Last week we got the good news that the Charlotte Real Estate Market was the only one left in the black in terms of single family home sales (at least in the top 20 markets in the United States). This week the Charlotte Business Journal began a new column called Going Green and it's first topic was focused on how all our growth will impact our environment--and furthermore how are we going to handle it.

City councils--Charlotte's included--are scrambling to convey their work as environmentally sound and savvy. But the difference comes between talking the talk and walking the walk. Green construction is more expensive on the front end, though it often saves money through energy savings later on. Still it often takes building codes and regulation by state and city governments to ensure that builders have motivation to get on the green wagon.

So where will Charlotte land? Similar in size to Portland and Seattle, Charlotte could be the Green City of the East Coast rather than the Queen City, but not without some serious commitment. As the mindset of corporate America shifts towards the Green way of thinking (Bank of America's new tower in Charlotte has achieved the Gold or middle tier of LEED certification), the idea that sticks is whether our city will be focused on a short and intense growth spurt or whether we will continue to build for a prosperous long term future.

Compared to many cities around the nation, our market is standing strong, but in order to stay at the front of the pack, we'll have to start taking our physical environment into consideration as well as our financial environment. It turns out that the two impact each other more profoundly than previously thought. We all want a beautiful and healthy city, but will we do what it takes to achieve this milestone?