Stanly 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.

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.

From Paris to backcounty Stanly County: the Kron family tale

A Stanly County Museum exhibit tells the story of an unusual European immigrant family and may inspire deeper thinking about issues ranging from regional history, to the importance of place and identity, to the legacy of slavery. 

Talk of the Towns: Albemarle

PlanCharlotte kicks off an occasional series of conversations with planners around the metro region. The first visit is with Keith Wolf of Albemarle, a town dealing with slow population growth. (Photo: Chuck McShane) 

Big urban gains, rural losses in the Carolinas

Since 2010, the home counties of Charlotte and Raleigh have accounted for nearly half of all population growth in North Carolina. Just 10 N.C. counties tallied nearly 80 percent of the state's increased population. (Image: John Chesser, Tableau maps)

State tax credit ending, land trusts see flurry of preservation efforts

As the Dec. 31 end of a 30-year-old N.C. land preservation tax credit nears, regional land trusts scurry to finish preservation projects from donors hoping to use the credit before they lose it. (Photo: Catawba Lands Conservancy)

Charlotte-area residents invited to chart the region's future

Charlotte-area residents will have an additional opportunity to voice their opinion on the region’s growth. A fourth Mecklenburg County workshop will be held Oct. 24 at Freedom Park as part of the  “CONNECT Our Future” planning program. (Photo: Nancy Pierce)