Articles

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Piedmont prairies offer glimpses of region's distant past
   April 24, 2012

Only about a dozen of these rare landscapes remain in the Charlotte region, but those that have been protected are doing well, experts say.  Read more


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Harrisburg, N.C.: In search of a town center
   April 24, 2012

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? Read more


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Empowering women transforms societies: Women’s Summit 2012
   April 24, 2012

In Mecklenburg County, women are appointed to city and county boards at the same rate that they are applying.  If more women run for board positions, more are likely to be appointed, and it takes just three women on a board to really influence decisions being made.  This was just one of the messages presented to the more than five hundred people who attended the 2012 Charlotte-... Read more


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Rattlesnakes can lower your taxes: The Wildlife Conservation Land Program
   April 24, 2012
Ruth Ann Grissom
Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.” Given the sticker shock many of us received when we opened our property revaluation notices, I imagine plenty of folks wouldn’t mind our society being a little less civilized. Read more


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Place matters and matters of place
   April 20, 2012

I’ve been struggling with the question of what exactly makes a place feel like "a place." You may be baffled by that language, but if you think about it, you probably recognize that being in different kinds of places imparts a different feeling. This mysterious characteristic of place can be defined, but it isn’t easy.... Read more


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Celebrate Jane Jacobs on walking tour of Central Avenue
   April 19, 2012
Mary Newsom
Explore. Notice. Treat a city as a living system, with intricacies of place, economy and culture. That’s the philosophy behind the Jane Jacobs Walk movement. PlanCharlotte.org and Levine Museum of the New South will sponsor Charlotte's first Jane Jacobs Walk, on May 5. Here's how you can register. Read more


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City Planning Director Debra Campbell: ‘I’m an incrementalist’
   April 18, 2012
Mary Newsom
Do developers have undue influence in Charlotte? Does the city's zoning ordinance need a revamp? And can Charlotte residents get used to development that looks different from what they’re used to? Charlotte Planning Director Debra Campbell tackles these questions and more. Read more


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Carolinas growth update: urban changes, rural losses
   April 18, 2012

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. Read more


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Matthews store sees future in its farming past
   April 11, 2012

The farmer points toward a long stretch of turned earth warming in the sun. Tomatoes and squash will grow well there, and more crops over there. Behind him, fruit trees cast shadows. It’s bucolic enough you almost forget the steady buzz of traffic behind you. Because this farmer is, in fact, a store owner, and this farm is in downtown Matthews. Read more


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Get revenge on weeds: Eat them
   April 10, 2012
Ruth Ann Grissom
Our yard in the Uwharries always looks especially mangy in early spring. The fescue gets lost in a flush of winter annuals like chickweed, buttercups and henbit. Since weeds are a fact of life in my yard, I’ve tried to make peace with them. Sometimes I eat them.   Read more