Articles about Environment and Planning

Bradford pears are a problem. For years, I didn’t want to admit it. I’d drive the highways of the Piedmont and the backroads of the Uwharries in early spring, noting the occasional white-blooming tree at the edge of the woods and trying to convince myself they weren’t as invasive as privet. And then came the fateful day I spotted an eye-popping thicket on a tract of fallow land along Highway...

Charlotte City Council on Tuesday approved two auto-centric developments in transit-oriented zones along the Blue Line light rail, a move some advocates fear will set a bad precedent as the city tries to move away from its dominant car culture. 

The developments — a Fifth Third Bank on Woodlawn Road with a drive-thru and a Chick-fil-A on South Boulevard near Interstate 485 — both won...

If all the pieces fall into place, some day in the future a new light rail train will pull out of the station at the Central Piedmont Community College Levine Campus in Matthews and head south into Union County.

It will turn down a two-lane country road lined with pine trees; run alongside U.S. 74, where there’s a stop at the Atrium Health Union West hospital in Stallings; then pull...

Despite the pandemic and economic uncertainty, 2021 was a banner year for Charlotte, with major developments announced, a long-awaited new vision plan for the city and big – if uncertain – steps towards a new transit plan.

The city’s growth isn’t expected to slow in 2022, but the ways in which Charlotte grows could change. City leaders will be trying to finalize new zoning and...