What's a Citistates Report?

Syndicated columnist Neal Peirce and colleagues Alex Marshall and Curtis Johnson give “outsider” views on the future prospects of U.S. urban regions. This is their first report that revisits an urban region. In 1995, their Peirce Report ran in The Charlotte Observer and five other regional newspapers.

It's at www.ui.uncc.edu.

What's a “citistate?”

“Citistate” is a term Peirce and Johnson coined to describe how metro regions operate economically. A citistate doesn't have political boundaries. It's what the economy does: a labor market, a commute-shed, the circulation area of the lead newspaper. To learn more: citistates.com.

Who did this report?

Peirce, Marshall, Johnson and colleague Farley Peters interviewed almost 200 people throughout the 14-county Charlotte region last spring. Marshall and Peirce wrote this installment.

Peirce is a syndicated columnist on U.S. metro regions and author.

Marshall is a New York-based writer on planning, architecture and transportation systems and senior editor with the New York Regional Plan Association.

Who sponsored the report?

The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute sponsored the report, with a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Providing assistance: the Lee Institute, the Centralina Council of Governments and the Catawba Regional Council of Governments.

Who's publishing the report?

As in 1995, news outlets throughout the 14-county region are jointly publishing the Citistates Report. They are: The Herald of Rock Hill, The Charlotte Post, Gaston Gazette, Independent Tribune (Concord and Kannapolis), Lake Norman Times, Mi Gente, News at Norman, Salisbury Post, Shelby Star and magazines Business North Carolina, Charlotte Magazine and Greater Charlotte Biz.

Mary Newsom