North Carolina is the ninth fastest growing state in the US, and Matthews, with all our wonderful amenities, is an attractive town for newcomers.

Pressures of growth, uncertain funding for road improvements, and tree canopy loss are a few of things impacting our community.

As NC grows, so does the Charlotte region—from uptown Charlotte well out into Union County. Who can blame people for wanting to live here? The demand on housing, combined with low housing stock and a higher cost of living than most of Mecklenburg County, means we need to take into account what we have to see what we need. In 2022, the UNCC Urban Institute did a Housing Study that can guide us toward appropriate housing decision making.

Matthews is a pass through for commuters. Most people working in Matthews make less than $40,000 per year, and the majority of those jobs are in retail. What we see is that 93% of Matthews residents commute out of town for work, while even more people commute into Matthews for low wage jobs. This peak hour travel pattern heavily contributes to our traffic problem. If we don’t match wages to housing, traffic will only get worse. We need a multifaceted approach to solve the traffic problem.

With growth we’re battling tree canopy loss. Recently the Tree and Appearance Committee received a grant to build a GIS-based canopy monitor for Matthews. Our policy goal has been to maintain a 50% tree canopy, but through mapping we see that we’re already at 46.2%. Accepting minimum tree save from developers is no longer acceptable. We must also land bank significant parcels to prevent their sale to developers. The Devore Property is a beautiful 30-acre example of how the town can contribute to the 50% canopy goal.