Sloppy reporting leads to confused Raleigh residents

A reader recently submitted a Letter to the Editor to the News & Observer noting concern about an article’s accuracy. The letter was not printed so we are publishing it. What follows is the letter as submitted to the N&O: 

In the recent N&O article “Missing Middle, median income and more: The housing jargon you need to know” a mistake was made in the description of missing middle housing.

The article conflated housing types with housing prices.

The term “Missing Middle” is about housing types that can occur between single-family homes and large apartment buildings. Housing like duplexes, townhomes, cottage courts and small apartments.

The article got those facts right.

What it got wrong was stating that “These housing types are in the middle of the price range, between subsidized affordable units for those at or below the poverty level and luxury units for the affluent.”

While this statement may be true in some cases, it may not be true in other cases.

A prime example of it not being true is the proposed 17 townhomes in Raleigh’s Hayes Barton neighborhood which are priced at around $2 million dollars each. Those prices are not in the middle for Raleigh residents, they are high-end prices for the wealthy.

We are facing an affordable housing crisis in Raleigh and we need to be exacting in how we talk about it. “Missing Middle” does not necessarily mean “affordable” for the middle class.

You can read the full piece in the N&O here: Misssing Middle, the housing jargon you need to know

The relevant excerpt from the article is shown below:

Note from Livable Raleigh – What the letter writer did not include, but could have, is that Raleigh’s implementation of its Missing Middle policy contains absolutely no requirement nor even any incentive for the development of affordable housing units.

You can read more about what’s missing from Raleigh’s policy here: What’s really missing from the missing middle

Read more about Luxury Missing Middle development here: Fewer Homes, Fewer Choices  &  Raleigh must refocus for Affordable Housing  

Livable Raleigh Editorial Team

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