Mary Newsom

Biography

Mary is a lifelong newspaper journalist who spent several decades at The Charlotte Observer as an editorial board member and columnist, concentrating on Charlotte regional urban and suburban growth, planning, urban design, transportation and land preservation. She left the Observer and joined the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute in 2011. She had a year-long Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University 2007-08, and in 2005-06 was a Knight Fellow in Community Building at the University of Miami. Newsom retired from the insitute in 2018 as Director of Urban Policy Initiatives, and is now a freelance writer in Charlotte. 

Education

A.B. Journalism UNC Chapel Hill

Expertise

Urban and suburban issues, Charlotte region and North Carolina politics and government, writing, editing and journalism.

Stories by Mary Newsom

Charlotte explores ways to help farmers markets, farmers

Would Mecklenburg County’s farmers markets have more impact if they worked together? Would that give more people access to local foods? Would it help farmers? A Charlotte study looks for answers.

Evictions: ‘This is a symptom of a greater problem.’

Each year thousands of people in Charlotte lose their homes to eviction. It’s not just a symptom of larger issues – high child care and transportation costs, rising rents and low wages – but can...

9 ways (and more) Charlotte could be a better city

What would famous urban observer Jane Jacobs advise Charlotte in 2017? We asked local planners and city thinkers.

Housing proves a hot topic in Charlotte

Charlotte readers snapped up a chance to hear best-selling author Matthew Desmond in September. Here’s how to get on the wait list.

UNCC researchers launch long-term study at Gaston preserve

As the Charlotte region urbanizes, scientists from UNC Charlotte describe how they’ll use a Gaston County site as a long-term observatory to monitor natural systems.