Highlights from the September 19 City Council Work Session and Afternoon Session
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...
Pouring Gasoline on Raleigh’s Affordable Housing Bonfire
Raleigh’s highly promoted public information sessions about Missing Middle Housing rules got off to a rocky start last Wednesday evening, being held a year and a half late, after the city’s neighborhood densification rules began going into effect.
Text Change would eliminate residential zoning
The proposed text changes will put the safety and comfort of our communities at risk by bypassing all restrictions and neighborhood protections by allowing unregulated businesses and unwanted traffic, congestion, and visitors to enter our neighborhoods from 6am -11pm every day/night. I did not purchase a home next to a gym, nail salon, sweepstakes parlor, burger joint, manufacturing plant, clock shop, or art studio because I wanted to live in a bedroom community, not a strip mall.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road… and Raleigh Residential Neighborhoods
Jennifer Irving Kochman is a researcher and editor. Her family has lived in Raleigh for 15 years, and she is the parent of one son who attends a public high school in Raleigh, and another who went through the WCPSS as well, and now attends UNC-Chapel Hill. Early in...
I get two minutes to save my largest investment; it takes longer than that to order and pay for a coffee
Shane Collins is a concerned citizen who has lived in two different areas of Raleigh since 2001. He likes to work and volunteer in the community and loves a good walk around his area. Shane and his wife have looked and lived in other areas and states and are happy to...
Council poised to eliminate residential zoning
Jennifer Irving Kochman is a researcher and editor. Her family has lived in Raleigh for 15 years, and she is the parent of one son who attends a public high school in Raleigh, and another who went through the WCPSS as well, and now attends UNC-Chapel Hill. Early...
Notice to Renters: Make Way for Expensive Homes.
While Raleigh is booming, more and more folks are finding it harder to afford living in our City. Rents and real estate prices keep going up and up, while naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) is disappearing. The affordable apartments in these photos will be...
Comment on Missing Middle Housing by 8/14 – How to Make Raleigh’s Missing Middle Policy Better
Daniel Parolek coined the phrase "Missing Middle Housing." He recently held a webinar explaining the common mistakes made when implementing this policy. Raleigh is making most of those mistakes with this text change. The Top Five Missing Middle Housing Implementation...
What’s in a Text Change? The Case of TC-4-20, an Effort to Weaken Residential Infill Development Standards. (You expected something else from this Council?)
The City is on the verge of changing our rules about residential infill, and not in a good way. That’s our short take on TC-4-20, a “Text Change” that would amend and loosen the city’s zoning code – the so-called Unified Development Ordinance, or UDO.