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Part 1: How the Blue Line Extension changed Charlotte development
   September 7, 2021

Nathan Griffin

The pandemic has transformed so much about the world, including how we work, where we work, and how we commute. As a result of these shifts, Charlotte area transit use has fallen to less than 50% of pre-pandemic levels.

And while debates continue on whether these effects are permanent or temporary, city planners are pushing for transit expansion.

The ambitious “Charlotte Moves...

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Part 2: The relationship between design and transit use
   September 7, 2021

Nathan Griffin

In Part 1 of this series, I showed that there was a sharp increase in development since construction began on the Blue Line Extension in 2013. 

Since then, there has been nearly $1 billion in new construction and 7,400 new residential units alongside the line. And despite the...

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Mapping displacement risk in Charlotte
   July 14, 2021

Providence Adu

As Charlotte grows rapidly, concerns about gentrification and displacement have become key issues for city government to address. Tracking gentrification and displacement can be challenging, as this process of neighborhood change is slow and takes many forms across space and time. However, when analyzed with viable data sources, areas that are potentially vulnerable to gentrification and...

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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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Updated maps let you explore Charlotte’s changing housing
   February 18, 2021
Ely Portillo

Which Charlotte neighborhoods have gotten denser, with more residences per acre? Where have average home sizes ballooned? Is the proportion of single-family homes rising or falling in neighborhoods where new apartments and tear-downs vie for space?

Newly updated maps on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Quality of Life Explorer allow you to probe these...

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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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Mapping Charlotte’s lost buildings: Demolitions on the rise again
   August 10, 2020

Nathan Griffin
Charlotte’s aging buildings are being torn down at an alarming rate, the product of a fast-growing population and strong real estate market. Read more
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Charlotte’s losing its green canopy, despite efforts to save trees
   July 13, 2020
Ely Portillo
Doug Shoemaker
Charlotte is losing over three football fields a day worth of trees. That’s the sobering conclusion of a study by the University of Vermont in collaboration with TreesCharlotte, detailing how development, age, storms and other factors have cut down Charlotte’s tree coverage. The percentage of Charlotte covered by tree canopy fell from 49% to 45% of the city between 2012 and 2018. Read more
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Coronavirus resources: Data, maps and more
   May 19, 2020
Ely Portillo
The coronavirus pandemic has generated a flood of data, maps and other resources to track the spread — and places to get help — throughout the region. Many of these resources are scattered across different websites and dashboards. Here’s a brief summary of what’s available, collected in one place. We will update this list as the pandemic goes on. Read more
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New maps show Charlotte demographic trends
   September 30, 2019

New data on the Quality of Life Explorer mapping tool paint a picture of how demographics are changing across Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, as well as other measures such as bicycle friendliness, voter participation and average water consumption. Read more