Suburbs

There’s a new benchmark to assess how well North Carolina is faring economically. The state Commerce Department launched the County Economic Vitality Index tracking unemployment, wages, median household income and educational attainment. One of the big takeaways is that suburbs may be on the rise.

Last year four suburban towns and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools were locked in a ferocious clash. Today it’s more like a wary truce. When the district's…