Matthew Brown has restored three historic houses in Raleigh, and has assisted with the restoration of many others. He has financed renovation of six houses for affordable housing.
Matthew spoke to City Council on November 12, 2025:
Good evening. Thank you for your service and thank you for letting me speak.
This past Halloween, my neighborhood Historic Oakwood welcomed over 6,000 people, according to the Raleigh Police. Neighbors spent months putting up scary displays all over the neighborhood. Some neighbors spent over $1,000 on candy to give away. One neighbor spent $3000 hiring off-duty cops for security. It was a magical amazing evening, and everyone had a wonderful time. Most of our visitors were children from all over Raleigh, especially Southeast Raleigh. We also collected over 1,000 pounds of food for the food bank.
This December, we will welcome 4,000 people for the Oakwood Candlelight Tour of homes. Thousands more will walk or drive through Oakwood to see the holiday decorations.
In the spring, thousands will attend the Oakwood Garden Tour or just come to see our gardens.
And every day of the year, tourists visit Oakwood to see our old houses that we work so hard to take care of. There are guided tours several times a week, and even tours by horse and carriage. And most of Raleigh’s charity races and walks come through Oakwood.
We work very hard to be an amenity for the whole city. If you want a vibrant city, we are vibrant!
This is only possible because we are a neighborhood, with people living in these old houses.
Yet the Planning Department has been gradually rezoning our homes into office and commercial use.
At each home that turns into an office or a hair salon, nobody gives out Halloween candy. Nobody decorates for Christmas. Nobody plants flowers or trees. They turn the back yard into a parking lot.
It’s no longer vibrant; it’s dead most of the time.
Two rezonings will come before you soon, to turn three more of our homes into offices. These have always been homes. Two have long been affordable apartments.
The Planning Department is encouraging one of these rezonings, and actually initiated the other. The landlords want it, but it is sad for the residents and for Raleigh. Besides, don’t we want to increase our housing supply, not decrease it?
Please deny these rezonings, and ask the Planning Department to stop turning our neighborhood into an office park.
Good News at the November 12 City Council meeting one of the rezoning cases referenced in Matthew Brown’s comments was DENIED
Rezoning Z-25-25: 101 N. Bloodworth Street, at the northwest corner of the intersection of E. Edenton and N. Bloodworth Streets (District C) – denied by a vote of 6 to 1 with Councilor Silver being the lone vote to approve.
Please join us in thanking the City Council for getting this one right!
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