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Finish writing the ordinance.

Finish writing the ordinance.

Add a buffer zone and noise ordinance around reproductive care clinics. Our requests are reasonable, legal, and in line with the type of city we would all like Raleigh to be. One of love and respect for all.

City Council Work Session – January 10, 2023

City Council Work Session – January 10, 2023

Planning Director Pat Young states that a driver for Missing Middle is housing affordability, but Raleigh’s Missing Middle ordinance doesn’t seem designed to achieve affordability unless you believe in trickle down and their metrics haven’t looked at affordability.

Are six better than three?

Are six better than three?

To paraphrase Myrick Howard of Preservation NC, you can’t tear down an existing structure and expect to get affordable housing in its place. If we continue this process of tear downs, Raleigh will become a city where only citizens working in the professions and other highly compensated tech workers will be able to live.

Council’s 2023 Retreat: Another Baldwin Shell Game?

Council’s 2023 Retreat: Another Baldwin Shell Game?

Mayor Baldwin knows the most important goal of City Council’s upcoming 2-day retreat is to set strategic priorities for action in the coming term. She also knows that the chances of her priorities prevailing will depend on her ability to prevent other competing Council priorities from being adopted. That is why the first line of defense in Baldwin’s retreat agenda this year is to make sure it is chock-full of plausibly interesting things to see and do, minimizing the time available for other Councilors’ ideas about the future of Raleigh.

Trickled on by the Missing Middle

Trickled on by the Missing Middle

Whatever aspirations Raleigh has for the Missing Middle, affordable housing is not one that will be realized. As a principal catalyst, the Missing Middle in other cities has shown the opposite effect—higher taxes, less affordable housing, higher land costs, rent increases, and higher house prices.

Starting off on the wrong foot

Starting off on the wrong foot

Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin really stepped in it at the first City Council meeting of 2023. It was announced that Day One of the council’s retreat, an annual event of team-building and setting their collective direction for the year, will be held at an undisclosed location in Durham that has no ability to live stream the event for public access. Worse yet, the venue can’t even record the event for viewing after the fact. So much for improved community engagement!

January 3, 2023 City Council Meetings

January 3, 2023 City Council Meetings

HIGHLIGHTS Consent agenda items will be reviewed with council before meetings in future.  Hearings that needed to be rescheduled due to insufficient notice will now be heard at a special council meeting on Tuesday, January 24, at 5pm. And staff has put in place...

Homelessness has doubled under Mayor Baldwin

Homelessness has doubled under Mayor Baldwin

The past council FAILED to protect our most vulnerable citizens in their efforts to give the developers free reign in their rezoning requests. Homelessness has DOUBLED in the last 2 years under the mayor’s leadership. We will be a better city when we take all of our residents into consideration and not just the wealthy donors that support the mayor. You councilors hold the power now and Raleigh is ready to see you get to work!

Health Clinic Buffer Zones are needed NOW!

Health Clinic Buffer Zones are needed NOW!

A Woman’s choice has been a good, quiet neighbor to us. They have always dealt with protestors but in recent months these protests have grown in size, volume and hostility, frequently blocking the sidewalk on my street, Myron Drive, and intimidating neighbors who are only looking to jog or push a stroller past. We ask Mayor Baldwin and City Council to please consider buffer zones, as Charlotte and Asheville have, to protect patients and neighbors while still allowing protestors their right to demonstrate at a distance. 

Glenwood South can control the noise & still thrive

Glenwood South can control the noise & still thrive

This city has let the area get wild and out of control. A factor is the extremely loud music being played which can be heard blocks away and in the homes of residents. My neighbor and I came to the council 2 years ago and we got a lot of nice talk but no action. Officers have told me the current noise control system is as frustrating for them as it is for residents.

Is anyone listening?

Is anyone listening?

I would also like to add that during the past few meetings I have attended, I have watched each one of the council members, present and the old, play on their phones, talk amongst themselves while people are speaking. The rules of decorum should also apply to you. When we are speaking to you, you should pay attention to us. We do pay part of your salary.

Proposals to address Raleigh’s housing crisis

Proposals to address Raleigh’s housing crisis

I urge you, as Raleigh’s new city council, to aggressively address Raleigh’s housing crisis. I highly recommend that this City Council genuinely put Raleigh’s residents’ interests above those of the developers.

Re-engaging with the community BOTH immediately and long-term.

Re-engaging with the community BOTH immediately and long-term.

Livable Raleigh supports today’s proposal for community engagement put forward by Councilors Jones and Harrison. You don’t have to wait for your council retreat at the end of January where you will be discussing your longer-term solutions, you could act tonight to give CACs access to community centers with a simple motion and a vote directing staff to make it happen.

A learning curve for ALL councilors

A learning curve for ALL councilors

Congratulations to the new members of the council. I am hoping your election will lead to a new climate of openness and citizen cooperation from this new council, and not just from the new members.

Single-Family Zoning is not Exclusionary nor is it Discriminatory

Single-Family Zoning is not Exclusionary nor is it Discriminatory

Missing-Middle development grants serious money-making potential to developers, while single-family neighborhoods get nothing in return. Developers need to give something back, and the previous City Councilors — especially those who were re-elected, should logically support a strong inclusionary ordinance.

City Council Meeting Highlights — December 6, 2022

City Council Meeting Highlights — December 6, 2022

HIGHLIGHTS Corey Branch will be Mayor Pro Tem for the first year and Jonathan Melton will be Mayor Pro Tem for the second year. Council Committee assignments will be announced either at December 13 work session or in January. Councilors asked to submit preferences to...

Livable Raleigh’s proposal for renewed engagement

Livable Raleigh’s proposal for renewed engagement

With the election of four new Councilors, Raleigh voters have made it clear that restoring and improving city support for the public’s involvement in community affairs is a top priority. After three years, the voters know that waiting for a perfect solution is unrealistic and will only further delay city support for the essential and imperfect community conversations that are the foundation of an informed democracy. It is with this sense of purpose that the Livable Raleigh Advisory Committee offers six policy-level proposals for quick adoption. Our hope is that these proposals will have several positive effects:

Raleigh’s voters responded to the challenge

Raleigh’s voters responded to the challenge

In May of 2022 we ran a piece challenging voters to restore democracy to the City of Raleigh by dedicating the November election to restoring former Mayor Clarence Lightner's vision for community engagement in Raleigh. Well, the voters responded to our challenge in...

Recycling do’s and don’ts

Recycling do’s and don’ts

In one of the wealthiest cities in the wealthiest country in the world, we have neither the personal ethics nor the appropriate infrastructure and educational, monitoring and enforcement efforts to responsibly manage the enormous detritus of our privileged daily lives. Our recycling efforts are on the level of a third world country. And, yes, I realize that is a derogatory term. We deserve it.