• Once crime-ridden, old mill villages blossom

    Once mill villages, then low-income, drug-ridden neighborhoods, Villa Heights and neighboring Belmont are undergoing a transformation fueled largely by young, white professionals in search of affordable housing close to uptown. Will the changes push out long-time residents?

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    Mae Israel
  • Goodwill sponsors new online resource

    In this period of high unemployment, not everyone has suffered equally.  Two populations of particular concern are veterans and youth.  Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont provides services to both of these populations and is a lifeline for some of the most vulnerable populations in the Charlotte region.  The agency is continuing its innovation and outreach efforts in a partnership with the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute by providing new resources to the community to understand who needs help now, and who may be at most risk in the future.

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    Jonathan Kozar
  • Harrisburg, N.C.: In search of a town center

    Over a decade ago, developers sought to build a downtown in a town that did not have one.  Harrisburg, N.C., which is  four miles east of Charlotte, was a collection of subdivisions and highway retail without a traditional center. Today, the 97-acre site remains incomplete.  What happened, and what should happen next?

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    Corbin Peters
  • Carolinas growth update: urban changes, rural losses

    Where are urban regions growing – in their cores or suburbs? What is happening in rural areas? New population figures have fostered speculation about what growth in urban regions will be like in the future.  For rural parts of the Carolinas, the issue isn’t about growth at all, but widespread decline in population.

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    John Chesser
  • School busing: Budget cuts change services

    Rising fuel prices add pressure to public school transportation operations that have already seen years of tight budgets. With each cost-cutting comes some change in service. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and Iredell-Statesville are two examples of districts that have significantly changed operations. Is there an objective way to measure the effect? Data just released for all N.C. public school transportation systems allows comparison across the state.

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    Kevin Hart

SPOTLIGHT

05.08.12 - 08:52AM
Environment
Native magnolias

When I was a kid, the ladies who worked at the public library in Troy used to float fragrant magnolia blossoms in large bowls of water on the checkout counter.  Suddenly, it was as if altos and sopranos had joined the bass and tenor scent of musty books

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Ruth Ann Grissom
05.08.12 - 03:53PM
Economic development
Is retail's future on display in region?

At a rural crossroads 30 miles from Charlotte, an experiment is under way that could reshape the national retail landscape. Walmart, famous for its ubiquitous supercenters averaging 185,000 square feet, is testing a much smaller, 15,000-square-foot format called a Walmart Express Store in the Stanly County town of Richfield, population 516. 

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Josh McCann
05.01.12 - 10:59AM
Environment
The loss of the great canebrakes

A prescribed burn on a part of the Low Water Bridge Preserve in February should help a particularly interesting species along the river – giant river cane.

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Crystal Cockman

Websites of the
UNC Charlotte
Urban Institute