TRANSPORTATION

Two weeks ago I beamed with pride for Charlotte as U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Mayor Dan Clodfelter cut the ribbon to begin the CityLynx Gold Line streetcar service. I’ve lived in and visited cities with streetcar lines and often longed for an America where tracks once again crisscross our cities. The past can […]

[highlight]Charlotte leaders have been talking about the outerbelt, Interstate 485, for decades. While most residents were concerned primarily with what it would mean for drive times, planners and others spent time contemplating the highway’s effect on the area’s growth. A sampling of comments over the years.[/highlight] “We’re going to have to get far more serious […]

As an urban planner with a national practice, I am frequently asked by friends and colleagues for an opinion on the Interstate 77 toll lane discussion. I’ve been all across the country this past year in areas that were either growing fast or dying slowly. So when I return home to see how a seemingly […]

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 […]

Last month PlanCharlotte reported on events that bode well for an evolving local biking culture. (See “To create a bike culture, Charlotte needs …”) Perhaps the capstone came Nov. 4, when the Charlotte voters approved by a whopping 70.2 percent majority allocating $5 million in planning funds for a $35-million cross-county bike-pedestrian trail. Many of […]

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 […]

[highlight]Would more Charlotteans bicycle more often if the city had more bike lanes? More bike lanes protected from traffic? Or more off-road paths, such as greenways? Would showers and bike lockers at more workplaces encourage more bicycle commuting? Maybe, instead, the most important thing to do is offer better education, for motorists and cyclists, so […]

The following is an excerpt from Chuck McShane’s new book, A History of Lake Norman: Fish Camps to Ferraris, published by the History Press. “Lake Norman may seem as fixed a part of the hillsides that enfold it,” began the Charlotte Observer editorial on Oct.1, 1977. “But it is a baby, scarcely older than a […]

In August, 34 officials and community leaders from nine Knight communities traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark, and Malmo, Sweden, to study how to make their cities more livable. The trip was organized by 8-80 Cities and sponsored by Knight Foundation. The Charlotte team members who traveled to Scandinavia had a range of experience on bicycles; they […]

It was an attention-getting moment Monday night: The Charlotte City Council voted 7-4 to apply for a $75 million* federal grant for the second phase of its controversial streetcar project. As is typical, council members said why they supported or opposed the project. Council member Michael Barnes, for example, said, “I don’t think it’s in […]