1. Home
  2. Articles & Research
  3. Publications & Reports

Publications & Reports

[title_1]
Child and youth integrated homelessness data report: Part 2
   July 15, 2020
Bridget Anderson
Courtney LaCaria
Last week’s blog post featured the release of The Child... Read more
[title_1]
Child and youth integrated homelessness data report: Part 1
   July 8, 2020
Bridget Anderson
Courtney LaCaria
There are thousands of children and youth in households every year in Charlotte-Mecklenburg that access housing or housing-related services as a result of their experience of homelessness and/or housing instability. However, these services and the data collected by them, are not linked. This means that describing child and youth homelessness using one data source provides only a sliver of the... Read more
[title_1]
The Racial Wealth Gap in Charlotte-Mecklenburg
   June 18, 2020

This series was based on a report by the Urban Institute, compiled with support from Bank of America, ​which partners with the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute and the Institute for Social Capital on research that provides insight into community initiatives. Join us each Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. on Twitter for...

Read more
[title_1]
The historical roots of the racial wealth gap in Charlotte
   May 12, 2020

Wealth is more than money. While simply defined as the net amount of assets over liabilities, wealth functions in more expansive ways. It opens doors to homeownership, no-debt or low-debt education, business ownership, and the ability to weather personal and national emergencies.  These opportunities and the racial wealth gap that locks some groups out — White households in the... Read more
[title_1]
The impact of the racial wealth gap in Charlotte-Mecklenburg
   May 4, 2020
Lori Thomas
James E. Ford

This is the first in a series, based on a report by the Urban Institute. Read Part 2 here. The report was compiled with support from Bank of America, ​which partners with the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute and the Institute for Social Capital on...

Read more
[title_1]
Book review: Can we fix our struggling bus systems?
   November 22, 2019
Martin Zimmerman
There’s been a lot of discussion lately within transit planning circles about how to attract customers to ailing regional bus networks that connect core cities, nearby towns, and far-flung suburbs — including the Charlotte Area Transit System. A handful of bus systems have actually grown, such as Austin, Houston and especially Seattle. But overall, the prognosis for bus ridership is grim. Read more
[title_1]
Building on natural assets: How Burke County is capitalizing on recreation
   November 20, 2019
Jeff Michael
Rural communities around Charlotte are looking for new economic engines. Urban residents are looking for more outdoor recreation. That provides an opportunity for communities around Charlotte to use their public lands and waterways to fuel growth. And two areas in the region that were ahead of the curve offer lessons for other communities trying to tap this potential source of growth (one in the... Read more
[title_1]
A changing landscape: Who are the Uwharries for?
   November 20, 2019
Ruth Ann Grissom
In the years after World War II, my dad could roam the Uwharries with his .22 and his trusty squirrel dog, a feist named Spot. A boy didn’t have to worry about trespassing on a neighbor’s property; he only had to avoid the occasional moonshine still. Despite changes in land use — and an influx of outdoor enthusiasts from across the Piedmont and beyond — boys (and girls) in the Uwharries can... Read more
[title_1]
A border problem? Unexpected ways the state line influences our behavior
   November 11, 2019
Bill Graves, Katie Zager
We don’t often think about crossing state lines. Other than changes in gas prices or the availability of fireworks, there’s little visible difference as you cross from North Carolina into South Carolina, or vice versa. But that line appears to influence our behavior, at least when it comes to how we spend leisure time. Read more
[title_1]
Banks? NASCAR? Food? How branding aims to find the Charlotte region’s identity
   November 4, 2019

Jonathan McFadden
From basketball to banks, Charlotte’s got a lot (as the slogan goes). But critics say one thing is missing: an actual brand. Compared to iconic city identities such as Nashville’s “Music City” and even Rockland, Maine’s claim to fame as the “lobster capital of the world,” Charlotte seems to lack one defining characteristic that sets the city and its surrounding counties apart. Read more