Donna Bailey has lived in Raleigh for over 25 years and has been a neighborhood advocate for much of that time. She served as President of the University Park Neighborhood Association and has also been Chair of the Hillsborough-Wade Citizens Advisory Council (CAC). Donna has been very active in educating the public on what is going on within the city and making sure that resident’s voices are heard. Donna is a former member of the city’s Community Engagement Board.
Donna spoke to City Council on February 10, 2026:
The city is FAILING at providing even a fraction of what is needed for Affordable Housing.
According to the last breakdown of NET loss of Affordable Housing, the city is losing 4,000-5,000 units a year. ¹
The current Comp Plan and Missing Middle rules are NOT promoting affordability. Instead, the city continues to destroy our existing NOAH to build “luxury” housing.
The Comp Plan says there will be expanded housing choices with affordable and workforce housing. ²
Where is it?
Over and over again staff indicate that rezoning cases with ZERO Affordable Housing are “consistent” with the Vision Theme in the Comp Plan.
It is YOUR JOB to make sure the biggest NEED in Raleigh, more Affordable Housing, is being met.
I give you all a FAILING grade for not asking for more Affordable Housing in projects, especially the large projects that have the flexibility to add Affordable Housing.
You don’t need to be afraid of scaring off the developers. If they all know that what you will be asking for is increased Affordable Housing, then that is what they need to give YOU for the INCREASED entitlement that they are asking for. It’s ironic that developers can come up with Affordable Housing contributions IF they think they won’t get your vote!
Just like we saw that “trickle down” economics doesn’t work, that same theory for housing, known as filtering, is also a failure. It takes about 30 years for current housing to become affordable. ³
What is more likely to be seen is that Affordable Housing is being scraped off for more luxury housing.
That is EXACTLY what I see in my neighborhood. We had many duplexes and quadraplexes that have been torn down, only to see one or two McMansions being built in their place.
Many people are confused because when the hear the term “Missing Middle,” they assume that INCLUDES Affordable Housing. But you know and I know, that is not the case. There is no requirement for ANY affordable housing.
References
1.
Intentional or not, staff’s interpretations of the Comp Plan and Missing Middle rules are not promoting affordability. Instead they promote the destruction of existing affordable units in favor of market rate and luxury units that drive up land and housing costs. Over 4,000 units lost each year according to the city’s own data, making Raleigh’s affordable housing crisis worse, not better. When will the city provide updated numbers for the loss of affordable housing since 2020?
2.
“Raleigh will have an expanded supply of affordable and workforce housing”
“Decent affordable housing”
“To reduce homelessness for low and moderate income households.”
The Expanding Housing Choices Vision Theme is intended to apply to affordable housing. Real units, not aspirational units.
Source: Comp Plan Vision Themes
3.
As staff notes, filtering is a long time horizon and it’s what we do NOW that matters.
I ask you NOW to stop the misleading practice of claiming zoning cases with zero units of affordable housing are consistent with a vision of creating affordable housing.
The three references above come from the City’s Comp Plan and City Staff presentations. This data has been previously published by Livable Raleigh in 2023.
Read it here: Raleigh must refocus its vision for affordable housing
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