Rowan County

Can we build our way out of the housing affordability crisis?

There’s a growing consensus that if we want to get out of the housing affordability mess we’re in, we need to hear a lot more swinging hammers. Policymakers, developers and housing advocates are all talking about the need to build more, and more of everything: single-family houses, duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, townhouses and apartments. It’s fast become the conventional wisdom that we need to lower regulatory barriers, streamline the development process and unleash the power of the market on our housing problems by allowing as much density as possible.

Invisible pollution: Spotlight on clean air coming to Charlotte

It’s all around us, but we usually can’t smell or see air pollution. A major art piece and a series of events coming to Charlotte this spring could help change that.

Study: Charlotte region lags in food economy, farmers markets

A new report finds Charlotte and its region are underperforming in many measurements of its local food economy. 

Feds want metro transportation planning less fractured. Good luck with that.

Transportation planning in the greater Charlotte region is split among five planning groups. Will a federal push to consolidate make a difference?

George E. Davis – Rosenwald agent extraordinaire

Charlotte's George E. Davis, a tireless advocate for education and one of the leading advocates for the building of Rosenwald schools, was a major reason that a number of these schools were built in North Carolina.

Aging Rosenwald Schools recall long-ago optimism

Only a fraction of the Rosenwald Schools remain, reminders of a remarkable early 20th-century partnership of rural black communities in the South and a Jewish philanthropist from Chicago. Those remaining in Mecklenburg range from lovingly restored to painfully dilapidated.

How prevalent is multifamily throughout the Charlotte region?

The old planners’ joke is that Americans hate two things for their cities—urban sprawl and high density. PlanCharlotte examined where in this metro region multifamily is, and where it isn’t. Some communities, hoping to attract more Millennials, want more multifamily. Others’ long-range plans discourage multifamily development.

Has Charlotte metro income really declined?

Recently the site FiveThirtyEight.com reported that of the largest U.S. metros, only Charlotte’s median income, “experienced a statistically significant decline” in 2013. What’s going on?

Towns fear loss of government offices will sap downtown vitality

Several local governments in the N.C. Piedmont are considering moving offices out of downtown. Those plans worry downtown development officials and business owners, who fear downtown vitality will be lost.

Talk of the Towns: Salisbury

Salisbury hopes to draw new residents to downtown, a key to increasing the customer base for stores and restaurants, says Salisbury Planning Director Janet Gapen. The city's other big push: remaking some streets so they are safer for pedestrians. (Photo: Nancy Pierce)