In 2004 I did some design work for a small Charlotte, NC based non-profit called Voices and Choices. It was a small organization primarily funded by The Foundation for the Carolinas that addressed the major environmental issues facing North and South Carolina. The culmination of their hard work was the 2004 State of the Region Report.

The Report used specific data to uncover environmental trends in Mecklenburg County and the surrounding area and compiled them for use as a practical benchmarking tool. The information and recommendations were supposed to foster dialogue, plans and actions and be updated at least every two years.

Well…that dialogue fizzled out after a few weeks and their have been no updates. In fact, I recently tried to Google the State of the Region Report and not only is it not online, Voices and Choices has been dissolved and www.voicesandchoices.org is gone. Shame…Especially because Carolinians need to know about the astounding trends the Report addressed.

The demand for additional housing has pushed development into rural areas at dramatic rates. Most of this development (95%) is low density, between 0.1 and 3 units per acre.

Development practices have increased impervious surfaces, leading to degraded water quality as storm water scours and floods our streams and carries pollutants to our surface waters.

During the summer, approximately 1 in every 3 days fails to meet EPA’s ozone standard for “good” air quality.

Even though I wasn’t responsible for the graphic design and layout of the report, I feel it’s important that it be available to the public. So I dug through my client archives to find it.

I have put the resources on my site and you can find them at the links below. Give it a skim. Share the knowledge.

State of the Region Report - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - 17 pages

State of the Region Report - FULL REPORT - 200+ pages