In 2021, Gov. Roy Cooper signed House Bill 554 designating 2023 as the Year of the Trail in North Carolina. In this post, I will share some information about the Pumpkin Loop. Located in the UNC-owned Carolina North Forest, the Pumpkin Loop is an approximately a 2.5 mile loop that follows a fire road encircling […]
Posted inZoning, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill Town Council, Housing, Public Comment
A Milder Proposal: Town Staff Revises Its Plan for Missing Middle Housing
Over the past few months, Chapel Hill homeowners from Gimghoul to Greenwood, Hidden Hills to Laurel Hill, Colony Woods to Lake Ellen, have taken precious hours out of their day to complain to, cajole, and sometimes just yell at town staff who, at the council’s direction, are trying to solve a major problem—we don’t have […]
Posted inBike Beat, Bike and Walk
From anger to action after the loss of another cyclist
At around 7am on Thursday the 30th of March, 2023, John Allore was struck and killed by a motorist driving a passenger car. He was riding his bike on Bradshaw Quarry Road in Orange County, NC at the time. I did not know John personally, but I was moved by the outpouring of responses from […]
Posted inChapel Hill Town Council, Chapel Hill, Economic development
How’s the Chapel Hill Town Council feeling about the proposed wet lab on Franklin?
On March 22, the Chapel Hill Town Council was presented with a concept plan for a new wet lab at 306 W. Franklin Street. The wet lab is being proposed by Longfellow, a life-sciences-focused real estate firm that owns similar properties in Durham and RTP. The purpose of the presentation was to receive Council’s feedback […]
Posted inPickleball, Chapel Hill, Parks and Rec
Dear Tennis
Dear Tennis, We need to have a word. I know, I know, you think you have a problem with pickleball. I guess in a way you do, but the real problem, and I think way down deep you’ll agree, is you have a tennis problem. I know, it’s hard to look inward when the attack […]
Posted inGreenway
Greenways that I know: The Saunders-Monticello Trail
This last week our family traveled to Charolottesville, Virginia, and we visited the Saunders-Monticello Trail. This greenway trail is a lot different than other greenway trails I have written about in this series, and it illustrates something very important about how greenways get designed and constructed, which is the concept of “trade-offs”. (If you’re wondering […]