Upcoming Raleigh Events
CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS
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Partners for Environmental Justice Community Project Expo
Partners for Environmental Justice Community Project Expo
SW Raleigh Community Engagement Holiday Social
SW Raleigh Community Engagement Holiday Social
Neighborhood Rezoning Meeting: 8020 Litchford Rd.
Neighborhood Rezoning Meeting: 8020 Litchford Rd.
District E Meeting in conjunction with RPAC
District E Meeting in conjunction with RPAC
Neighborhood Rezoning Meeting: 4601 Creedmoor Rd.
Neighborhood Rezoning Meeting: 4601 Creedmoor Rd.
Voice Your Ideas for a More Accessible Raleigh
Voice Your Ideas for a More Accessible Raleigh
District D Neighborhood Alliance (DDNA) meeting
District D Neighborhood Alliance (DDNA) meeting
Read up on our latest news…
Join Us For our Fall Fundraiser
Join us on Sept 14 to hear two of Raleigh’s most important leaders in urban design and social justice discuss the keys to making Raleigh a World Class City.
City Council August 15, 2022
Highlights from work session and afternoon session
Bring Back the Jaycee Recycling Center!
I am here tonight to request that the City prepare a study to re-open the Jaycee Park Recycling Center at Wade Ave and to hold a referendum, at the next city-wide election, to allow Raleigh residents the opportunity to vote to re-open the Jayce Park to receive “Allowable Recyclable Items.”
Survey Results are in. Previous Council Fails
This survey is in essence a “Report Card” for the previous City Council that served from Dec 2019 thru Nov 2022. As far as the results for the previous City Council go, Raleigh’s scores declined in 71 of the 98 categories that were surveyed.
When you donate to Livable Raleigh, WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE
WHEN YOU DONATE TO LIVABLE RALEIGH, WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE Our mission is to Educate and Activate the residents of Raleigh. We want them to be informed about their government so they are able to make the best decisions in electing leaders for the City of Raleigh. We...
Help Us Do More in 2024
Join us on Sept 14 to hear two of Raleigh’s most important leaders in urban design and social justice discuss the keys to making Raleigh a World Class City.
What does it mean when 50% of your campaign contributions come from for-profit developers?
A message from Robert Steele. Councilman Jonathan Melton has submitted his mid-year campaign finance reports, and as expected, it’s more of the same. 50% is developer and real estate money. In almost every email the Councilman sends out, he toots his own horn on affordable housing, but can we trust him to have the interests of housing strapped residents at heart when HALF of his campaign is funded by for-profit, and not for-people, developers? I don’t think we can. That’s why I won’t be accepting developer money in my campaign. I want you, the residents of Raleigh, to be absolutely SURE that I am not bought and paid for. We can’t say the same for Councilman Melton.
Missing Middle – Unintended Side Effects
John Kitto and his wife live in Raleigh’s Woodcrest neighborhood. He spoke to City Council about the unintended side effects his family will experience from the Missing Middle policies.
The Missing Middle Fiasco: 8 Things The New City Council Should Do Quickly
A more sensible approach would’ve been incremental, introducing MM reforms in neighborhoods where actual frequent transit service is available within short walking distances. As frequent transit routes are added, MM’s application could be expanded.
Reining in the worst aspects of this MM giveaway to the development industry is a big test for the new Council. Hope they’re up to it.
Raleigh’s Zoning Code, It’s not a BUG, It’s a FEATURE
Let’s stipulate a couple of points up front. Missing Middle, done well, is a good thing. But….What the previous Council produced is MM done deviously, and sloppily. Much of it, in fact, undermines the whole premise of MM, which is to offer an increased number of affordable-housing options than would exist without it.
What’s really Missing from Raleigh’s Missing Middle policy?
City Council is on Summer Break. So, we are re-running this blog as part of our Missing Middle Week. There has been a lot of talk about missing middle housing since the city council approved a text change to legalize it (duplexes and townhomes) city-wide. This is...
Yolanda Taylor replies to being labeled a dissenter by the media
Well, as a labeled dissenter of the Mayor of Raleigh by a newspaper, I would like to congratulate the grassroots groups that worked hard to ensure a check in power on the way Raleigh grows going forward. It was disheartening to see journalists and certain nonprofit groups describe the fight to be included in development decisions as “anti-growth.” These anti-democratic statements came often from ostensibly progressive / liberal people who even called those demanding affordable housing NIMBYs.
Fewer Homes, Fewer Choices
This development illustrates, once again, the misapplication of the Missing Middle in Raleigh. It reflects the conclusion of the nonprofit Urban Institute that Missing Middle type zoning changes, in cities across the country, do nothing to increase the housing supply for middle, or lower-income citizens. Nor do they reduce rents. The changes have proven to have only a small effect, which is to increase housing supply for the most affluent.
Councilor Branch steps up, maybe
We commend Councilor Branch for recognizing that the Missing Middle policy is not working as intended and that there are problems with it that need to be fixed. We challenge Branch’s fellow councilors to join with him to take positive action to stop these undesirable, incompatible projects.
Population Growth & Housing Deficits
In response to the 17,000 unit deficit I noted that between Dec 2019 and Mar 2023 Raleigh’s City Council approved zoning cases for over 70,000 residential units. Over 4 times the reported deficit. Unless those cases were speculative and only to raise the property values for resale purposes, Raleigh is NOT lacking the entitlement to build residential units.
I went to Glenwood South and made it out ALIVE!
I have been coming here since last year to talk about Glenwood South vandalism, brutal assaults, stabbings and gunfire. Raleigh citizens do not think you are doing anything about this issue. People in Raleigh want a safe place to live. In honor of what the city has let Glenwood South become I am wearing a t-shirt I had made. It reads ‘I went to Glenwood South and made it out Alive.’
Victimized by Vibrancy – Part II
This issue has been on City Council’s agenda for nearly two years now going back to Sept 2021. The Council has been very timid in their responses over this time. Council’s response to the latest wave of crime and neighborhood vandalism was all talk and no action, except to ask staff for another report in a month or two.
Is TOD the new Urban Renewal?
Preservation isn’t Nimbyism, it isn’t classist, it isn’t fossilization. It is care by design; it happens when people show up and participate.
Actions Speak Louder than words
Actions speak louder than words, and the action city council took on the Shaw University was one that allows religious discrimination to continue, and the enabling of an administration looking to avoid the consequences of their own actions. Government is supposed to protect the community, not to create investment opportunities for the wealthy. And Raleigh City Council chose the latter. It’s a disgrace to democracy.
I thought our voices were being heard
Please do us all a favor, spare us from the dramatics of making us believe that 1) policy matters and 2) that community engagement is the key to a progressive, vibrant city for ALL if you are going to deliberately ignore the voices of SOME.