Source: Morgan Stanley “Sustainable Signals,” 2019.

Please don’t hold it against me, but I’m a millennial. I sometimes claim to be Generation X, but there is no denying it … I’m smack dab in the middle of Gen Y, also known as the millennial generation!

My name is Raul Galvan, and I am a rising senior at Davidson College. I'm pursuing an environmental studies major with a social science specialization and a theatre minor. I am from just outside Chicago, and I am a Mexican first-generation student lucky enough to attend Davidson on a full scholarship.

If you watched the first three Charlotte Moves Task Force meetings, you've likely noticed that they were primarily focused on educating the members about Charlotte's many completed and in-progress transportation plans, policies, and processes. We're excited that the August 20 meeting marked a shift in energy from learning to doing.

Each year Sustain Charlotte hosts an awards ceremony to celebrate the work that is being done in the community to advance smart growth and sustainability. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to reschedule, and ultimately cancel, our planned Earth Day 2020 event. A decision was made to save the 2020 nominee applications for the Individual, Small Business, Large Business, Building Project, Nonprofit, and Government Agency categories for the 2021 Sustain Charlotte Sustainability Awards. Next year we will also encourage additional project submissions for award consideration.

This week, we shared a letter with the City-County Joint Intergovernmental Relations Committee expressing our support for efforts to coordinate transportation planning at the City and County levels-- as well as the resolution on the topic that will be voted on at their upcoming meeting on September 15. We believe that greater collaboration will allow for greater accessibility for the greater Charlotte area!  

My name is Xavier Gomez, and I’m a rising sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I am double majoring in systems engineering and Spanish, along with a minor in mathematics.  

Two years ago, Stuart Brauer bought an electric skateboard on a whim. Though he’d never ridden a skateboard in his life, he wanted to experiment with a new form of transportation from his home in Cherry to Urban Mvmnt, the gym he owns in South End.

Even before NC Governor Cooper issued a formal stay at home order on March 27, many people in Charlotte and across the state had shifted to working from home. But did less driving actually translate into measurably cleaner air in only a few weeks?

Yes! 

At the August 11 Environmental Stewardship Committee meeting of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), the County's Air Quality Director, Leslie Rhodes, shared data that shows this is just what happened. 

Between March 26 and April 29, vehicle counts on I-277/US-74 and I-77 in Charlotte fell by 44.4% and 46.1%, respectively. That's a drop of almost half the number of vehicles! 

At their July meeting, Charlotte City Council's Transportation, Planning, and Environment Committee heard and discussed updates to the CATS LYNX Silver Line light rail project, the Tree Canopy Action Plan, the Charlotte Moves Task Force, and the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan.

Here's what you should know, and we'll start with trees:

When you're about to spend a lot of money on a big investment that's intended to improve your quality of life, you probably don't go into the situation without doing some research first. Whether it's buying a home or helping your kid choose a post-secondary education option, you've likely asked questions about the value of your investment. Maybe you talked with friends and family, read reviews, and looked at projections of how that investment would pay off over time. 

It's not so different as Charlotte begins to consider the best way to create a plan for advancing mobility in our city. And just as importantly, how to pay for it over time. What will it take to champion a winning investment that voters are excited to support?