INDY Week Published Backtalk the same day they published the winners of their “Best Of” series and we now have a bit more understanding of why the readers chose us as Best Local Activist Group.

The readers’ comments in “Backtalk:Wants to be Charlotte So Bad” sound like they could have come directly from us. Here are the comments along with a link to the full piece.

“Height is irrelevant. We need specified affordable housing, public transit, and minimum public parking requirements,” writes Facebook commenter Melody Maybe. “Otherwise these tall buildings will be empty tax write offs for the developers. Gross!”

“Adding units alone will not slow housing cost increase,” writes commenter Emily Galvin. “We’re filling this city with luxury apartments and high rises when what we need is workforce housing, affordable to working class people including those making minimum wage. Mary Ann Baldwin and this city council are not just oblivious to what this city actually needs–they don’t care.”

“I think higher urban density is overall a good thing … especially *IF* there are good public transit and walkable resources (like grocery stores) available, and *IF* at least 40-50% of the housing created is affordable,” Jeffrey writes. “That said, this is like a gentrification replay of so many cities that end up being too expensive, less diverse and more generic (Seattle, Austin, Nashville, Portland). At least Seattle has great public transportation and I could walk to get everything I need. Doubt that will be true here.”

“Raleigh wants to be Charlotte so bad,” writes Brandy Hollingsworth, with two laugh-cry emojis.

Read the full piece at INDY Week here: Backtalk:Wants to be Charlotte So Bad

Livable Raleigh Editorial Team