Central Pines works to produce useful, data-driven, and locally focused reports, resources, and data that cover the wide range of topics and issues that our communities face each day. From economic development and housing development, to human services and environmental impacts, we strive to make as much of our material available for you to explore and use.
Through a $16M allocation of American Rescue Plan funding from the NC General Assembly, the statewide COG network has been able to provide extensive support to local governments for COVID-19 recovery efforts and long-term resilience planning.
This report examines the first year of work by Central Pines and our fifteen peer organizations across the state to
- assist local governments in effectively planning for federal COVID-19 response and recovery funding to ensure this once-in-a-generation investment brings meaningful impacts to North Carolina communities;
- build local capacity for long-term recovery: build capacity to guide the successful implementation of local investments funded by ARPA and other federal recovery funds;
- facilitate regional collaboration: convene members in regions across the state to collaborate and share resources generated by COGs, Statewide Partner Organizations, NCPRO, and US Treasury.
The 21st century is a time of accelerating change that is disrupting local communities and the lives of community members. Consider the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic: who in autumn 2019 anticipated that, a few months later, communities would have to shift to remote operations literally overnight, weather an instant economic crisis, support mass testing and vaccinations, help businesses and residents disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, and more?
Our new report, Triangle Trends: Tracking Disruption, produced through a partnership with Green Heron Planning's Ben Hitchings and former APA Research Director David Rouse, aims to provide guidance and answers to the question, "how can we operationalize this approach in the work of local governments?"
The report organizes its findings across four interconnected categories of change - social, technological, economic, and environmental - and sixteen unique drivers of change.
In order to better understand the changing realities in the Triangle, including increasing extreme weather events, temperature, frequency and duration of droughts, and population and related demand for resources, CPRC facilitated the Triangle Regional Resilience Partnership of cities, towns, and counties in the urban core of our region. Together, the partnership performed a quantified assessment of the region and identified which assets are more vulnerable to these changes and provides guidance and potential solutions.
This Guide to Environmental Justice in the Triangle Region aims to understand our region's environmental justice landscape, identify the most prominent environmental hazards, and provide foundational tools for local governments to partner with community-based organizations. The guide identifies 164 potentially underserved communities including more than 370,000 people across all seven counties.
Considering the growing prioritization of environmental justice work at both the federal and state level, this report maps how Central Pines Regional Council can best utilize increased funding to support our local government members. Both specific environmental hazards and geographic areas are identified for environmental justice action and funding.
Central Pines Regional Council distributed a public sector employee survey to members across the region in Fall 2022 to gauge workplace morale and the well-being of employees. This report presents the results of the survey, and specifically identifies factors that impact worker well-being, including compensation, opportunities for professional development, and relationships with the community.
Central Pines Regional Council aims to encourage the use of sustainable building materials in new construction. This report outlines initiatives that local governments can adopt to incentivize sustainable building, including organizing a citizen advisory committee, offering density bonuses, and providing educational materials related to sustainable materials.
Local Regulation of Short-term Rentals reviews the local regulations of short-term rentals adopted by five municipalities in North Carolina. In the ordinance review, regulations around eight topics–definitions, registration, specified districts, parking requirements, insurance or safety concerns, occupancy limits, on-site hosts, and penalties–are compared across the municipalities.
This report looks at affordable housing developments–both publicly-supported and market-provided–that could be served by a passenger rail investment between West Durham and Clayton. The analysis can be used to inform decisions on economic development, land use, and affordable housing.
This report gauges how well a passenger rail investment between West Durham and Clayton can meet the demand of the regional travel market i.e. taking people where they want to go, when they want to go. It focuses on how the investment could connect people to jobs, services, and opportunities.
A One Water water management works to improve environmental, societal, and economic aspects of the watershed, and aims to preserve long-term resilience and reliability of the system. This report presents a vision for how a One Water approach could be applied to the Jordan Lake Watershed to meet community needs, while considering regulatory implications.