City Walks-Janes Walks

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 […]

Since the first U.S. zoning laws in the early 20th century, one of their essential principles has been separating uses. Houses, stores, apartments and offices were kept apart from each other. One unintended consequence was more traffic, as people needed to drive from place to place. Another was that, as jobs and work changed, zoning […]

Charlotte’s transportation department is launching – again – an initiative to highlight pedestrian needs and improve policies for walkability. The new energy comes after the city landed on some not-so-flattering lists in the past year. In May, the Dangerous by Design report from the National Complete Streets Coalition and Smart Growth America ranked the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia […]

Since the invention of zoning codes early in the 20th century, they have focused on separating uses. Houses could not mingle with offices or stores or apartments, and offices could not mingle with shops or factories, no matter how small or unobtrusive the factory. Apartments over stores were banned. Buildings were required to be set […]

Talk of the Towns is a PlanCharlotte series visiting planners from the 14-county Charlotte region. This installment takes us to Rock Hill in York County, S.C. The former industrial town of about 68,000 people is searching for a new image. Bill Meyer has been planning and development director in Rock Hill since 2006. He talked […]

In this new series, PlanCharlotte visits planners from around the 14-county Charlotte region. In this first installment, we head east to Albemarle. Much of the Charlotte region is fast-growing, but Albemarle’s population has remained flat. Keith Wolf has been with the city’s planning department since 2004 and planning director since 2011. He talked about economic […]

A 10-foot-wide asphalt path that officially opened Tuesday offers a glimpse of what could be a more pedestrian- and bike-oriented future for some of Charlotte’s least pedestrian-friendly thoroughfares. The path, 0.9 miles along University City Boulevard from Mallard Creek Church Road to UNC Charlotte’s main entrance at Broadrick Boulevard, is the first bike-ped trail along […]

It’s not easy getting around the Charlotte region on foot. It can be deadly, too. The Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia area ranks 10th most dangerous metro for pedestrians, according to a study, Dangerous by Design, released this week by the National Complete Streets Coalition and Smart Growth America. Last month, Smart Growth America ranked the Charlotte metro as […]

In Charlotte, one neighborhood more than any other came to represent the housing crisis. Built between 2002 and 2004, the Windy Ridge neighborhood of 133 small, single-family homes fell victim. By 2008, 60 percent of the neighborhood’s homes were in foreclosure. Crime rates rose, property values plummeted and the homeowners association couldn’t afford to keep […]