MATTHEWS, N.C. — Growing pains have been a big part of Mecklenburg County’s story for years now, with tens of thousands of people moving to cities and towns in the Charlotte area in recent years.
But the Town of Matthews has been a rare exception to that. Statistics from the state show the town has only grown by about 4.5″ since 2020.
Channel 9 Reporter Eli Brand spoke to the town’s mayor about how they’re bucking the trend, and why the town is so picky about new development.
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For people like Amanda, they’ve seen plenty of development in Matthews.
“I moved to Matthews probably in my junior high year,” Amanda told Channel 9.
She actually lives in one of the newest developments in the town, a 55-plus apartment community that has been attracting people from near and far.
“A combination of both. We do have some people who saw the community progress through construction and kind of pique their interest and stop in and experience us. We also have some transplants, some people that have relocated from other states,” said Terrika Howard, the community manager at Album Matthews.
Despite the new buildings, growth like this is actually a rarity in Matthews. According to the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management, Matthews is the second-slowest growing town in the county, adding only 1,300 residents between 2020 and 2024.
Matthews Mayor John Higdown says that’s because 90% of the town’s land has already been developed.
“We’re looking to get affordable housing built. We’re looking for walkable communities ... so we can lessen the impact of traffic,” Higdon told Brand. “That’s certainly important. We’re looking for convenience.”
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Higdon says development requests have still been flying in, but town commissioners have had to be picky on what gets approved. He says more than 2,000 housing development requests have been withdrawn or denied in the last five years.
Despite that, Higdon says Matthews isn’t immune to growing pains, with many of those problems coming from surrounding communities.
“Traffic is the biggest concern of everybody in every community in Mecklenburg County. The top three concerns are traffic, traffic and traffic,” Higdon said.
State officials say that during the same time Matthews has seen limited growth, surrounding towns like Indian Trail, Stallings, and Monroe have added more than 20,000 residents, bringing heavy traffic in.
Higdon says to counter that, future development in Matthews will focus on walkability, single-family homes, and areas that feature both commercial and residential projects.
“We try as much as we can to extend that small-town feel in other areas of town when we can,” Higdon said.
Many neighbors agree keeping that feeling is important.
“I like the small-town community feel, so I like to live kind of away from the suburbs because it’s a little more quiet, less energetic, because a lot of people just like their quiet time when they get older,” Amanda said.
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