Opinion
State should keep fostering broad growth
The Charlotte and Triangle regions are clearly economic and population powerhouses. But they aren’t the only drivers of North Carolina’s growth.
Opinion
NC housing boom: Which cities are leading the way?
While suburban areas across North Carolina are expanding at remarkable rates, reflecting a national trend toward increased suburban living, the state’s large cities are also thriving.
Opinion
Suburban surge drove GOP success
North Carolina has long been a political battleground — but the shape of that battlefield has changed significantly over time. Fifteen years ago, for example, Democrat Mike Easley was completing his last year as our state’s governor. He’d cruised to reelection in 2004 with roughly 56% of the vote. Democrats were firmly in charge of...
Opinion
On polls, Hispanics, and the suburbs
In much of the country, the Republican Party fell well short of expectations in the 2022 midterms. Flawed GOP nominees in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Nevada, and Arizona lost winnable races for U.S. Senate, thus consigning their party to another two years in the minority. Democrats lost their U.S. House majority but only by a sliver...
Opinion
The suburban problem for Democrats is magnified in North Carolina
One problem for Democrats in North Carolina is that they too often mirror the liberal direction of national Democrats.
Opinion
Families are swinging suburban
People have recalculated the risk-reward ratio and concluded that living in a lower-density environment is more attractive than it used to be.
Opinion
Crisis may drive turn to suburbs
It is far more efficient to alleviate traffic congestion — and carbon-dioxide emissions! — by telecommuting than by running half-empty trains and buses at the taxpayers’ expense.
Opinion
It’s not about urban versus rural
If you talk a lot about “urban” issues such as the optimal location of light-rail lines or “rural” issues such as the plight of family farms, most of the population will tune you out.
Opinion
Suburbs hold key to GOP future
If Democrats can retain the allegiance of inner-suburb voters, the GOP will struggle in future elections in North Carolina and other fast-growing states.
Opinion
Housing choices reflect political divide
Progressive Democrats and conservative Republicans tend to disagree about growth policy not because of external pressure by special-interest groups but because their preferences are fundamentally different.
Opinion
Urban-rural gap isn’t new
In recent statewide contests, Democratic candidates have dominated the vote in North Carolina’s big cities. And they have usually lost.
Opinion
Urban Voters Still Outnumbered
Even today, most North Carolinians do not live in large, dense cities. Most do not live in urban areas at all. These North Carolinians still vote. And they still matter — a lot.
