Community Benefits are left “On the Table” in 2021. Why?

Community Benefits are left “On the Table” in 2021. Why?

Livable Raleigh Chair Susan Maruyama delivered the following remarks at the January 4, 2022 Raleigh City Council meeting:Madam Mayor and City Council, Please don’t leave a whole lot of good on the table in 2022 like you did in 2021. In 2021, you approved 96% of the...

District A Resident Presents a Redistricting Alternative

District A Resident Presents a Redistricting Alternative

Midtown Raleigh resident Larry Helfant recently sent the following email to City Staff and the members of the Study Group on Council Terms and Compensation who now have been tasked with advising on redrawing of districts required after the recent census. Preliminary...

Humanizing the Affordable Housing Crisis

Humanizing the Affordable Housing Crisis

Longtime Raleigh resident Terry Snyder recently spoke at a Raleigh City Council meeting Over the past 49 years that I have lived in West Raleigh, I have witnessed significant changes in development.  One of the most alarming negative consequences is the vanishing...

Stop Signs, Stop Lights, and the Environment

Stop Signs, Stop Lights, and the Environment

Janis Ramquist submitted this blog to Livable Raleigh. She has been a Wake County resident since 1981. Janis says “I want my grandchildren to enjoy a clean environment, especially with simple choices that are safe and less costly.” Have you noticed the explosion of...

Bring elections and voter engagement into the 21st century

Bring elections and voter engagement into the 21st century

Barry Eriksen has been a rustbelt refugee and Triangle transplant for over 40 years and for the last 22 years has lived in West Raleigh’s Fairmont neighborhood. This blog post is adapted from his remarks made during the September 21, 2021, Raleigh City Council...

Raleigh flunks all 5 tests of “Open Democracy”

Raleigh flunks all 5 tests of “Open Democracy”

Bob Geary, resident of Raleigh’s District D and member of the Wake County Housing Justice Coalition, delivered the following remarks at the City Council meeting on September 7: Mayor and Council, I want to recommend a fascinating book called “Open Democracy: Popular...