City Walks-Janes Walks

Since the 1990s, the NoDa neighborhood surrounding North Davidson and 36th streets in Charlotte has been branded as the city’s arts district. But in recent years the galleries that once clustered there have dwindled. Is NoDa still an arts district? Or has South End, along South Boulevard near uptown, overtaken it? Morgan Hamer, an artist […]

Tuesday was an almost perfect spring morning: cool, sun coming up and spring flowers ablaze. As I relished a morning walk about 4 miles south of uptown, I also relished something perhaps more gruesome. I gleefully squished dozens of green cankerworms that had fallen onto the street during Monday’s rain. April in Charlotte is a […]

Can the buildings, streets and sidewalks around you change your health? Richard J. Jackson thinks they can. Jackson, professor at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, has made the creation of healthier environments his life’s work. He’s the author of books including Urban Sprawl and Public Health, published in 2004, which examined the connections between […]

FOR UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION ABOUT EVENTS PLEASE CLICK HERE KEEPING WATCH on WATER: City of Creeks is a collaborative project between the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute and the College of Arts + Architecture. (Learn more here.) A series of related events is planned, including: Exhibit Projective Eye Gallery at UNC Charlotte Center City: March 27-June 17. […]

I’ve spent much of the past few months researching Mecklenburg County’s creeks, for a PlanCharlotte.org project called KEEPING WATCH on WATER: City of Creeks. A related gallery exhibit opened March 27 at UNC Charlotte Center City. To see a full list of events, click here, or visit KeepingWatch.org for updates. To whet your appetite for […]

FOR UP-TO-DATE EVENT INFORMATION ABOUT KEEPING WATCH, PLEASE VISIT KEEPINGWATCH.ORG What creek is in your neighborhood? Where did it come from, and where is it going? Why was Charlotte settled amid so many creeks? Are urban streams important? Where does rainwater go? Can we do anything to help with pollution or flooding? Why should we […]

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 […]

Every neighborhood has a story, but often the people who live there don’t know what they are or where to find them. Does it have a special landmark that ought to be preserved? What about an interesting history? Maybe it has environmental treasures or distinctive architectural features. Materials from workshops available online. Click here to […]

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 […]

During 2014, Americans became more aware than ever of the steadily growing role of data in our lives: a role that is influencing what we buy, shaping our connections with others, directing government policies and, through social media data-mining, making even our private behavior a commodity up for sale. Here at the UNC Charlotte Urban […]