In the United States, our cars have more housing than our people. How did we get here? A major culprit is outdated parking requirements that have quietly driven up housing costs, increased congestion, and made it harder to build walkable neighborhoods. Chapel Hill faces a choice: maintain the status quo or follow the lead of […]
Posted inClimate, Events around town
Earth Day Post: RTP Electronics Recycling Drive Next Tuesday
If you work in RTP, next Tuesday is an opportunity to clean out your closet of old electronic devices. The RTP Sustainability Committee, in conjunction with Kramden Institute, will be holding an electronics recycling drive from 8:30 until 1:00PM I have been a volunteer on this committee since 2016 or so. Our goal has been […]
Posted inAffordable Housing, Events, Events around town
Ribbon Cutting for P.E.A.C.H. Apartments: A Milestone in Affordable Housing for Chapel Hill
Coming up NEXT Friday, April 25, 2025, EMPOWERment Inc. will be hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Pine Knoll EMPOWERment Affordable Community Housing (AKA P.E.A.C.H.) Apartments, a 10-unit affordable housing project. This groundbreaking project stands as a model for community-driven solutions to the housing crisis and was inspired by the vision of Dr. Ted Parris, […]
Posted inOrange County, Volunteer
Call for Volunteers: Orange County Property Tax Appeals
As we detailed in our previous post, Orange County has sent out property revaluation notices with significant increases. In 2021, when the last revaluation was completed, residents in Chapel Hill’s historically black Northside neighborhood successfully challenged significant property tax inequities. Northside homeowners saw much higher increased in property values than nearby affluent areas with typically […]
Posted inElection 2024
How voters on the Griffin List (or anyone concerned about their future votes) can update their voter file
In a frustrating ruling, the NC Court of Appeals sided with Judge Jefferson Griffin to toss out the votes of more than 65,000 North Carolinians who were registered to vote and showed a valid ID if they voted in person. Griffin, who lost a close election to Allison Riggs, cherry-picked the voters whose votes he […]
Posted inEvents, Events around town, Outdoors, Things to do with kids
The Switchback Gear Collective is coming to Carrboro Open Streets
Recently, I dropped off my recently deceased wife’s hiking and camping gear to Yonderlust in Durham, to be donated to the Switchback Gear Collective, a local, women-led,and community-driven 501c3 nonprofit committed to advancing equity in outdoor spaces. The donation included: two pairs of Merrell boots, two thermarests and two REI dome style tents. My wife, […]