Almost ten years ago, in the town of Bushwood, North Carolina, the “generous” owner of the historic textile mill building just off Main Street donated the property to the town (it was difficult to maintain and the owner didn’t want to pay property taxes on it any more). The town accepted the propert … Read more

A coalition in Greensboro is spearheading a campaign that would bring a relatively recent innovation in permanent supportive housing to North Carolina. An outgrowth of the increasingly popular tiny house movement, the development of multiple, standalone units connected to specialized services is gai … Read more

Retail development continues to be reliant on the anchor tenant, defined in the ICSC Glossary of Terms as the primary tenant and consumer draw in a mall or large shopping center that makes the overall development economically viable. Visit your nearest shopping center in Anytown, USA and these busin … Read more

Downtown revitalization takes many forms, and for some cities downtown parks are a major catalyst for redevelopment. From New York’s Central Park to Greensboro’s Central City Park, parks have not only provided open green space for recreation and community gatherings, but have also fostered interest … Read more

“Sprawl” is a word that comes up frequently in reference to the built environment in North Carolina. But what do we mean when we refer to sprawl? And is sprawl really “worse” here than in other parts of the Southeast, or of the country? A new report from Smart Growth America (SGA), a national non-pr … Read more

Summer 2014 saw increased attention paid to the issue of housing affordability in America with reports by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) and the New York Times highlighting the squeeze low and middle income households face from ever-incr … Read more

When the five small water systems in Hampton County, South Carolina decided to band together to create the Lowcountry Regional Water System (LRWS), they, like many other small water systems across the country, faced a number of managerial and financial obstacles. Among these challenges were a flat g … Read more

A historic school building in AnyPlace, North Carolina was recently left vacant when the local school district moved its administrative offices to a new space. The local governing board is interested in preserving the historic character of the school building, while also encouraging private redevelo … Read more

Across the United States, malls are an endangered species. Once a marker of local economic success, the traditional, enclosed shopping mall are becoming abandoned, irrelevant, and forgotten structures. Many anchor tenants, like J.C. Penney, are relocating or closing down altogether. The high costs a … Read more

A previous post by Tyler Mulligan explained how North Carolina local governments can utilize land banks to address vacant, abandoned, and tax foreclosed properties in their community. Additionally, case studies of land banks in Genesee County, Michigan and Fulton County, Georgia highlighted some uni … Read more