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 […]
Talk, hear, act
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 2, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/03/02/talk-hear-act/
We need a hero
It looks like the UNC Board of Governors may be celebrating Black History Month by closing down UNC’s Center for Poverty, Work and Opportunity. The 27% of blacks in North Carolina who live below the poverty line is more than twice the 12% of poverty-stricken whites in our state, which makes the timing of the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 23, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/02/23/we-need-a-hero/
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
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/02/16/listen-up/
Is Southpoint our hero?
I write a business column for a print publication in which I report on new businesses coming to town and those that leave. For the most recent issue, I had to dance around a bit, because the only business news I could dig up was businesses that had closed downtown. Gigi’s Cupcakes; Caribou Coffee; Top […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 9, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/02/09/is-southpoint-our-hero/
Fix schools now, or later?
I stopped by the Orange County Commissioners retreat Friday afternoon to hear how commissioners planned to prioritize and pay for expenses on their wish list. As the discussion about whether to put a $125 million bond referendum on the ballot versus what’s called “pay-as-you-go” unfolded, I realized some commissioners took the “retreat” literally. The county […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 2, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/02/02/fix-schools-now-or-later/
What does quality of life mean to you?
Terri Buckner writes: In 2013, a couple of European psychologists reviewed the literature in an attempt to define the term “quality of life.” Their conclusion was that it “turn[s] out to be an ambiguous and elusive concept.” In an editorial in the Chapel Hill News, Travis Crayton and Molly DeMarco claimed “Many of us might […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 28, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/01/28/what-does-quality-of-life-mean-to-you/
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
https://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
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/01/19/the-price-of-doing-right/
Roj Mahal
On Thursday, town manager Roger Stancil stamped his approval to Village Plaza Apartments, thus setting in motion what one wag refers to as “Roj Mahal.” Historically, Town Council has had the authority to approve or deny development. But with form-based code rezoning in the Ephesus-Fordham area, Stancil has the final say of what goes up. […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 12, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/01/12/roj-mahal/
New Year’s resolutions
My family won’t let me forget the time I passed up a chance to go to the movies so I could observe a Planning Commission meeting instead. Truth be told, the board meeting held greater promise of drama. But I got the message, and one of my New Year’s resolutions is to not put town […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 5, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/01/05/new-years-resolutions/