Urban Institute

More groups of people will be out walking through Charlotte neighborhoods during May, telling stories and sharing experiences about the places they live, as part of the “City Walks” initiative.

The UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture and Urban Institute will launch the third year of the KEEPING WATCH initiative with a focus on air quality and the city’s tree canopy. Events will begin in early March and continue through the end of May.

Mary Newsom, associate director for urban and regional affairs at the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute, will moderate “People, Places and Pride: Charlotte’s Historic Black Neighborhoods” at 2:30 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 28, at the Levine Museum of the New South.

Mattie Marshall, president of the Historic Washington Heights Community Association; Second Ward/Brooklyn documentary filmmaker Kathryn Frye; and John Howard from the Charlotte Historic District Commission will discuss the rich history and uncertain future of black neighborhoods in the Queen City.

The flow of life along the Catawba River changed dramatically about 50 years ago when Duke Energy created Lake Norman with the construction of Cowans Ford Dam in 1963. The lake and its surrounding region saw small farms, large plantations, mills and more replaced by state-of-the-art homes and businesses, nuclear power structures and a recreational lake culture – along with less visible changes such as shifting fish populations and a rise in community activism and environmental protection.

The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute has been accepted into the National Neighborhood Indicator Partnership (NNIP), which is a collaborative effort by the Washington D.C.-based Urban Institute and local partners to further the development and use of neighborhood information systems in local policymaking and community building.
Membership in the network opens participation in conferences and other learning opportunities as well as participation in cross-site research projects.

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Foundation (CMCF) has awarded the UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture a $10,000 grant for the KEEPING WATCH initiative, a three-year project led in partnership with the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute.
Working with historians, writers, artists, scientists and environmental experts, KEEPING WATCH is exploring three local environmental issues: plastic waste and recycling (KEEPING WATCH on PLASTICS, 2014), urban streams (KEEPING WATCH on CREEKS, 2015), and air quality and the value of trees (KEEPING WATCH on AIR, 2016).

Is “urban agriculture” possible in a city like Charlotte? Can backyard chickens and rooftop gardens solve urban hunger?
The public will get a chance to consider those questions – and sip free martinis made from local ingredients – at the June 13 KEEPING WATCH Clean Martini Screens. This free, public event will be 6 to 9 p.m. at UNC Charlotte Center City.
The evening includes a showing of “Growing Cities,” a documentary that details urban farming successes across the nation. Short clips from agricultural eco-artist Jean Paul Ganem will be part of the event.

The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, in partnership with the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, will present the second annual Charlotte Data Day on Tuesday, June. 17.
A series of presentations, discussions and interactive workshops led by experts in the field will familiarize attendees with Charlotte housing-related data. Topics include homelessness, affordable housing, planning, and the changing real estate market.
The event will be held 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at UNC Charlotte Center City.

The Blumenthal Foundation of Charlotte has awarded the University $22,500 for a collaborative initiative that will increase the profile of and engage the public in issues about the natural environment.

For 30 years, the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute has surveyed Mecklenburg County residents. The results of this annual survey have become an important resource for local governments and nonprofit agencies to discern community attitudes about issues that may impact their work.