This is the fifth episode in a new season of our Main Street NC series. We're visiting communities across the state to hear from local leaders about the positives going on in their towns, and the challenges they face.

Midway is one of North Carolina's newer towns formed to avoid becoming part of a neighboring city. The town in Davidson County that borders Winston-Salem boasts one of the lowest property tax rates in the state, while using its planning and zoning powers to limit suburban sprawl. That strategy has so far avoided the development controversies that impacted the similar town of Summerfield, but Midway offers a case study in how to form a town to cautiously manage growth. WUNC spoke with Mayor John Byrum about how the town was created in 2006 and what's happened there since.