Downtown Revitalization
Here and gone: When major buildings don’t even make it to middle age
Charlotte is a city that’s often criticized for tearing down its history. But some of the most significant demolitions of the past few decades haven’t been historic structures, but rather buildings that didn’t make it to middle age — or even puberty. In a fast-growing city, plenty of change is to be expected. The built […]
What’s next for uptown once the pandemic fades?
A few minutes after noon on a recent Friday, a single customer waited for lunch at the Halal food cart parked on the sidewalk at Trade and Tryon streets. A couple of workers in construction vests and a handful of security guards were the only other people in the plaza. The lunchtime crowd that would […]
Small towns like Badin have lessons for big cities like Charlotte
As Charlotte continues its quest to become a more urban and cosmopolitan city, is it possible that the small towns and former mill villages dotting the land around Charlotte have something to teach us about how to solve some of the biggest and most pressing needs facing our big cities and suburbs today? Bill Fulton, […]
Recreation as economic development: Lessons from two approaches
Rural communities around Charlotte are looking for new economic engines. Urban residents are looking for more outdoor recreation. That provides an opportunity for communities around Charlotte to use their public lands and waterways to fuel growth. And two areas in the region that were ahead of the curve offer lessons for other communities trying to […]
Chappell Russell and Justin Foley: Trying to recreate the South End lifestyle in a rural town
This story is one of seven vignettes in the series Rural by Choice: Navigating Identity in the Uwharries. Chappell Russell and Justin Foley were living the millennial dream. They met at Appalachian State. He worked for a large CPA firm in uptown Charlotte. She helped run a small dog-training business. They had an apartment in […]
From textiles to trails: A river’s changing path to prosperity
The South Fork of the Catawba is not the river Ted Reece remembers from his youth. Reece, 91, can still picture the South Fork backed up to form a massive pool serving the Mays and Mayflower mills’ dyeing and finishing operations. It was wide and flat enough to land a seaplane — a spectacle he witnessed in 1938 or ’39. “I probably […]
A ‘crisis that’s brewing’: How this program plans to help NC farmers
On weekday mornings, Davon Goodwin drops off his son at elementary school and heads to the Sandhills AGInnovation Center in Ellerbe to see what the day will bring. Some days he plants vegetables or fruit at the center, occasionally with the help of volunteers. When farmers show up needing a tractor, tillers or mobile refrigerated trailers, he checks out […]
Finding the Music, Part 3: ‘A 38-year overnight success story’
This is the third part in a three-part series. Read Part 1: Turning to musical heritage to fuel the future and Part 2: Looking for one ‘unique asset’ to catch up on the story. The revivalists in Shelby focused on “Uncle Earl” Scruggs and Don Gibson, approaching the county, the courthouse’s owner, about a first-rate […]
Finding the Music, Part 2: ‘We needed to do something bold’
This is the second part in a three-part series. Read Part 1: Turning to musical heritage to fuel the future to catch up on the story. You can find Part 3: ‘A 38-year overnight success story’ online as well. What happened in Shelby played out across the Carolinas, where textiles were once the driver of […]
Finding the Music, Part 1: A town reaches into its past to fuel a revival
This is the first part in a three-part series. Read Part 2: ‘We needed to do something bold’ and Part 3: ‘A 38-year overnight success story’ for the next parts of the story. Thirteen years later, Brownie Plaster is still bemused by the chorus of laughs that rose one May afternoon in 2006. At the […]