Prescribing a Healthy Future For Charlotte

"Compactness isn't necessary only for economy and efficiency. With higher per-capita carbon emission rates than three-fourths of other U.S. regions, Charlotte faces a critical environmental challenge in a century and a world imperiled by global warming."

"The region also confronts a deep human challenge: how it welcomes and integrates newcomers. Charlotte is proving itself a 21st-century magnet for aspiring young professionals, for high-end bond traders with European experience and Mexicans with sixth-grade educations who are building the city's new skyscrapers. It is now one of the United States' top immigrant “gateway” cities. But there's a heavy measure of anti-immigrant sentiment in the region. Will diversity remain a strength, helping the region become more entrepreneurial and resilient?"

"The vision for success must be of a Charlotte region that strives – and wins – in this century's great contest to be 'Green, Great and Global.'"