In the current issue of INDYWeek, Courtney Napier challenges the Raleigh City Council to center their Affordable Housing Bond on our city’s most pressing housing needs rather than on development profits. What follows are some excerpts from her piece:
“There is potential for real, equitable change to occur in our capital city. There is opportunity for Raleigh to be an example to the country of finding creative solutions to difficult challenges related to displacement, gentrification, and homelessness. But up to this point, Raleigh has chosen profit over innovation, and … the bond is currently a blank check.”
“Instead of making the goal to house the unhoused, the new definition of the crisis is that there aren’t enough units on the market for entry-level buyers.”
“This redirection effort explains why the building and development community is campaigning for the bond to pass. Local construction companies, architects, design firms, nonprofits, real-estate professionals, and even one of Raleigh’s former mayors have all used their voices, influence, and wealth to encourage Raleigh to vote ‘Yes.'”
“It seems like Raleigh builders and developers … stand to make a shit-ton of money if the bond passes.”
“When too many Raleigh residents are unhoused and many more are on the brink, it is not the time to redefine this crisis in a way that wins the support of the building and development class.”
“If Raleigh wants to use this critical point in our country’s history to make change in housing, then it must center those with the greatest need. Otherwise, it’s a waste of taxpayer dollars. When at-large council member Nicole Stewart said that the city isn’t in the business of helping residents build wealth, that should apply to the millionaires, too.”
Read the entire piece here Voices: Raleigh’s Affordable Housing Bond Feels Like Déjà Vu
COURTNEY NAPIER is a Raleigh native, community activist, and co-host of the podcast Mothering on the Margins. Past piece by Napier Courtney Napier Weighs in on Forte Appointment and Gentrification
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