These signs were installed on Concord Road last year when the NC DOT resurfaced the road. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

By ROLEY ALTIZER

Since the spring of 2004, I’ve been obsessed with walking. From Dec. 14, 2004, (the day I started keeping records) to Dec. 5, 2011, I had walked 8,220 miles throughout town.

I started walking during the spring of 2004 as part of my rehabilitation after having brain surgeries—after I could be trusted to walk from McConnell to the Post Office and back.

I’ve always been an observant and analytical person, so during my years of walking I’ve made hundreds of mental notes about pedestrian safety here in town. Read the full story

Carolyn Cook, of LiveSmart Design in Charlotte, has the latest entry in our ongoing series of articles one issues facing seniors as they try to “age in place.” Today, she looks at “visitability,” an affordable, sustainable and inclusive design approach for integrating basic accessibility features into all newly built homes and housing.

“Inaccessible homes impede the daily lives of people who are mobility impaired due to illness, accident or age. Visiting an inaccessible home presents the danger of falling on the entry steps, the worry of not fitting into the bathroom and the embarrassment of being carried up stairs,” Ms. Cook writes.

Read the full article and see the photo examples, on our YOUNG AT HEART page.

Workers install solar panels on the Baker Sports complex this week. (Chip Dawson/DavidsonNews.net)

By CHIP DAWSON
DavidsonNews.net

Long under consideration and announced in October, the first solar panels on the Davidson College campus are being placed on the roof of the Baker Sports Center this week. College officials say the $600,000 project is funded by the college as well as federal and foundation grants, and could save $25,000 a year.

Two crews from Southern Energy Management are doing the work. One team is placing panels on the south center of the roof, for pool heating, and on the north side, for heating water for the showers at the tennis complex. Read the full story

Drivers stopped Thursday for a man crossing Concord Road at Faculty Drive, where a new sign has been installed. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Someone has hung a Christmas wreath on a telephone pole at the Concord Road crosswalk where Davidson College Professor Rob Whitton was struck by a car the night of Nov. 3. This week, the town began the first of a series of planned improvements prompted by the fatal incident, installing new warning signs in the middle of the road at Faculty Drive and three other crossings. Meanwhile, improved lighting also is in the works for Concord Road, town officials said. Read the full story

By CHRISTINA RITCHIE ROGERS
CorneliusNews.net

The parcel of land Davidson Day aims to purchase for its second campus, east of N.C. 115 in Mooresville. Click to enlarge.

Davidson Day School hopes to purchase land for a second campus in early January, but its plans depend on whether town officials agree to rezone the property, which lies east of N.C. 115 and north of Faith Road. The school had hoped to close on the sale this month, but Mooresville town commissioners delayed a vote on the rezoning Dec. 5, saying new board members needed time to review the school’s request.

After months of searching for a second campus site, the school’s board of trustees and developer WGM Design selected the 190-acre parcel in Mooresville, between Faith and Mackwood roads. BB&T Bank owns the property, which is known generally as the “Stafford Property” and is zoned for a residential subdivision with single-family housing. Read the full story

Five decorative signs are downtown. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

A collection of whimsical new signs have gone up around downtown, topped with icons of local significance – a fire engines, a gnome and a farmer’s market wagon. They’re among $55,000 in new “way-finding” and parking signage being installed around town this year as the town boosts its self-marketing.

The new signs are already grabbing attention. “There are five with decorated tops,” downtown manager Kim Fleming said Friday. “We just started with five to see what the reaction would be. It’s part of our entire parking and way-finding signage program.” Read the full story

With planning revived for the Red Line Regional Rail Project north of Charlotte, Davidson officials have scheduled a series of meetings this month and next to seek public input on plans for a commuter rail station on Jackson Street, behind the Davidson post office. The first information session is Thursday. Read the full story in REAL ESTATE & HOME»

Map shows locations of potential stations and financing districts. Click to download the PDF.

$452 million project won’t happen without all area governments in, task force chair says

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

MOORESVILLE – Supporters of the Red Line Regional Rail Project north of Charlotte began their sales campaign in earnest Tuesday at a meeting of about 150 area elected and appointed officials. Leaders from across the region were there to hear the pitch, from Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx and Mecklenburg County Commission chair Harold Cogdell to town commissioners from the Lake Norman area.

There were plenty of skeptics in the crowd at the Charles Mack Citizens Center: local officials with questions about financing, retirees worried about higher taxes, and conservatives philosophically opposed to rail transit. Read the full story