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Articles about Housing and Homelessness

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Single-family construction once dominated Mecklenburg, but that’s changed
   December 4, 2019

Nathan Griffin
After the 2008 recession, apartments came to dominate housing construction in Charlotte, reversing longstanding trends and outpacing the number of single-family buildings. What factors led to this, and will this furious pace of construction be sustainable? Read more
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Small towns and rural communities seek to boost affordable housing
   November 15, 2019
Mae Israel
Although housing affordability is often thought of as an issue in big cities, rural and suburban communities alike are struggling with the affordable housing crisis. And, like Charlotte, smaller communities are trying to figure out how to deal with the ballooning problem with limited resources. Regardless of where people are choosing to live, salaries aren’t keeping up with rapidly increasing... Read more
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There’s a housing affordability crisis in rural areas, too
   November 12, 2019

Christa Wagner Vinson
Charlotte has struggled with housing affordability in recent years, as the city faces rising rents and home prices driven by rapid growth and low supply.  But urban areas are not the only places grappling with these challenges, even though affordable housing is typically seen as an urban problem. Rural areas in the Carolinas Urban-Rural Connection study region are also experiencing a... Read more
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Charlotte suburbs grow faster as developers seek cheap land
   October 9, 2019

Nathan Griffin
Development has been sprawling. Places that were once rural now seem urban. Take Fort Mill, S.C., whose population, according to the American Community Survey, has nearly doubled since 2010. Many small towns have grown into bustling suburbs as developers search for large tracts of land to build residential communities. As the population grows, low-cost land and high volume are necessary to meet... Read more
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High rent, cost burdens, and inadequate supply: Five new, key facts about housing
   September 26, 2019
Ely Portillo
Charlotte and Mecklenburg County are still facing a large gap between the supply of affordable housing and the number of residents who need it, as inreasing rents and a tight housing market are squeezing more families’ budgets and putting them at risk of housing instability, evicion and homelessness.  Read more
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Can a community land trust stop gentrification in west Charlotte? This group thinks so.
   August 8, 2019

Jonathan McFadden

With a full-time executive director and a $200,000 grant, a three-year-old west Charlotte nonprofit is accelerating its efforts to stave off displacement with a housing strategy that’s unprecedented in this fast-developing city.

In the next five years, the West Side Community Land Trust wants to build 50 permanently affordable housing units in...

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A new local racial equity analysis tool highlights disparities in homelessness
   July 1, 2019

Mary Ann Priester and Courtney Morton, Mecklenburg County
According to local Point-in-Time Count data, 77 percent of people experiencing homelessness in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Continuum of Care are black. American Community Survey data indicates that only 31 percent of the general population in Charlotte-Mecklenburg is black. This is just one of the major disparities in our local housing and homelessness statistics highlighed by a new tool. Read more
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‘Repackaged Urban Renewal’? Research examines starter-home neighborhoods
   August 14, 2018
Mary Newsom
Two researchers conclude in a new article that many starter-home subdivisions in Charlotte, often built in industrial areas, saw neighborhood decline. Read more
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Can we revive real meaning of ‘affordable housing’?
   August 1, 2018

Does using the term “affordable housing” to mean subsidized housing lead us to stop considering housing affordability across the community? Commentary. Read more
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Eviction court: Where tenants, landlords, and the law converge
   June 7, 2018
Mary Newsom
When eviction lands in court, landlords usually have lawyers, and tenants rarely do. A local program to arm tenants with information aims to alter that imbalance. Read more