Chapel Hill, North Carolina — Population

• Chapel Hill currently has a population of 60,988 people.
• The population of Chapel Hill between 18 and 35 years is 29,534 people.

City Elections

• Analysis of the city's site reveals that no city-wide elections will be coming up in 2020.
• The city held its latest election for all concerned positions on November 3, 2019.

Neighborhoods

• Meadowmont is rated as the best neighborhood in Chapel Hill by Raleigh Realty. The neighborhood is said to be spacious with modern architecture.
• The Meadowmont neighborhood is regarded as the best neighborhood to consider when moving into Chapel Hill. It is said to harbor an enabling environment for kids to go to school.
• According to Chapelhillneighborhoods.com, "Meadowmont Village is a commercial area modeled after an old-time main street with banks, shops, restaurants, offices, and other service businesses."
• The average household income level for people between the ages of 25 and 44 in Meadowmont is $71,958, which is above the national average.

• The neighborhood of Southern Village is rated as the fifth-best neighborhood in Chapel Hill by Raleigh Realty.
• Southern Village was developed as a commercial area, making it the best-selling neighborhood in the city.
• Some commercial areas in Southern Village include "several restaurants, many shops and businesses, a movie theater, church, daycare center, elementary school, and common green."
• One of the major attractions to the neighborhood is the school districts. Examples of schools in the vicinity include Mary Scroggs Elementary, Grey Culbreth Middle School, and Carrboro High.
• Southern Village is a neighborhood for gathering. Events in the neighborhood include "annual N.C. Symphony concert, the Southern Village farmers market, outdoor movies presented, TerraVita, and the occasional World Cup game-watching party.
• The average household income for people between the ages of 25 and 44 is $86,813.

City ID Card

• An extensive search through the city's official site shows that it has no official city ID card program.

Questions to City Leaders

• What are your plans towards creating an official means of identification for the town of Chapel Hill?
• What are your plans for attracting more creative workers to the city?

Research Strategy

Triangulation

• Total population of Chapel Hill city = 60,988 people.
• Chapel Hill's population, (18 – 24) years = 31.4%; 31.4% of 60,988 = 19,150 people.
• Chapel Hill's population, (25 – 34) years = 12.6%; 12.6% of 60,988 = 7,684 people.
• Chapel Hill's population, 35 years = 1,300 males + 1,400 females = 2,700 people.
• Total population of Chapel Hill between 18 and 35 years = 19,150 + 7,684 + 2,700 = 29,534 people.

INITIATIVES

Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership

• The Downtown Partnership program was created to support businesses across Chapel Hill with a wide range of free programs and services.
• These services include resources to guide small business startups, grants, marketing, and promotions.
• The initiative provides grants to specific businesses including Facades, Sidewalk Diners, and paint and Graffiti.
• "What to Do & See Downtown" is a weekly events email published by the Downtown Partnership Program. The initiative uses this email to market and promote businesses in Chapel Hill. It provides businesses with an opportunity to feature in each publication with information such as "business openings, changes to hours of operations, menu changes, and general updates."

Launch Chapel Hill

•  Launch Chapel Hill is an all-encompassing program designed to "increase the growth of high-impact start-ups and early-stage ventures."
• The Business Accelerator Program is one of the initiative's offerings. This program allows entrepreneurs to "build early-stage businesses into self-sustaining enterprises."
• The program comes with additional services such as mentorship, office space and amenities (within Chapel Hill), networking, learning opportunities, and tech resources.

ASSOCIATION — CHAPEL HILL CARRBORO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

•  Chapel Hill Carrboro Chamber of Commerce is currently the only "local" merchant association in Chapel Hill. All other associations with offices in Chapel Hill are nationwide and not local.
•  Membership of this association comes with many privileges. The association offers businesses an opportunity to get connected and stay informed, lower business expenses, and increase community impact.

PARTNERSHIPS

Grow Town and Gown Collaboration

•  Grow Town and Gown Collaboration is a partnership between the Town of Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina (UNC).
• The goals of this partnership are geared towards "A Place for Everyone, Community Prosperity and Engagement, and Good Places, New Spaces."
• This partnership is crucial to the continued growth and success of Chapel Hill and to implementing the Chapel Hill 2020 comprehensive plan.

Building Integrated Communities in Chapel Hill

•  Town of Chapel Hill Action Plan is a list of comprehensive strategies that "address the five key focus areas that residents identified during the Community Assessment phase of BIC (Building Integrated Communities)."
• Each of the strategies involves partnerships with various organizations including UNC Hospital, Orange County Affordable Housing Coalition (OCAHC), North Carolina Justice Center among others.

RFP

• Chapel Hill provides a list of Request for Proposals on its website. This list comes with details such as bid number, title, start, and close date. However, no information was posted regarding the price range.

QUESTIONS

• Do you have plans to provide grants to businesses other than those qualified to receive the Downtown Partnership grant either now or in the future?
• If not, will there be incentives for small businesses such as reduced taxes and better transit options?

Housing Accessibility

• One of the biggest issues facing the leaders of Chapel Hill, NC, is the housing affordability crisis. Local economic development has raised housing costs, causing large numbers of people to migrate to other cities, such as Chatham.

• Statistics released by the "Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Council" show that, due to low accessibility, the city’s population growth is slowing. In the last decade, growth was 6.6%, the lowest value since 1970. Between 2000 and 2010, population growth was 24.4%. 

• The “Real Estate Accessibility Index” shows a continuous population decline in recent years. In December 2017, it indicated 177.80, reducing to 157.40 in 2019.

• The volume of affordable housing does not support the demand for Chapel Hill, and with the recent wave of construction of luxury apartments, social inequality is evident in the city.

Importance for the Community

• Although there are 16% of the city’s population earning more than $200,000, 20.3% of the population are poor or “below the poverty line”. Therefore, many people depend on affordable housing.

• Rental rates charged for the smallest luxury apartment complex range from US $1,216 (Carolina Square) to $1,366 per month (Berkshire Chapel Hill). However, the monthly income of the population that receives a minimum wage is less than $1,160, making it impossible to bear the cost of renting the apartments that are being built in Chapel Hill.

• Low housing prices areas, such as The Park, the residents were invited to move out to the construction of “Class A” apartments. This circumstance prevents a large part of the population settling on Chapel Hill, obliged to seek housing in other cities.

What is being done

• The "Chapel Hill City Council" is restructuring plans for the preservation and construction of affordable housing. According to Broman-Fulks, a local leader, the initiative includes "home buyer subsidies, repair or renovation work, rental utility assistance, and housing displacement assistance." 

• Local leaders are working on an alert system to detect, in advance, the regions where the values of affordable housing are surpassing economic accessibility. These actions aim to maintain socially diverse neighborhoods.

• The leaders of the "Chapel Hill City Council" approved new affordable housing projects. Totaling $450,000, the projects contemplate the construction of new affordable houses, low-cost rents and housing assistance for low-income families.

Stakeholders involved

• Karen Stagman, the town’s housing manager, and Nate Broman-Fulks, members of the “Chapel Hill City Council” are among the leaders involved.

• The affordable housing projects result from a partnership led by the “Chapel Hill City Council” and the nonprofit organizations Habitat for Humanity and Community Home Trust.

•  Dorothy Faulkner, a local community leader, is also fighting for access to affordable housing.

A question to city leaders

• Is there a project on the political agenda that proposes to limit the purchase of land by construction companies wanting to build luxury apartments?

Attracting Companies to Chapel Hill

• Candidates for the “Chapel Hill City Council”, such as Michael Parker and Pam Hemminger, suggest that one of the biggest economic challenges is to attract new companies to the city, generating jobs and economic development.
• During the past few years, the city has not invested in public policies that encourage the establishment of new companies. Licensing processes are not satisfying to business implementation, and no commercial areas were constructed, like offices or laboratories.
• The lack of political initiatives in attracting new companies results in the reduction of jobs and low tax diversification. 

Importance for the Community

•  Chapel Hill is a university town, home to the University of North Carolina (UNC). However, after completing their studies, most students leave the city.
• The new companies’ lack of interest in establishing an office in the city results in fewer employment opportunities.
• The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber report points to the negative net migration of the population between 25 and 35  years old.
• Another issue reflecting the difficulty of attracting companies is the limitation of the city's tax base. A great share of revenue comes from taxes levied on properties, with no significant increases in tax collection.

What is being done

• Local leaders are building new incentive policies to attract new companies. A recent example is the recruitment of the company Wegmans in the city, which promises to generate higher tax revenue than other local businesses, occupying an area of 450,000 square feet. 
• The City Council started the construction of the Millhouse Road Enterprise Zone, as a way to attract smaller industries. It is also encouraging the construction of co-working centers, such as the "1789 Venture Lab" and "Carolina Co working".
• The city began a partnership with Well Dot, Inc., a company of the medical technology industry, promoted by the "Employment Development Investment Subsidy". The company is opening a headquarters in Chapel Hill, which will generate 400 new jobs.
• Some projects are being developed to attract Startups, such as the LAUNCH accelerator, to retain more companies in the city.

Stakeholders involved

• The main parties involved in resolving this challenge are local officials, Nancy Oates and members of Chapel Hill City Council. Private sector leaders, like Matt Gladdek, "CEO of Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership", including the companies Well Dot, Inc. and Grubb Properties.
• Initiatives to attract startups, such as Launch Chapel Hill, has the involvement of UNC Chapel Hill and leaders of Orange County. 

A question to city leaders

• The city is making efforts to attract startups in Chapel Hill, but is there a project to ensure that consolidated companies remain in the city after the acceleration?

• Is there a project to stimulate the enterprise focused on city residents?