Online Conversations - Emerging Issues Debate

With this newsletter we are launching the first in a series of online debates on crucial challenges facing our state. The format is structured to encourage a broad, informative discussion among experts and stakeholders, with the goal of hearing from several points of view. The result, we believe, will be constructive and thought provoking.

It wasn’t hard to settle on the first topic for our debate, transportation in North Carolina is in crisis. Our existing roads are crumbling, our rapidly growing urban areas lack the new roads necessary to keep up with growth, while the North Carolina Department of Transportation has made a series of well-publicized missteps that have undermined confidence in the agency.

There could be no better person to launch this debate than Carroll Gray, former president of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce and current head of Community Development for DesignStrategies architectural group. During his 21 years of leadership at the chamber, he played a crucial leadership role in addressing the transportation challenges facing the state’s fastest growing region.

In response to Carroll’s thoughts on NC’s current transportation challenges and opportunities, we will hear in the next couple weeks from Greg Flynn, an architect representing WakeUP Wake County on the Special Transit Advisory Commission which is developing recommendations for a regional transit plan for the Triangle; and from Nancy Dunn, co-owner of Aladdin Travel, a full-service travel management company, and board member of the N.C. Department of Transportation.

Needless to say, if you want to join in and have your say please contact us. The discussion will continue for many weeks, and we absolutely need to hear from leaders and opinion makers from across the state.