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Data that show why Charlotte houses are so expensive - and scarce
   July 28, 2021
Ely Portillo

Buying a house in the Charlotte region has, in many ways, never been more challenging. Buyers face a dizzying array of obstacles: A historic supply crunch, skyrocketing prices and homes that sell faster and faster each month. 

The reasons are numerous. Housing supply never fully recovered after the 2008 economic crash and Great Recession drove homebuilders out of business; pandemic-...

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Supporting Charlotte’s minority-owned small businesses
   June 29, 2021
Angelique Gaines

A study released this week by the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute sheds light on the unique challenges minority-owned small businesses face and how the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community can better support these enterprises, which are key to community well-being and wealth-building.

Defined as businesses with fewer than 500...

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Poverty suburbanization and job access: A new study tests ‘spatial mismatch’
   June 16, 2021
Ely Portillo

Does where you live — and what jobs you have access to — influence whether you work, and how much you earn?

The long-held “spatial mismatch” theory posits that inner city unemployment and poverty has been driven in large part by the increasing physical separation of inner city residents from job opportunities, as suburbs boomed and employers dispersed away from urban cores. As Black...

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Wall Street-backed landlords now own more than 11,000 single-family homes in Charlotte
   June 9, 2021
Ely Portillo, Justin Lane

For decades, the single-family home rental market was a small-scale industry, made up almost entirely of local landlords who rented out a few houses they bought as investment properties, or perhaps inherited, or held on to after relocating.

But the years since the Great Recession have witnessed a dramatic shift, as Wall Street-backed rental companies moved in to...

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Tracking confirmed coronavirus cases in our region
   December 14, 2020

This map shows the cumulative number of confirmed coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents in the 14-county region the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute serves. The number varies significantly between the counties, which could be a reflection of factors ranging from population density to how many tests have been administered. This map, and the below graphics, will be updated on a regular basis. To...

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New report release: Single adult homelessness integrated data
   December 10, 2020
Bridget Anderson
Courtney LaCaria

Mecklenburg County Community Support Services recently released the Single Adult Homelessness Integrated Data (SAHID) Report. This is the first community report focused specifically on single adult homelessness. The report is part of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg...

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Trust in neighbors and police: Who has it and what does it mean for Charlotte?
   November 18, 2020
Bridget Anderson, Kailas Venkitasubramanian, Ph.D., Lori Thomas, Ph.D.

This article was written by the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute. Data used in this series was collected in partnership with Leading on Opportunity, Opportunity Insights, Communities in Schools, YMCA of Greater Charlotte, Foundation For The Carolinas, and SHARE Charlotte, with staff funding from The Gambrell Foundation. See more results from the...

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Social Capital: A Tale of Caution and a Tale of Hope for Charlotte
   September 10, 2020
Bridget Anderson, Kailas Venkitasubramanian, Ph.D., Lori Thomas, Ph.D.

This article was written by the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute. Data utilized in this series was collected in partnership with Leading on Opportunity, Opportunity Insights, Communities In Schools, YMCA of Greater Charlotte, Foundation For The Carolinas and SHARE Charlotte, and with staff funding from The Gambrell Foundation. To see more results from the 2019 Mecklenburg Social Capital...

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Five key findings about the impact of COVID-19 on local renters and prioritizing rental assistance
   September 3, 2020
Bridget Anderson, Katie Zager, Lori Thomas, Ph.D., Sydney Idzikowski

COVID-19 has had an immediate and potentially lasting impact on the housing stability of low-income renters in Charlotte and the nation. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced a federal eviction moratorium through the end of 2020, missed rent is not being forgiven.

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Housing First Process Evaluation: Many housed, but lessons to learn
   September 3, 2020
Lori Thomas, Ph.D.
Joanne Carman

Housing First Charlotte-Mecklenburg (HFCM) was launched in 2015 to end chronic homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg by scaling housing first, particularly the housing first permanent supportive housing model.

Housing first programs prioritize housing as an early step in service delivery, have low-barrier admissions policies, maximize client choice in housing and services, use a harm...

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