Affordable Housing

By Katie Zager
Last December, the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute, along with the Lake Norman Economic Development Corporation, released the 2023 North Mecklenburg Housing Needs Assessment. This was an update to a report the institute previously released in 2019.

The assessment included information for the three towns that make up northern Mecklenburg County (North Mecklenburg); Cornelius, Davidson, and Huntersville. Here’s what we found […]

How could community help us weather the impact of climate change? How might Charlotte’s ever-evolving housing market impact local schools? What does it mean to truly mend the harms of systemic racism? Those are just a few of the questions that UNC Charlotte faculty members will work to answer as part of the fifth cohort […]

When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? For me, the answer usually rotated between some sort of doctor or a writer. I grew up in an environment that recognized my strengths and weaknesses and offered resources to work on both. In middle school when I struggled with depression, […]

The Charlotte region is not building enough new housing. That reality helps explain why the people of greater Charlotte confront a growing affordability challenge. According to Canopy Realtor Association, the average sales price in the Charlotte region was $417,430 in January 2023, up nearly $150,000 from an average sales price of $268,271 in January 2019—a […]

On February 27, 2023, the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute and Town of Matthews shared findings from the 2022 Matthews Housing Needs Assessment. The study report includes findings about demographics, housing, land use, and key informant perspectives related to Matthews’ housing. The report also offers recommendations for advancing affordable housing as the population in Matthews continues […]

‘Tis the season for holiday movies. We can choose a variety of films–comedies, dramas, even horror–but regardless of whether we’re watching an old classic or a new release, Hollywood tends to stick to a standard script when it comes to depicting the ideal home. Almost always, the characters live in (or aspire to live in) […]

In September 2022, the median home sales price in the Charlotte region was $380,000, according to the Canopy Realtor Association. And a search on Rent.com for Charlotte rentals listed for $1,000 or less per month resulted in only 46 properties of 1,769 total (or 2.6%). Our region has a growing housing affordability problem. Unfortunately, the […]

Does development mean displacement? Four Takeaways from the 2022 Schul Forum At the recent 2022 Schul Forum, we examined development and displacement with the help of our keynote speaker, Dr. Karen Chapple, and a local panel. We also got a brief overview of data tools in our community that help us understand displacement risk and […]

If “superstar” cities rationalize their land-use policies, what does it mean for the Charlotte region? As the global economy increasingly rewards technological innovation, the gains from productivity enhancements have not been distributed evenly across cities and regions. The residents of so-called “superstar” cities–including Boston, New York, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle–have captured a disproportionate […]

Our first Schul conversation this fall focused on gentrification and displacement – a conversation that’s necessary and often difficult. The discussion featured three panelists: one of our Gambrell Faculty Fellows, Dr. Kendra Jason; Charlotte attorney and community housing advocate, Ismaail Qaiyim; research economist at the US Census Bureau, Dr. Kate Pennington; and our Director of […]