Historic preservation

Enthusiasts envision an arts district emerging in Cornelius

Could downtown Cornelius one day be home to an artsy district like Charlotte’s NoDa or Asheville’s River Arts District? As a tap room prepares to open next month, some local arts supporters are enthusiastic about what they’re calling Old Town Cornelius.

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) 

Neighbors fear lax oversight imperils Dilworth historic district

Have recent construction projects in Dilworth violated the historic district guidelines? Some neighbors say yes, and the city's historic district administrator agrees. (Photo: Chuck McShane)

Resources for neighborhoods

The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan applied research institute offering consulting services and public outreach for more than 40 years. We provide research and information to help the public understand the Charlotte region. Through our websites we offer articles and data on a range of issues that could be useful to neighborhood groups. (Image: Dylan McKnight) 

Gastonia working to lure artists downtown

An artists’ colony in downtown Gastonia? That may sound far-fetched to those who remember Gastonia's textile mill past. But the Community Foundation of Gaston County is working with the nonprofit Artspace to build a project in Gastonia by 2016. (Photo: Nancy Pierce)

Two-century-old mill site may be landmarked

Four properties proposed for historic landmarking will go before the Charlotte City Council on Monday – from the ruins of a Colonial-era grist mill site to a 1960s Modernist home. (Photo: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission)

Charlotte’s old buildings to get new study

With help from a federal grant, the City of Charlotte will for the first time in 30 years survey its historic buildings and neighborhoods to identify potential historic districts and landmarks. (Photo: Nancy Pierce)

Concord and Davidson Main Streets named ‘Great Places’ in state competition

Two of the region's main streets have won this year’s Great Places in North Carolina competition. Union Street in Concord and Main Street in Davidson were recognized among the state’s top downtowns in a competition from the N.C. chapter of the American Planning Association.(Photo: Nancy Pierce)

Saving Charlotte’s trees, one at a time

The historic Duke Mansion was nearly lost once to fire and later to plans to convert it to condominiums. Its historic landscape is just as vulnerable. But some outstanding efforts are preserving its tree-studded setting. (Image: Bing Maps)

We live with ghosts of cities past

Ghosts and cities often occur together, and not only in fiction. Kevin Lynch writes about how we "read" cities. Many descriptions of our surroundings are accompanied by the ghosts of what used to be there. Changes can leave scars on our mental map.