‘Hometown Carolina’ Highlights Diverse Character of NC Cities and Towns

Scott Mooneyham, NCLM Director of Political Communication & Coordination

The individual character of North Carolina’s cities and towns matters, and the NC League of Municipalities, working with WRAL-TV in Raleigh, is working to showcase how city officials are protecting and enhancing that community character.

On WRAL’s new Hometown Carolina microsite, found at www.wral.com/hometown-carolina, NCLM is providing content to highlight how different cities and towns, with the input of citizens, business owners and developers, are working to develop land-use plans and policies that can work for everyone.

The site includes content produced and provided by WRAL, which enjoys the most-viewed news website in the state, focused on happenings in cities and towns and other news affecting them. A separate section, “NC Hometowns: Charting Their Future,” includes content provided by NCLM, with the initial story (www.wral.com/protecting-community-character-throughout-nc/20044441/) providing an overview of how cities and towns work to promote and protect natural beauty, livability, and all that goes into improving residents’ quality of life.

Individual stories range from a look at Raleigh’s work to balance different interests as large-scale mixed-use development proceeds in its downtown and other areas of the city, to the renaissance happening in Wake Forest, to the Town of Edenton’s efforts to revitalize areas to improve the lives of existing residents and attract new private investment.

These articles, and associated social media and other promotion, will help to demonstrate that cities and towns perform a difficult balancing act as development proceeds. Doing so, they protect the home values of adjacent property owners from incompatible uses, preserve and protect natural areas and historic properties, and create scenic roads and walkways. Typically, they do all of that with an eye to grow their communities and invite more jobs and residents.

It’s not surprising then that 77% of North Carolina voters agree that local governments should take the lead role when it comes to decision-making about how development proceeds, according to a recent poll commissioned by NCLM.

Showing how city officials work hand-in-hand with residents, business owners, and developers helps make the case that cities are economic engines of the state, and that they can do so while protecting the very things that make their communities attractive.

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