Articles about the Economy

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Historical Overview Part 3: The rise of banking builds a globally connected region
   August 28, 2019

While Duke was building the world’s largest electrical network in the Western Piedmont, some Charlotte mill owners recognized that more money could be made loaning money to aspiring industrialists than making cloth themselves. Read more


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Defining our study area: How we picked the 32 counties
   August 28, 2019
Bill Graves
The city of Charlotte has a long reach. While this is certainly not a surprise, we don’t really know much about how Charlotte influences its surroundings and how far this reach extends.  That question helped us pick our 32-county study area.  Read more


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Immigrants play a big role in Charlotte’s growth, new study shows
   July 8, 2019
Ely Portillo
Almost one in six Mecklenburg residents were born outside the U.S., and immigrants make an outsized contribution to the local economy and many key industries.  That’s according to a new study that highlights the substantial role immigrants are playing in Charlotte’s booming growth. Immigrants make up big chunks of the local STEM, construction and manufacturing labor forces,. And they’re far... Read more


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Should Charlotte’s “brand” emerge organically or be something aspirational?
   June 25, 2019

John Paul Galles
There was a stir in town a few weeks ago, when the new Charlotte Regional Business Alliance CEO, Janet LaBar, commented to the Charlotte Observer, “I think Charlotte doesn’t have a brand. That’s not necessarily, today, good or bad. That just means that’s an opportunity for us to actually create one.” Read more


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Hoping to rebuild their downtowns, more NC cities are turning to baseball
   June 5, 2019
Ely Portillo
Smaller cities and towns across North Carolina are hoping an old, familiar sound will spark new life in their downtowns: The crack of a bat. Four new downtown ballparks with capacity for about 5,000 fans are popping up in the state, and officials are counting on them to draw new residents, breweries, restaurants and vitality.  Read more


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The number of farms in North Carolina is declining
   May 30, 2019
Crystal Cockman

“The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways.”
President John F. Kennedy

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Five maps that show inequality in Charlotte in surprising ways
   May 28, 2019
Ely Portillo
It turns out you can see disparities on the map in Charlotte across way more dimensions than traditional measures like household income.  Read more


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As development booms, Charlotte still wrestles with density
   May 21, 2019
Ely Portillo
With Charlotte’s population growing by more than 60 people a day, planners, politicians and many residents agree that denser development is inevitable in the city’s future. But just how dense - and where to build that extra density - remain thorny questions, especially when denser developments are proposed in single-family neighborhoods.  Read more


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Soaring Airbnb rentals make Mecklenburg County No. 2 in N.C.
   February 19, 2019
Mae Israel
Nearly five years ago, Amber Lineback bought a bungalow in Charlotte’s Plaza Midwood neighborhood not only to enjoy the eclectic community and its proximity to Uptown, but as a place where her parents might one day live too. Read more


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2018 North Mecklenburg Demographic and Housing Assessment
   February 6, 2019

On February 4, 2019, the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute and Lake Norman Economic Development Corporation released the 2018 North Mecklenburg Demographic and Housing Assessment. This report presents the findings from a demographics and housing assessment for the northern part of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (North Mecklenburg). Read more