US Marshals Weigh In as Crime Escalates in Raleigh
Raleigh should not have needed the US Marshals help. Raleigh should not be where it is today. But, Baldwin took pride in wanting to be Mayor of Drunktown.
No timeline for parades to begin again in Raleigh
Raleigh city staff is now entering Year 2 of not knowing how to allow a real parade — that is, a parade like those held in every major city in America. Not only do we not have anything concrete from the City Manager, she doesn’t even have a timeline for bringing something forward for Council to consider. Meanwhile, our parades are limited to walkers and horse-drawn wagons.
UPDATE – City Council Retreat – Still No Details
it’s possible the details for the Council Retreat may NOT be published until Thursday, January 18, 8 days before the first day of the Council Retreat. We believe the fact that the Council Retreat has been published on the City’s Events Calendar with the dates and identified as both the City Council Annual Retreat and a City Council Meeting qualifies as formal notice of the meeting and it is past time for the details of time of day, location and virtual attendance opportunities to be given to the public so interested parties can have adequate time to make plans.
Follow Planning Best Practices: Use BRT to Revitalize Neighborhoods, Not Remove Them.
Livable Raleigh’s position is that while adding density along BRT corridors is a desirable goal, the impact of the $97M New Bern Avenue BRT project alone will create a tremendous incentive for dense organic redevelopment that incentivizes economically viable affordable housing height bonuses up to 5 stories – and not above. The effect of the proposed 744 parcel upzoning, Z-92-22 (which ironically leaves out the zero-density Raleigh Country Club) will not only eliminate most opportunities to incentivize and negotiate affordable housing units, but will also accelerate the displacement of all low wealth and Black households in the corridor – in direct conflict with the city’s adopted ETOD vision to reverse displacement.
Gun Violence Higher in Gentrifying Neighborhoods
One of the solutions to the problem proposed by the authors is to support policies to reduce the displacement of longtime residents, which would include affordable housing. Instead, along the New Bern Avenue BRT, our developer-friendly city planners have increased the height threshold for affordable units from three stories to five, which guarantees that no affordable units will be built because of the increase in cost of construction materials when height exceeds the five stories allowed under stick building.
Raleigh City Council Retreat, who knows where, who knows when?
We’ve been waiting patiently for the details to appear on the City’s Events Calendar so we can add the information to our calendar and publicize this important event. With less than three weeks to go before the retreat is scheduled to occur, the City’s Events Calendar still does not give us the time, the place, the agenda or even an indication as to if the event will be live-streamed or recorded for those who cannot make it to the undisclosed location.
Create an Area Plan for New Bern Avenue
The solution is simple. You are half way there. You have exempted one and two story homes from the TOD. Well done! Now, fix the core of the problem by amending TC-17A-20 so that NCODs, HODs and residential properties take precedence over the TOD! You amended this ordinance once. Let’s send it back to the drawing board, amend it again, and put equity and neighborhood protection back in.
January 2, 2024 City Council Meeting Highlights
Highlights from the January 2, 2024 City Council afternoon and evening meetings
Baldwin’s Council Cronies Erect Housing Hurdles
This gentrification–cruelly forced to be funded by the council’s constituents through taxes and fees–is not done with respect to or value for the history, culture, and communities of Downtown. It’s for the investors; for the migratory wealthy who seek new investments for their capital in an expanding city.
BRT, New Bern Ave, & Z-92-22 – some quick facts
Livable Raleigh supports BRT. We do NOT support proactively upzoning 744 properties on New Bern Ave in a giveaway of the city’s only bargaining chip to negotiate for affordable housing. BRT can be built without the upzoning.