Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger has calendared the Greene Tract resolution for a vote at town council’s Nov. 17 meeting — after the election, so that voters can’t hear candidates’ views on development of one of the last remaining natural areas in Chapel Hill, but before new council members who might be more committed to […]
You can’t live in good intentions
When it comes to increasing the supply of affordable housing in Chapel Hill, town councils over the years mean well, but little comes out of the ground. Read more in my editorial for The Local Reporter.
Posted by NancyDon on June 29, 2020
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2020/06/29/you-cant-live-in-good-intentions/
2020 Census
Learn more about the 2020 Census from my article in The Local Reporter. — Nancy Oates
Posted by NancyDon on February 4, 2020
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2020/02/04/2020-census/
Editorial in The Local Reporter
What can we do to chip away at the intractable situation of homelessness? Begin with the facts. Our solutions will be more effective if we start with the facts. See my editorial in The Local Reporter, https://thelocalreporter.press/the-facts-on-homelessness/. — Nancy Oates
Posted by NancyDon on January 13, 2020
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2020/01/13/editorial-in-the-local-reporter/
Guidelines Matter
In its quest to increase the commercial tax base, the Town Council in 2014 approved form-based code for the Ephesus-Fordham, now Blue Hill, district. FBC shifted approval for development projects from council to the town manager in that defined area around Rams and Village plazas and Eastgate. Council drew up some guidelines about maximum building […]
Posted by NancyDon on March 26, 2018
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/03/26/guidelines-matter/
Pioneering the Innovation District
Credit the JOBS Act for two recent Carolina grads stepping off a clear path to success and choosing to pioneer Chapel Hill’s fledgling Innovation District. Then-President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups legislation in 2012 to remove some obstacles to success for entrepreneurs. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s new regulations were finally enacted in […]
Posted by NancyDon on September 4, 2017
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/09/04/pioneering-the-innovation-district/
Conflicting Priorities
Bonnie Hauser, founder of Orange County Voice, shares her insight into factors that affect housing affordability: Last month the N.C. General Assembly (NCGA) took away Orange County’s authority to collect impact fees on new home construction. It was a low blow by Raleigh politicians but brings new insights into the important topic of affordability. Thirty […]
Posted by NancyDon on August 7, 2017
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/08/07/conflicting-priorities/
Light Rail at Our Own Risk
Alex Cabanes, the founder of SmartTransitFuture.org, has done in-depth analysis of the proposed Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit project and has explored its implications and transit alternatives. He shares his insight into the latest plot twist of the DOLRT saga. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approved moving the 17.7-mile light-rail project into the engineering phase — […]
Posted by NancyDon on July 31, 2017
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/07/31/light-rail-at-our-own-risk/
How we got DOLRT debt
I pay off my credit card debt in full every month. Those in the credit card industry refer to my ilk as “deadbeats” because the credit card company reaps no interest from me, only the 3% fee from merchants. I’m fiscally conservative, and it will take more than name-calling to convince me to pay usury-level […]
Posted by NancyDon on May 8, 2017
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/05/08/how-we-got-dolrt-debt/
A sense of place
Talk about your humble pie. I’ve long joined the throngs dissing Cary for its Stepford wives design standard ordinances and over-regulation of how development should look. Then I made a field trip to Waverly Place, a shopping center at the intersection of Kildaire Farm and Tryon roads. I realized that at least in this redevelopment […]
Posted by NancyDon on August 24, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/08/24/a-sense-of-place-2/