ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Charlotte arts institutions seek out more diverse voices
As the McColl Center for Art + Innovation enters its second decade, its leaders are trying to increase collaboration with new and emerging artists. “It’s a very exciting time for Charlotte,” said president and CEO Alli Celebron-Brown. “Looking back at the last decade, everything that is available has increased and shifted…We’re looking at what’s happening […]
Soaring Airbnb rentals make Mecklenburg County No. 2 in N.C.
Nearly five years ago, Amber Lineback bought a bungalow in Charlotte’s Plaza Midwood neighborhood not only to enjoy the eclectic community and its proximity to Uptown, but as a place where her parents might one day live too. She built a garage with a second-floor furnished one-bedroom apartment, featuring a full kitchen, washer, dryer and […]
Food waste composting project in North End to get larger test
For years, food waste has been cast as a financial and moral issue, with money and opportunities to feed the hungry lost when food is tossed in the garbage. It also is increasingly becoming an environmental problem as scraps and spoiled food fill landfills across the country, where they emit potent greenhouse gases. In Charlotte […]
Q&A with urban planner Ryan Gravel, author of ‘Where We Want to Live’
Ryan Gravel, an urban planner, designer and author of “Where We Want to Live,” travels the country talking about the need for a bold and provocative approach to managing the growth of cities and its impact on lifestyles of residents. Gravel’s 1999 master’s thesis was the catalyst for creating the Atlanta Beltline, a 22-mile transit […]
Golden Anniversary year: Celebrating our history, changing to greet our future
“Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” – John F. Kennedy As the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2019, we are reflecting on how our history and growth mirror both the region we focus […]
S.C. communities near Charlotte ‘bursting at the seams’, raise impact fees
As more people buy homes and rent apartments in fast-growing South Carolina communities on the outskirts of Charlotte, officials increasingly are taking a stand: New development must help pay for schools, law enforcement, fire protection and parks. Over the past few years, elected officials have either approved new impact fees for residential and commercial construction […]
South End: From mills to millennials
Imagine it’s 2030 and Charlotte’s popular South End has grown up like other neighborhoods in an increasingly urban and transit-friendly city. What does this area, just on the outskirts of uptown’s skyscrapers, look like? And most importantly, who is living there? A new South End Vision Plan, adopted in June by the Charlotte City Council […]
Study: Charlotte region lags in food economy, farmers markets
The Charlotte region lags comparable areas in the robustness of its local food economy across multiple metrics, concludes the draft of a year-long study by the City of Charlotte. The report from consultants KarenKarp & Partners examines the state of farming in the metro region, the landscape of farmers markets in Charlotte, wholesale activity in […]
More self-storage can mean more abandoned goods
The day’s events could be called Storage Wars, The Local Version. From Shelby, Michelle Francis showed up nearly 50 miles away at Cherry Road Self Storage in Rock Hill on a recent Monday morning to shop for her thrift store. She’s usually out scouring self-storage units somewhere in the Charlotte area a couple times a […]
When downtowns come alive again
SHELBY — If you’re thinking downtowns are dead, you haven’t been paying attention lately. I recently got an earful of downtown success stories from some of North Carolina’s smaller cities and towns, where residents have worked hard for decades to bring life back to once-hollow downtowns. The occasion was the annual North Carolina Main Street […]