DEVELOPMENT

Land conservationists in the Charlotte region face a vexing dilemma. The recession has preserved some tantalizing property that until recently was destined for development. But public and private organizations have precious little money to buy or otherwise protect the parcels they covet. Although conservationists expect the pace of growth eventually will pick up again, the […]

What happens when you save a wetland, but not the wet? On a winter’s walk last year through Flat Branch Nature Preserve, Chris Matthews, the county park department natural resources manager, saw the answer. The preserve, at Mecklenburg County’s southernmost tip, should have been dappled with pools, spongy with moisture. The water edges should have […]

MOORESVILLE – “Revolutionary” is not too strong a word for plans laid out Tuesday to a room full of government officials, consultants and interested laypeople. At a public workshop in Mooresville, some 150 people heard a lengthy and detailed proposal for reviving a planned but still unbuilt commuter rail line to Iredell County. Simply the […]

Amid the pervasive gloom and depression about the future of American cities I was lucky enough to visit recently two very different American places that hold out some hopes for a sustainable future here in the USA. On the face of it, Champaign-Urbana, Ill., and Boston, Mass., could not be more different: one a large […]

A summary presentation of population trends related to North Carolina. Based on Census 2010 preliminary (redistricting) data released in the spring of 2011. To see a PDF of the presentation: Download PDF Read the related article on this site.

The recently released South Carolina data from US Census 2010 now allow for a more complete picture of growth in the Charlotte Region in the last decade. The South Carolina counties of Chester, Lancaster and York form the southern flank of the 14-county Charlotte Region. The census data show York County was the second-fastest growing […]

Last week, the Appellate Court for the District of Columbia ruled against Alcoa’s petition requesting that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) proceed with issuing the company a new license to continue operating its dams along the Yadkin River. This ruling was not the final determination concerning who will own and operate Alcoa’s dams and […]

Despite early February blizzards across the northern U.S. that cancelled flights and upended travel plans, over 1,300 people came to Charlotte last week for the 10th annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference. About 1,000 of them came from outside the Carolinas, including a dozen or so from outside the U.S. They flocked to the […]

It’s no secret that the Charlotte region has been rapidly growing more urban over the past few decades. Yet despite the record expansion of the urbanized area experienced during economic boom times, private landowners cling to over two million acres of undeveloped land in the Charlotte metropolitan region. Why do these remnants of green persist? […]

The new Charlotte Regional Indicators Project website will go live in the next few months. This is part of a series of articles leading up to that date that will provide analysis of some of the data being tracked by the Indicators Project. How do you paint a picture of the region’s progress on environmental […]