New toolkit lets you probe Charlotte history

Who used to live in your house? When was your neighborhood built? Was your subdivision legally segregated? How’d your street get its name?

Overcoming plant blindness: Seeing the extraordinary in the common

For a lay naturalist, springtime in the Uwharries can be exhausting. There’s a sense of urgency this time of year – the migrating birds and spring ephemerals come and go in a matter of weeks.  I’ve resorted to multi-tasking.  I’ve given up binoculars in favor of birding by ear. This allows me to identify the black and white warbler by its squeaky-wheel song as I search for wildflowers along a path through the bottomland forest. 

Adding open space: How other cities are opening streets to pedestrians during coronavirus

Across the Charlotte region, parks have been full and streets largely empty for the past several weeks, as people try to get out of their houses for fresh air and exercise while staying home from work and school. Other cities have been opening vast stretches of their streets to walkers, joggers, bicyclists and others seeking outdoor space while following social distance guidelines. The logic is simple: Auto traffic has plunged to levels no one could imagine two months ago, while millions of people need more places to be outside than often-inadequate parks. 

Three ways coronavirus is impacting Charlotte transit

More than a month into local stay-at-home orders and the shutdown of large parts of Charlotte’s economy, one area is clearly feeling the impact: public transit.  As might be expected, ridership numbers have plummeted, both as a result of workers staying  home and the Charlotte Area Transit System reducing hours. 

Crises and family violence: Sometimes home isn’t safe

Encouraging people to stay home, avoid non-essential outings is the main strategy to contain the spread of COVID-19. However, for those facing family violence, home can be anything but safe.  Advocates across the country are concerned about an increase in domestic violence and child abuse incidents, with schools closed and  families stuck at home.

What does coronavirus mean for the future of urbanism in Charlotte?

Monday night’s rezoning meeting felt like most Charlotte City Council sessions from previous years, despite the mayor and staff sitting six feet apart and developers battling audio and video glitches in the remote setup.  But even though developers are moving forward with most of their previously announced plans and cranes are still filling in the blank spaces on our city’s skyline with new towers, questions are swirling about what the era of COVID-19 means for the much-touted urban revival. 

What made our city so divided? This book traces the roots

Whether you have more time on your hands without a daily commute or you’re looking for something to read that’s not about the novel coronavirus, the new release of a classic book about Charlotte will shed light on the city’s inequalities. 

COVID-19 closes schools and brings on its own ‘summer slide’

Students lose 20% to 30% of their school year learning gains over the summer and research has found that students of color, students with disabilities and those from low income families experience greater summer learning loss than their peers — and now, the coronavirus pandemic threatens to compound these losses.

One month into the coronavirus crisis, food and housing insecurity rise

Since the coronavirus lockdowns began, Mecklenburg’s resource helpline has seen housing assistance requests jump 219% and food assistance jump 747%. These numbers are an indication of the dramatic impacts we’re seeing unfold on Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s economy. 

10 key questions for public administrators in the time of COVID-19

There will certainly be scores of studies and articles for years to come about lessons for public administrators from how our multiple levels and units of government managed the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. An important place to start is asking the right set of questions.