According to an email from the town, Chris Blue has been selected as Town Manager. Blue has been serving as Interim Town Manager since January 1, 2023. Blue was previously Chief of Police for 12 years. We’ll have more to say soon, but for now will say how pleased we are with the selection. Blue […]
Stephen Whitlow
Stephen Whitlow lives in Chapel Hill. Trained as an urban planner at DCRP, he works for a research, evaluation, and technical assistance firm and focuses on the areas of housing affordability, fair housing, community development, and local government innovation. He is interested in placemaking, how cities change (or don't), and the role of place in shaping economic and social opportunity.
Posted inChapel Hill, Chapel Hill Town Council, Housing
The Selective Outrage of Save Chapel Hill Supporters
A quick pass through Chapel Hill’s historic districts will quickly reveal that homeowners in these neighborhoods really, really want to “Save Chapel Hill,” as the cheap plastic signs dotting their yards make clear. Assuming, of course, that you can see the signs around all the construction trucks parked in front of their homes. Many residents […]
Posted inHousing
Statement in support of the Housing Choices proposal
I prepared the following statement for the May 24 Town Council public hearing on the Housing Choices text amendments to the LUMO. Because I got distracted and had to talk a bit about mid-century modern homes in Chapel Hill (which, in my opinion, are more distinctive and authentic than many of the over-renovated “traditional” homes […]
Posted inHousing
The Planning Commission Supports the Housing Choices Proposal
On Tuesday night, the Housing Choices proposal made its way to the Planning Commission, an important step before the proposal goes back to Town Council for a hearing on May 24. If you regularly read read the Blog Blog, you are probably familiar with the evolution of the proposal (or perhaps you attended one of […]
Posted inChapel Hill
Six Joni Mitchell Songs Other Than ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ That People in Chapel Hill Should Listen To
It’s happened again. Someone has written to the Chapel Hill Town Council imploring them not to “pave paradise and put up a parking lot.” When I hear someone use those lyrics when discussing the possible development of housing, I immediately know I have encountered an unfortunately not-so-rare breed: the Boomer NIMBY (BoomBY™). Blending the worst […]
Posted inChapel Hill
Everything awful said or implied about UNC students in the Town’s housing survey
One of the stranger things about Chapel Hill, a quintessential college town, is how many people here dislike college students. They dislike renters in general but have an extra level of contempt for students, who are widely regarded as rich brats with an unquenchable thirst for destroying the property values of the town’s landed gentry. […]