Elkins Hills homeowners and renters turned out in force last Wednesday to convince council members to grant the protections of a Neighborhood Conservation District from what they see as the too-fast pace of development townwide. But one lone property owner and landlord gave council pause when he asked about how an NCD should be used. […]
All posts tagged affordability
Who determines livability?
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 19, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/10/19/who-determines-livability/
Just because they can
Last week a man carried a loaded assault rifle into the Atlanta airport while he dropped off his daughter for her flight. Georgia passed a law last year that allows permitted gun owners to carry loaded weapons in an airport, as long as they don’t go through the TSA security checkpoint. The man said he […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 8, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/06/08/just-because-they-can/
The other 1 percent
“Lies and misinformation,” Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt responded to a Dogwood Acres resident who questioned whether and how much Obey Creek would cost taxpayers. I have heard what could be called lies and misinformation during the Obey Creek Development Agreement process, and it has come from the development team. A case in point: Affordable housing. Obey […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 18, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/05/18/the-other-1-percent/
Who we want to be
Everybody lives somewhere, Lisa Sturtevant of the National Housing Conference in Washington, D.C., reminded the audience at Chapel Hill’s Affordable Housing Seminar on April 9. The seminar was the final in a series of four excellent sessions in which nationally recognized experts shared their insights into challenges and solutions to creating and preserving housing for […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 13, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/04/13/who-we-want-to-be/
Skip this ad
With the UNC men’s basketball playing the Sweet 16 game of the NCAA tournament at the same time as the Assembly of Governments meeting on March 26, ours may not have been the only household fighting over who would get the TV. If you were disappointed in the outcome of the game, boost your spirits […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 6, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/04/06/skip-this-ad/
Saving grace
On a recent Friday, Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt tweeted that UNC was poised to make a Big Announcement about Northside, leaving us on tenterhooks all weekend. On Monday, the mayor and UNC Chancellor Carol Folt, along with some neighborhood and nonprofit dignitaries, took the stage and said UNC would lend $3 million interest-free for 10 years […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 16, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/03/16/saving-grace/
Talk, hear, act
Growth has proved a hot topic in the discussions in the local blogsphere recently. Participants have divided into two camps. One side believes that all growth is good and that new development of any kind will make money for the town and thus lower residential property taxes. The other side believes only nonresidential property is […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 2, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/03/02/talk-hear-act/
Listen up!
What a blessing to all of us that I stayed home to watch the town’s affordable housing seminar on my computer instead of sitting in the audience at Town Hall. Had I been there in person, I might not have been able to contain myself after Robert Hickey from the Center for Housing Policy in […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 16, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/02/16/listen-up/
CHALT makes connections
After my children left home, my husband and I thought of downsizing to Hillsborough, where taxes are a little bit lower. But the historic homes were too big, the small homes in a gentrifying section of town needed too much work, and the new homes in the subdivisions north of town left us uninspired. Knowing […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 26, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/01/26/chalt-makes-connections/
The price of doing right
Art Pope tried to buy his way into the university and failed. So Pope, the Dick Cheney of the McCrory administration, took another tack: He pressed the N.C. General Assembly, which has appointed several Republican cronies to the UNC System Board of Governors, to push out the system president, a man revered for his integrity, […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 19, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/01/19/the-price-of-doing-right/