DEVELOPMENT

Want to guess the large U.S. city rated worst for walkability by Walk Score®, the national rating system? That would be the Queen City. Here’s a link to its 2014 report. The top-rated city was New York, followed by San Francisco, Boston, Washington and Miami. Essentially, Walk Score measure how many amenities are within easy […]

A key city advisory committee Monday deferred a recommendation on a proposed rezoning to allow for an auto mall near a proposed light rail station in University City. The deferral by the Zoning Committee of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission until its Oct. 30 meeting means the decision on the proposal will fall to a newly […]

An artists’ colony in downtown Gastonia? Sounds far-fetched. But after studies, surveys and a yearlong fundraising campaign, it’s getting closer to reality. In May, the Community Foundation of Gaston County signed a pre-development contract with Artspace, a Minneapolis nonprofit that builds and maintains affordable live-work units for artists, to build a project in Gastonia by […]

A University City-area rezoning petition quietly winding toward a public hearing Monday raises serious questions about whether the city can stand behind its plans for transit-friendly development along the proposed Blue Line Extension light rail line. The case also highlights this fact: Today, almost all the properties in the station areas north of the NoDa […]

Last month, after about a year of study, consultants for the City of Charlotte delivered their assessment of the city’s zoning ordinance and associated development regulations. The study, which can be viewed at this link, was delivered in two parts, the Assessment Report and the Approach Report. Like the two parts of the report, after […]

Charlotte’s current zoning ordinance sometimes gets in the way of carrying out the city’s adopted plans, a consultant’s report concludes. It also can be a Byzantine set of confusing and sometimes contradictory requirements. The ordinance “does not include many modern zoning tools that would help ensure effective implementation of Charlotte’s land use policy goals,” says […]

Charlotte’s current zoning ordinance sometimes gets in the way of carrying out the city’s adopted plans, a consultant’s report concludes. It also can be a Byzantine set of confusing and sometimes contradictory requirements. The ordinance “does not include many modern zoning tools that would help ensure effective implementation of Charlotte’s land use policy goals,” says […]

It’s no secret that the Charlotte region experienced a huge influx of new residents in recent decades. The region has consistently ranked among the nation’s fastest-growing. All those newcomers also needed homes – so new homes were built by the thousands. The recently released American Community Survey 2007-2011 five-year estimates, reflected in the interactive map […]

Mae Jones looks out her front door every day at the empty, massive Loray Mill, about a mile from downtown Gastonia, and remembers the rumble of machines, the acrid odors and her hard work there for 35 years. Once, it was the lifeline of the surrounding mill village, and Jones, 93, is thrilled by efforts […]

WAXHAW – The question came from the back row of the small audience, during a presentation from planning consultants about the future for N.C. 16 as it bisects the fast-growing Union County town. “If we do all this, will we still be considered a small town?” Consultant Monica Holmes of Lawrence Group paused briefly before […]