlotte do a better job of making its humble bus stops a bit less humble? A Charlotte city official posed that question Tuesday, saying Charlotteans should not ride by a bus stop and think, “I’m so sorry for that person.” Tom Warshauer, community engagement manager for the Charlotte Department of Neighborhood and Business Services, […]

Density alone does not equate to good urbanism. Density is a necessary ingredient, but raw density of jobs, housing or retail does not create a great street, much less a great place. Parts of downtown Atlanta are a classic example of this. Those tall towers empty at 5 p.m., creating an employment ghetto in the […]

Two weeks ago I beamed with pride for Charlotte as U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Mayor Dan Clodfelter cut the ribbon to begin the CityLynx Gold Line streetcar service. I’ve lived in and visited cities with streetcar lines and often longed for an America where tracks once again crisscross our cities. The past can […]

[highlight]Charlotte leaders have been talking about the outerbelt, Interstate 485, for decades. While most residents were concerned primarily with what it would mean for drive times, planners and others spent time contemplating the highway’s effect on the area’s growth. A sampling of comments over the years.[/highlight] “We’re going to have to get far more serious […]

As an urban planner with a national practice, I am frequently asked by friends and colleagues for an opinion on the Interstate 77 toll lane discussion. I’ve been all across the country this past year in areas that were either growing fast or dying slowly. So when I return home to see how a seemingly […]

At least when explorer John Lawson came through here in 1701 it was winter. Scott Huler, a Raleigh-based writer, is retracing Lawson’s route from Charleston, S.C., to Pamlico Sound, N.C., and Tuesday he hiked from Charlotte to Concord. When I picked Huler up for a midafternoon break, he had walked up North Tryon Street from […]

Richard Jackson thinks it’s time to stop blaming individuals for the U.S. obesity problem. The problem, he believes, is far more systemic, including the automobile-centric design of modern American life and the ready availability of high-sugar and high-fat foods. He thinks today’s parental fears of child abductions are not realistic and hurt children’s need for […]

Mike Lydon and Anthony Garcia’s much anticipated Tactical Urbanism – Short Term Actions for Long-Term Change is due out in a few weeks. Reading the galleys brings to mind how widespread and quickly this global movement has grown, Charlotte and Raleigh being no exception. The term tactical urbanism refers to quick, often temporary projects aimed […]

I’ve long had a question about the nature of uptown Charlotte. Why do Charlotte’s uptown blocks look more like “diamonds” than “squares”? Streets in other cities (such as Raleigh, Chicago and New York, for instance) go north-south and east-west in a classic grid pattern. Charlotte’s uptown streets are also in a grid, but they lie […]

Since the late 1990s, Charlotte has experienced a major policy shift toward creating more walkable streets. The evidence is seen in infrastructure investments that are making Charlotte a better place to walk. Yet the city still faces significant challenges: a legacy of our decades of auto-oriented development. On Monday, I gave a presentation to the […]

Last month PlanCharlotte reported on events that bode well for an evolving local biking culture. (See “To create a bike culture, Charlotte needs …”) Perhaps the capstone came Nov. 4, when the Charlotte voters approved by a whopping 70.2 percent majority allocating $5 million in planning funds for a $35-million cross-county bike-pedestrian trail. Many of […]

Charlotte’s transportation department is launching – again – an initiative to highlight pedestrian needs and improve policies for walkability. The new energy comes after the city landed on some not-so-flattering lists in the past year. In May, the Dangerous by Design report from the National Complete Streets Coalition and Smart Growth America ranked the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia […]