Raleigh Downtown Living Advocates

Category: City Government (Page 13 of 15)

The DLA – A Look Back At Our First Year

January 1, 2010 /

It was this past March that a handful of Raleigh residents got together, joining their ideas and dreams to create the Downtown Living Advocates.  Their vision sparked  a connection with an increasing number of residents willing to embark on numerous fronts with both city officials and surrounding neighborhoods to help shape the growth and character of Downtown Raleigh.  Just nine months later, the DLA reflects the shared interests of diverse residents, and has grown well past the initial brainstorming.  For that, we thank you!

Using mixers to bring together the Downtown community

The DLA social mixers were created early on to bring together the Downtown community for drinks after work, and to mix and mingle with friends.  It also offered new residents the opportunity to meet others with similar interests, often living in other nearby condos. 

Mixers have become a great resource for creating awareness for residents to learn more about the DLA and to create a forum for receiving feedback  from those living Downtown.  

Saf, Jim, Hilary and Ryan

 

Mixers held this past year:

Solas – April 22nd
101 Lounge/Café – May 20th
18 Seaboard – July 29th
Tobacco Road – August 26th
Mosquito – September 16th
The Oxford – November 4th   

 

 

The interaction and response from residents has been extremely favorable, and the DLA will continue to host mixers at new Downtown venues throughout the coming new year.

Expanding our resident conversation through the social media

Social media tools were a great fit for the DLA, offering a way to reach even more residents by joining their conversation on Facebook and Twitter.  The DLA page on Facebook was launched in early May, and has attracted over 300 fans.  In June, the DLA began “tweeting” and now has over 200 followers.  

A few months later in August, the DLA launched this blog to share even more information about DLA activities and to deepen the conversation by offering a place for residents to both read and contribute information about their experiences of Downtown living.  Use the links below to review our most popular blog posts over the past year:

Working With City Officials on long-term projects

DLA members have developed an excellent working relationship with members of the the City Council and Planning Department, and consequently have become closely involved with the New Development Code and the High Speed Rail/Train corridor, two of the most important initiatives associated with the city’s future Downtown growth.  

New initiatives for Twenty Ten

The DLA started with a core group of 6 members, and now has 60 active members, allowing the DLA to continue working closely with city officials on the major projects, while pursuing a broader range of activities in the new year.  Plans are already being formulated to build upon our relationship with CAC’s and other surrounding neighborhood organizations, conduct an inventory (accessibility, cleanliness, safety) of Downtown pedestrian sidewalks, and to launch a committee focused on finding opportunities for the DLA to support Downtown community services.  

If you live, work or play Downtown, come join us.  Get involved with your Downtown community, meet new friends, and have fun at the same time!


 

 

Are you picking up after YOUR four-legged family pet?

December 8, 2009 /

Downtown Dog owners please take a moment and read this short but informative blog.   

Do you know that it’s actually a city code, “Pooper Scooper” Law, to pick up after your pet?  

I am amazed when I see owners letting their dog take a #2 in the grass and  then leave it for others to step in it.  I must say that I have found myself a few times without a baggy but will always find my way back to the spot to pick it up later.  I was walking down along Fayetteville Street the other day and took a walk between two buildings.  I was thinking, well this is really a nice little walkway, with shrubs and a monument noting the historical area.  Unfortunately, the effect was ruined by all  the droppings left behind by an irresponsible dog owner.   

Please consider that removal of animal feces is not just a courtesy, it is an environmental necessity. I really don’t think that most people realize that your adorable dogs’ little #2 could end up in our drinking water, if it’s not picked up.  

Let’s take control of our downtown and spread the word that we all should be picking up after our pets.  I would be really interested in hearing from other downtown neighbors on how we can take control of this.


City’s Rewriting of the Development Codes — A Perfect Fit for the Work of the Downtown Living Advocates

November 27, 2009 /
Just ask anyone sitting in rush hour traffic, making their way stop light by stop light to their home in Wake Forest.  There is a growing realization that Raleigh’s suburban patterns of development cannot be sustained. The cheap gas and land that allowed our city to spiral outward for decades, have quickly become luxuries of the past. 
 
Our city government understands that our traditional development patterns that encourage “sprawl” are not only unsustainable from an environmental perspective, but that this type of growth imposes a real threat to our region’s long enjoyed status as being an attractive place to start a family and develop new businesses
 
Altering growth patterns requires a new development code.
 
Development codes provide an important mechanism for managing future growth.  And the city is now embarked on a challenging 18 – 24 month process of rewriting their long-standing development codes.
 
The new codes  are expected to address the current barriers to in-fill and redevelopment and  are also being designed to support those areas that promote Downtown living; including character, use, public space, mass transit, parking, and pedestrian oriented streets.
 
The 2030 Comprehensive Plan was an important first step, and serves as an important framework to guide the process.  But turning the plan’s vision into a executable and enforceable “codified” set of rules will be very challenging.  
 
As an advocacy group promoting communication between residents, businesses and city government, Downtown Living Advocates will be deeply involved.  
 
This process is clearly in alignment with DLA’s key mission of developing the city’s urban core as an attractive place to live.  We have met with the City’s Planning Department and are taking steps to support the department’s efforts by positioning our group as a bridge for integrating the residential and neighborhood needs of our Downtown. 
 
This will continue to be an important initiative for the DLA, so look for ongoing updates to be posted on our blog.

Full Speed Ahead! Citing broad benefits from High Speed Rail, the DLA makes recommendations to B.E.D. Committee

October 25, 2009 /
Readers of the DLA blog may be questioning what all the noise is about, when it comes to downtown trains. Clearly, this has been a useful forum for discussion among downtown residents.  But the DLA’s interest goes far beyond early morning train whistles.  
 
On October 13th, the DLA presented recommendations on the subject of the high speed train and Quiet Zone to the city’s Budget & Economic Development Committee.  The recommendations addressed the short term issue of downtown residents’ concern regarding noise from train horns [to view our previous post click here], but also included a much broader range of issues associated with the High Speed Rail Initiative and the related implications of a Quiet Zone.
 
Proposed short term solution to train horns to be tested

At the meeting, the Committee agreed with the DLA’s recommendation to pilot a project that would test the sound impact of localizing the train horn at the crossings, rather than have the trains operators blow the horn along the entire the downtown corridor.   Since studies indicate a minimal cost per crossing, this change offers a viable short-term solution ahead of the High Speed Rail Initiative.  Once high speed rail become a reality, the associated federal guidelines will eliminate the noise from train horns and the more important impact of vibration.
 
In the larger context, the DLA is continuing its efforts to encourage the city to set policies and guidelines maximizing benefits of High Speed Rail to the city and region.  In addition to an in-depth study analyzing the various successful high speed projects from around the country, the DLA provided the B.E.D. Committee with expert opinion on urban design guidelines within the context of the city and the downtown area. Efforts in this regard parallel and enforce the recommendations of the City’s 2030 Plan that was recently adopted in late September.  
 
 
The study concludes that the benefits of high speed rail to the city and region are numerous.  For example, it will help curb building and enlarging highways to meet the population growth, as well as reducing congestion and instigating a green and multiple approach to transportation within and outside the city. The downtown benefits include an increase in buildable space through a reduction in the requirements for parking, and the consolidation of unused land along the rail corridors.
 
Note: This DLA initiative is being led by Mr. Saf Fahim of Archronica Architects a DLA member and an internationally recognized Urbanist and Architect with offices in Raleigh and New York City.  Mr. Fahim has volunteered his and his firm’s time and expertise on behalf of the DLA members and downtown residents. 

DLA Brainstorms with Raleigh Neighborhood Organizations and the City Regarding Zoning Issues

October 22, 2009 /
Shaping Raleigh’s future look was the topic of conversation at the Urban Design Center on Tuesday, October 20 as the Downtown Living Advocates joined several CAC’s (Citizen’s Advisory Councils) from around the city and the code underwriters to consider zoning and legal issues. The code review and zoning process is an 18 month project with preliminary results expected to be announced by next January, and followed by a second round of meetings.  
 
The purpose of the study is to update the code and the zoning maps to meet the comprehensive plan recently adopted by the City.  Issues discussed included architectural character, zoning and land use, as well as the critical need for more timely neighborhood input on new development. The DLA also raised the need for a character study that can help guide the new code underwriting and the new zoning maps, underlining to the code review team that a study of the impact of growth on neighborhoods is critical in creating a sensible zoning map and code.  
 
The DLA was pleased to receive many requests from the various CAC’s to visit them and provide a presentation on the DLA mission and collaborative efforts.  The DLA sees itself as an advocate for neighborhoods, providing early expert input to developers and builders on major projects under consideration. 
 
In order to support the neighborhoods as a whole, the DLA plans to collect input from the various CAC’s involved and to compile them in a comprehensive report to be submitted to the city and to the code and the zoning consultants.  
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