Love this graphic. There is only so much space in any city, town or downtown. Let’s make space for people and green space a priority over cars.

Georgetown, SC has a great #downtown. A theater, #stringlights, #seating, wide #sidewalks, preserved historic buildings, pirates, grand live oaks, #shrimpandgrits, and its #waterfront. What more can you want? #sc #planning #urbandesign #history #lifeatstewart

Big news in #NCplanning. The first Buc-ee's SuperStore | The Fun Store Lampoon store approved in Mebane.

A Walmart and its parking lot can easily cover 44 acres of potentially productive space. Downtown Sylva, NC hosts businesses with a value per acre worth over 10 times as much as an average Walmart in the area.

“The last mile is always the least crowded.” James Clear in Atomic Habits

Every residential unit within walking distance contributes $11k in spending in a downtown annually! That adds up… 100 units = $1m a year for retail, restaurants, etc. Best stat from today @ the @ncmainst2024 conference by Maurer Architecture #housing #economicdevelopment #downtown

There is urban innovation and intentional preservation on every other block in City of Winston-Salem, NC. Enjoyed a morning run at #CityVision2024 by the NC League of Municipalities and visited the perfectly #humanscale and pedestrian friendly 4th Street, the Strollway Pedestrian Bridge, and beautiful Old Salem.

Hey Downtown Raleigh Alliance don’t sleep on the catfish A Place At The Table. May be the best in the city… #southernfood #collardgreens #patiodining #downtown #raleigh

Housing prices in Georgetown County, SC (2014-2023) have doubled for singlefamily homes and almost tripled for townhomes / condos. Uphill battle for affordable and #workforcehousing.

So excited about this!

Some interesting housing bills. 3 out of the 4 are good ideas. The other one needs to include allowing the development of design controls at the local level. #housing #missingmiddle #ncleg

Beautiful day for a #greenway cleanup with @we.are.stewart at the Raleigh Parks Walnut Creek Greenway. #getoutside #lifeatstewart

Yep. The real reason people people don’t like new development or the four letter word “density” is because of poor design. Unfortunately in NC local governments have been stripped of design controls for many types of residential…

Invasive plant list for South Carolina. Good source to reference in zoning codes or UDOs as a do not plant list to limit #invasiveplants. Best when paired with a do plant list of #nativeplants and #pollinators. invasiveplantatlas.org/list.html?id=27 #planning #plantings 🌻

2) SB 840 - "Residential in Commercial" - Allows residential + mixed-use on ALL commercial land - Preempts existing zoning in cities of 150k in counties above 300k

One of 7 big housing bills Texas passed.

Study from Pew Research Center shows lack of new housing hits rents in low income neighborhoods hardest because they have nowhere to go pew.org/en/research-an… #housing #affordability

Have to visit Lesesne State Forest in VA to see these American Chesnut groves. gardenandgun.com/articles/for-t… via Garden & Gun

“It is hugely ironic that many people say they dislike both higher density and #sprawl, when large-lot requirements—the usual approach they recommend as an antidote to density—are the DIRECT cause of sprawling, land consumptive development patterns.” Randall Arendt in EBC

Joined Brooke Massa from the NCWRC and Julie Youngman from SELC presenting on the need and benefits of conservation planning and design in the fast growing Carolinas at the joint NC/SC American Planning Association Conference in Charlotte this week. #conservation #planning