Is all affordable housing good? Is it morally defensible to put affordable housing somewhere that you wouldn’t put other housing? These questions came to mind last Wednesday during a Chapel Hill Town Council meeting at which representatives of the town’s Office for Housing and Community proposed putting affordable housing on three parcels of town-owned land […]
Won’t you be my neighbor?
Posted by Don Evans on June 25, 2018
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/06/25/wont-you-be-my-neighbor/
Indy loses its independence
Was a time when Chapel Hill and Orange County had a good selection of news providers to advise voters in the candidate selection process. With the elimination of The Chapel Hill News and Chapel Hill Herald and the weakening of The Daily Tar Heel, the town has lost great resources. Now it appears that The […]
Posted by Don Evans on May 14, 2018
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/05/14/indy-loses-its-independence/
Joint Investment
Let me see whether I have this right – a developer can come into town, get town approval to build a project of high-end apartments and condos that displaces residents who have trouble affording living here, and we as taxpayers have to pay to make housing available to the displaced residents? That’s pretty much what […]
Posted by Don Evans on March 19, 2018
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/03/19/joint-investment/
At what price?
When has Chapel Hill ever forced an entire neighborhood to pack up and move away? When has the town ever told more than 100 of its residents they must leave their homes en masse and find other housing? It sure looks like that’s about to happen to the Lakeview mobile home community in north Chapel […]
Posted by Don Evans on January 29, 2018
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/01/29/at-what-price/
Council leads whole community
Usually it’s the victors who write the histories, but in Chapel Hill politics lately the losers are busy scribbling and publishing and mischaracterizing the outcome of the most recent election, as does a column in The Chapel Hill News Nov. 29, “New council must lead divided community.” Molly De Marco and Travis Crayton wrote that […]
Posted by Don Evans on December 7, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/12/07/council-leads-whole-community/
Wreck-reation
Folks who attended the Town Council meeting Monday night in the Southern Human Services building off Homestead Road were treated to new definitions of recreation space. The meeting included a continuation of a hearing on the proposal by Blue Heron to expand the Timber Hollow apartments by adding 109 housing units. Fancy units would be […]
Posted by Don Evans on April 29, 2014
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/04/29/wreck-reation/
Phone tree of health
Nancy and I have decided to implement a new phone system, inspired by the Town of Chapel Hill phone system. I’ll set it up so that my phone automatically directs a caller to my message center, which will inform the caller that if I can’t answer, the caller should contact Nancy. At the same time, […]
Posted by Don Evans on May 18, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/05/18/phone-tree-of-health/
Roger’s job gets tougher
At Monday night’s Town Council meeting, Town Manager Roger Stancil gave his periodic update on the state of the town budget. His PowerPoint presentation showed that the town is way behind in development fees this year from what it expects – some $200,000-plus. So what did the council do? Kill the Charterwood mixed-use project off […]
Posted by Don Evans on February 1, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/02/01/rogers-job-gets-tougher/
Silencing Sam
The headline on the front page of the Monday edition of The News & Observer was “New perspectives mark Civil War anniversary.” The story described how North Carolina wants to tell us about the war by including everyone and every issue that was involved during the 150th anniversary events planned for the next several years. […]
Posted by Don Evans on January 6, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/01/06/silencing-sam/
Anarchy in the USA
You never hear of anarchists issuing toxic mortgage loans. Anarchists don’t seem prone to raiding investors’ funds and ruining a business while taking multimillion dollar bonuses. And you won’t find too many anarchists refusing health care to sick people as some insurance companies sure do. And yet that word “anarchist” seems like the worst name […]
Posted by Don Evans on November 17, 2011
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/11/17/anarchy-in-the-usa/