Upcoming Raleigh Events
CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Blue Ridge Road South – Pre-Construction Meeting
Blue Ridge Road South – Pre-Construction Meeting
Green Road Park Site Improvement Presentation
Green Road Park Site Improvement Presentation
Green Road Park Site Improvement Presentation
Green Road Park Site Improvement Presentation
Neighborhood Rezoning Meeting — 0 Ponderosa Service Road
Neighborhood Rezoning Meeting — 0 Ponderosa Service Road
Community Engagement Workshop on Election Reform
Community Engagement Workshop on Election Reform
Mayor’s Committee for Persons with Disabilities Meeting
Mayor’s Committee for Persons with Disabilities Meeting
Biltmore Hills Park Tennis Improvements Open House
Biltmore Hills Park Tennis Improvements Open House
Read up on our latest news…
City Council Meetings March 5, 2024
Highlights from March 5 Afternoon and Evening City Council Meetings.
INDY Best of 2024 – Wake County – Nominations are OPEN
The nominations for INDY’s Best of 2024 Wake County are open until March 13. You only have a few days to get your choices in. We hope you will consider nominating us again this year as “Best Local Activist Group”
Thank You for re-instating CACs, now let’s fix the Neighborhood Rezoning Meetings
All the work the city has done to expand engagement opportunities could have been done while CACs remained in place. The need was NEVER either/or. It has always been both/and.
Developers put a BIG FOOT over existing NOAH communities
Having developers throw us a bone and expect us to say Thank You is an insult. This is not a small step toward more affordability but a big foot over existing NOAH communities.
Tax Season Fraud Alert – Advice from Raleigh PD
Attendees at February’s North CAC meeting received some great advice from RPD representatives. Every month at the North CAC meeting we hear a report from RPD officers who come to give details and take questions from those in attendance. This month the officers came with some extra timey advice to avoid tax season scams.
City Council should set a tax rate that is revenue neutral
As both a real estate appraiser and a broker, I have been fielding a lot of questions from friends and clients who are very worried about how much higher their property taxes might become. There are people in Wake County who can absorb a higher tax rate, but here are a lot of folks who will not be able to do so.
It’s time to Wake UP to facts.
Tim Niles submitted a Letter to the Editor of the N&O in response to an Op-Ed from the Director of WakeUP Wake County on the topic of the New Bern Avenue upzoning proposal. The LTE wasn’t published so we are printing it.
Token gestures of affordability are not good enough
This is the 3rd TOD case that has come before you with a token gesture of affordability. I have no doubt developers will continue to find ways around providing affordable units needed for BRT to be successful. By far, the most troubling statement in the staff report that you need to pay attention to is, “by adding the TOD, the site will have increased residential entitlement WITHOUT having to incorporate affordability measures.” However you crunch the numbers on the affordable housing condition that’s been provided, it doesn’t add up to a good decision. If you approve this rezoning, you will grant MORE entitlement than the current zoning WITHOUT the affordability requirement.
February 20, 2024 City Council Meetings
HIGHLIGHTS At work session staff outlined plan for adopting a new comprehensive plan. A robust community engagement process is proposed. Hopefully they will include presentations to CACs. Comprehensive Plan Amendment CP-4-23: Downtown Transition Areas...
February 19, 2024 City Council Budget Work Session
Highlights from the February 19 Budget Work Session
Election Reforms for Raleigh City Council
Livable Raleigh believes the City Council should do what the people told them they want. But, if they are hell-bent on moving to four-year terms despite the views of the people, it should ONLY be done if they implement a nonpartisan primary to go with it, thus getting rid of the current “plurality” election format and ensuring we elect the members of City Council by majority vote.
We’re FOUR!
Livable Raleigh published our first blog, Why Livable Raleigh was Born, four years ago on February 17, 2020. Just like any other four-year-old, we can't wait to grow even bigger. So, instead of a fund-raiser, we are having a "FRIEND-RAISER" as our birthday...
Meaningful support required before massive upzoning
I think there is a lot of good we can do here. But, I also do want to take abundant caution when it comes to the upzoning pieces.
City Council Meeting February 13, 2024
Highlights Work session focused on Downtown Economic Development; priorities and funding will be discussed at 2/27 meeting of Economic Development and Innovation Committee. Mayor Baldwin absent and excused from the evening meeting. Evening meeting was cancelled after...
Urgent SE Raleigh Issue
We are on notice from the City of Raleigh. If you haven’t had the opportunity to drive through Southeast Raleigh and notice the change in the place – you need to do so.
Is Affordable Housing really Affordable?
Generally affordable is defined as requiring no more than 30% of a household’s income being spent on housing. For the City of Raleigh, affordability is based on a percentage of the Area Median Income (AMI). Housing funded by the city is defined as affordable if it is in reach of those earning between 30% – 80% AMI. Without knowing what Raleigh’s AMI is or what local salaries are, there really is no way of knowing who affordable housing is affordable for. What we learn when we know the numbers is that to truly be affordable, Raleigh needs to focus its housing efforts at 60% AMI and BELOW.
New Bern Ave Public Hearing Comments
Several members of the public spoke in opposition to the mass upzoning proposed for New Bern Ave through the city-initiated case Z-92-22. We are publishing a selection of those comments made by speakers who have given us permission to print their comments.
City Council Meetings 2.6.24
Highlights City Council voted unanimously to restore a relationship with Citizen Advisory Councils (CACs) to include free monthly access to meeting rooms, provision of technology to support virtual meetings, and support for capability building for future leaders At...
CACs Are Back, We’re Taking Down the Clock!
Livable Raleigh, a citizens group advocating for effective community engagement on city issues, congratulates City Council for its decision today reinstating Citizens Advisory Councils. The decision pushed by Mayor Baldwin four years ago to cut off the CACs was a mistake, and the vacuum it created has been apparent in the years since then. Today’s decision begins to rectify that mistake.
Raleigh Chamber reports possible election format changes
Like a child who is told no by one parent, this council now wants to go ask the other parent to see if they can get what they want. Do they just plan to keep asking the question until they get the answer they want?