Highlights from December 5, 2023 Council Meetings
Sloppy reporting leads to confused Raleigh residents
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.
Density does NOT create affordability
You could have negotiated to include the same number of 56 affordable units as a community benefit for the increased entitlement given to the applicant while allowing them to benefit financially from 154 additional market rate units. Maybe even go crazy and ask them to increase from 56 to 60 affordable units while still gaining 250 units at market rate. A WIN-WIN for everyone.
Benefits of affordable housing extend beyond providing a roof over one’s head
Ultimately, the transformative capacity of affordable housing extends beyond providing a roof over one’s head. It acts as a catalyst for community wide improvements, positively impacting crime rates, mental health, incarceration rates and childhood learning. This isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s essential and it’s a key requirement for a thriving community.
NOVEMBER 21, 2023 CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS
Highlights from the November 21, 2023 Work Session and Afternoon Session
BRT Must Benefit New Bern residents as Promised and NOT Displace them
Counselors: You are the responsible party. The ability and duty are yours. YOU are the key players in insuring that the history of Raleigh, its culture, its communities, its monuments, and its traditions survive for the benefit, edification, and pleasure of future generations.
November 14, 2023 City Council Meetings
Highlights from the November 14 City Council meeting.
Reinstate Raleigh’s BRT promise: Use transit to strengthen New Bern households and families, not displace them.
In 2016 Raleigh’s Planning Director promised Raleigh’s BRT would serve “some of Raleigh’s lowest-wealth communities .. [and] ensure that these investments benefit rather than displace households and families.” At the New Bern BRT Kickoff Meeting, a senior city planner pledged the city would “make sure the BRT benefits … are shared equitably … so that existing residents of the New Bern corridor … are going to be there to benefit”
City Council Meetings – November 7, 2023
Highlights from November 7, 2023 City Council Meeting
New Bern BRT: Bait & Switch or Just Action?
In 2017, ‘The Color of Law’ landed like a bombshell in progressive housing policy circles. In Raleigh, powerful development interests saw the opportunity to adopt — some would say co-opt — Richard Rothstein’s anti-segregation message by promoting pro-density zoning rules that not only lifted exclusionary zoning rules, but went much further. By 2020, a new alliance of developer money, self-righteous Council aspirants and their white privileged adherents provided the lubrication to fast track pro-density zoning proposals. Novice Councilors were assured that pesky public input needn’t impede this sweet deal to meld profits and equity.