Roughly five miles of new greenway have opened in the Charlotte area in 2024, with more expected to open by the end of the year.

Why it matters: Greenways connect more people to nature and allow for alternative travel routes without having to navigate congested streets.

Zoom out: There are currently 16.3 miles of trails under construction in Mecklenburg County, Park and Recreation senior planner Katie Lloyd tells Axios. This will add to the 74.29 miles of existing greenway across the county.

• Plus, there's an additional 4.85 miles of greenway under construction by the city of Charlotte.

New sections to check out include:

🚶‍♀️Stewart Creek Tributary 2: A 1-mile stretch of trail, from Yellowstone Drive to Lakewood Avenue, opened in west Charlotte this spring.

🌳 Long Creek Greenway: The 2-mile second phase of Long Creek Greenway opened in the spring. Long Creek Greenway now stretches 3.5 miles from the Target in Northlake to I-485 off Beatties Ford Road. Phase three is underway.

What's next: An additional 10.86 miles of funded trails in Mecklenburg County are in the design phase.

• There are another 6.9 miles that have funding approved in the Capital Improvement Plan, but the design phase has not started yet.
• Plus, an additional 6.07 miles of trails are funded and will be designed by other entities — including surrounding towns like Huntersville and the city of Charlotte.

Other new sections of greenway to explore

It's been an eventful week, and I think we're all due for a little time with nature.

• Here are a few trails to check out:

Whitewater Center: This local destination isn't just for rafting — it also has more than 50 miles of trails to hike, run or bike.

Ribbonwalk Nature Preserve: This nature preserve a few miles north of Uptown is a peaceful escape from the city and has "easy" trail options.

Little Sugar Creek Greenway: This popular greenway spans 17-plus miles, roughly from NoDa to the South Carolina state line.

Jetton Park: The 105-acre lakefront park on the edge of Lake Norman has picnic areas, 1.5 miles of trails, 1.3 miles of bike trails, a playground, a tanning beach and eight tennis courts.

Duke Kimbrell Trail: This 2.9-mile trail runs along Lake Wylie and Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden.

25 walking trails in Charlotte for nature lovers and city views

🐓 Rooster's Wood-Fired Kitchen will open its Ballantyne location this month. (Instagram)

☕️ Starbucks holiday drinks return today with new refreshers. (Axios)

🗳️ North Carolina Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson resigned Wednesday, one day after voters elected his replacement. (WRAL)

🏈 Virginia and West Virginia will play in the Duke's Mayo Classic at Bank of America Stadium in 2026 and 2032. (West Virginia)

🧮 The hotly contested race for state supreme court has yet to be called and is likely headed for a recount. (The Assembly)

• Incumbent Democrat Allison Riggs trails Republican Jefferson Griffin by just over 10,000 votes. If Griffin wins, Republicans will have a 6-1 majority on the court.

The North Carolina GOP's success appears as though it will come down to just two races in which Democratic candidates are leading by just a few hundred votes. (Axios)

🚿 Nonprofit About Our Father's Business will debut the first of three custom trailers built to bring mobile laundry, shower and personal care services directly to underserved communities in the Charlotte region, per a press release. The unveiling at SouthPark mall Thursday is at 1:30pm, across from Maggiano's Little Italy. (AOFB)

Unwind to live music or spend the weekend shopping for early holiday gifts at one of the handful of pop-up markets around town. There's plenty to do in Charlotte this weekend.

🏒 Tomorrow: Cheer on the Charlotte Checkers as they take on Toronto Marlies. | $20+ | 4pm | Details

🍂 Saturday: Head to Sugar Creek Brewing for fall-themed brews, live tunes and vendors for their Fall Festival. | Free | 11am | Details

📺 Sunday: Watch the Panthers in Munich over a breakfast buffet with friends at OMB Ballantyne & LoSo. | $12.99-$24.99 | 9am | Details

23 things to do in Charlotte this weekend

💼 Check out the fresh open positions in Charlotte.

1. Software Engineer at Lowe's Companies, Inc.
2. Registered Nurse, RN - Pulmonary at Presbyterian Medical Center at Novant Health.
3. Wellness Coordinator at Southminster.

Want more opportunities? Check out our Job Board. 

Hiring?Post a job.

We're back with another installment of our Blind Date series. This time, we matched Danielle, 33, and Brandon, 25.

Despite an age gap, Danielle and Brandon seemed like a promising match. So, we sent them to test their chemistry over dinner at Chapter 6, a western Mediterranean restaurant in South End.

Here's how the date went, according to each of them:

How would you describe your chemistry?

Danielle: Gosh, that's tough. I would say that's pretty hard to gauge off of one meeting.

Brandon: The chemistry was much the same — nerves at first, followed by what I found to be a great experience. I thought we got along well.

Keep reading for the rest of the answers

News you can use from our partners.

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The fourth season of Netflix's "Outer Banks" is streaming now.

Why it matters: The popular Netflix teen drama takes place on North Carolina's strip of beaches and is filmed in Charleston. This season was partly filmed in Wilmington, too.

• If you've seen the show, you know it's not exactly geographically accurate (there is no ferry from Chapel Hill to the coast, for example).
• But its authenticity comes from a few of its cast members and crew, who are from the state where the show takes place.

We caught up with a few cast members from North Carolina on the red carpet.

Here's what they said