Earlier today the News & Observer published a piece on the plans by twelve wealthy couples to inject $120,000 into the Chapel Hill elections in a bid to overturn the Chapel Hill Town Council’s June vote to legalize duplexes townwide. Here are seven things we learned: The News & Observer confirms that Adam Searing met […]
Martin Johnson
Martin Johnson lives in Chapel Hill. He teaches film studies courses at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also a member of NEXT Chapel Hill-Carrboro and the Bicycle Alliance of Chapel Hill. He believes that walkable urbanism is the solution to our environmental and economic challenges.
We have been waiting 45 years for safer bike lanes on Cameron. We can’t wait any longer.
We are launching a petition asking the Town of Chapel Hill to pilot protected bike lanes on Cameron Avenue. With enough support, we believe we can get better bike lanes on Cameron in the next six months, not two years. In 1978, the Town of Chapel Hill opened its first bike lane. Located along Cameron […]
Vernal pools can be moved (and other things we learned when walking along the OWASA sewer easement with Johnny Randall)
One of our community’s most treasured places are the North Carolina Botanical Gardens, which have expanded over time to include 1,100 acres of gardens and wildlife conservation areas. Areas like the Coker Arboretum, Battle Park, Forest Theater, the Mason Farm Biological Reserve, and others are proof that we can balance conservation with access, making spaces […]
Progress Requires Planning: What’s At Stake in Chapel Hill and Carrboro Municipal Elections This Year
Election seasons in Chapel Hill and Carrboro are short, if not always sweet. In a span of just four months, candidates file for office, assemble a campaign team, answer questionnaires, meet voters, put up yard signs, talk to voters at polling sites, and await election results. If you’re new here, or just haven’t paid attention […]
Five Things We Didn’t Write But You Should Still Read
We’re in the doldrums of summer, but there’s been a number of great pieces published over the past few weeks that deserve your time. Why did Monique Felder resign as superintendent of Orange County Schools? In Barry Yeoman’s outstanding, deeply reported piece for The Assembly, he documents how and why the Orange County Schools, the […]
“Both Sides” Journalism Plagues Indy Week’s Story on the Bolin Creek Greenway
In recent months, Indy Week, our region’s alternative newspaper, has published some terrific investigative pieces, from Lena Gellar’s investigative work uncovering Durham’s city attorney asking Wikipedia to reveal who was editing “unflattering” information about the mayor and two council members, to Thomasi McDonald’s deep-dive looking at Durham Council Member DeDreana Freeman’s alleged physical assault of […]