Raleigh Downtown Living Advocates

Category: City Government (Page 4 of 15)

DLA discusses “The Fine Art of Enjoying Downtown Living”

January 14, 2013 /

EducationForumsLogoHeader

Each month the Urban Design Center hosts their lunchtime education forums on various topics related to the urbanization of Raleigh.  All events are free and open to the public.

This month the UDC has invited the Downtown Living Advocates to host a discussion on “The Fine Art of Enjoying Downtown Living”.  That’s certainly a fun topic the members of the DLA know something about, so come join us:

When: Wednesday, January 16th from 12 Noon – 1:30PM.

Where: UDC, 220 Fayetteville Street in Downtown Raleigh

Topic questions

  • Is there innate value in urban interactions?
  • How are personal economies affected by living downtown?
  • What works best to create a livable urban fabric?… and what doesn’t?

Presenters: Anne S. Franklin, Urban Advocate and Community Organizer, and Chris Roberts, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Associate Principal / Architect, LS3P Associates

 

Who are those red-shirted people?

January 11, 2013 /

Have you seen the people walking around downtown Raleigh wearing a red shirt that says Ambassador on the back?  Did you know that they are walking the streets to help you downtown?  I know it’s genius: someone downtown that you can ask for directions, help you find a parking garage, or help escort you to your car when it’s raining.  I’m always amazed when I’m walking my two dogs or walking to work and I notice the ambassadors picking up trash, sweeping the sidewalks, or just saying “good morning”.  This type of program is definitely a great amenity for living downtown.

Check out this video that explains more about the Ambassador Program.

The Downtown Raleigh Alliance oversees the Downtown Ambassador Clean and Safe Program, which aims to make the 110-block Business Improvement District an attractive place to live, work, or visit.  In addition to providing the specialized services, the Ambassadors serve as additional eyes and ears for downtown by discouraging aggressive panhandlers and reporting problems to be addressed by the proper authorities.

Feel free to approach any of the Ambassadors for information, recommendations, directions, or a copy of the Discover Downtown Map and Guide.

Hopefully this has helped you and the next time you see one of those guys in the red shirt say hello and tell them thank you for keeping our downtown Raleigh clean and safe.

[Article written by Brian Reece, reposted from July 2009]

Coming Soon: New Rules for Development in Raleigh

December 20, 2012 /

UDOLogoSix years ago, the City of Raleigh took on the challenging task of overhauling its aging development regulations. The current regulations were written over 50 years ago to support suburban growth. The new regulations are written to support more urban forms of development and create more objective standards for greater predictability and quicker approvals of development plans. Another important feature is the customization of many standards to better fit different types of development.

The first phase of the project involved a rewrite of the City’s comprehensive plan. This plan defines policies that create the framework for the new development regulations. The Raleigh City Council approved the 2030 Comprehensive Plan in the fall of 2009. Immediately after its adoption, work began on the new development regulations. These regulations are officially called the Unified Development Ordinance or UDO

After two years of work on a draft document, the City released it last February for public comment. The Raleigh Planning Commission spent six months reviewing the proposed regulations and presented its recommendations to the City Council in September. The City Council hopes to approve the UDO during the first quarter of 2013.

The City Council has struggled with several issues…

  • Accessory dwelling units: The introduction of the backyard cottage has received both good and bad reviews. More information is available here.
  • Residential building heights: The new rules will measure the 40 foot height limit for residential homes at the ridge rather than the midpoint of the roof.
  • Infrastructure: New rules are needed to ensure the City has adequate funding to build new and replace old infrastructure.
  • Frontloaded garages: The façades of homes in some subdivisions are dominated by garage doors. The intent is to create rules that improve the appearance and safety in residential neighborhoods.
  • Open space: As the city becomes denser, it’s important to ensure adequate open space is preserved. Open space is an important asset that adds to the character and livability of the City.

The new regulations will become effective approximately six months after the City Council approves them. However, the actual use of the new regulations will vary. In many of the existing residential areas of the city, the new regulations will be used immediately. In other areas, especially the commercial districts where the new urban rules will have the greatest impact, new regulations will be phased in over 12 to 18 months.

DLA Supports A Destination Park At Dix

December 3, 2012 /

The Downtown Living Advocates support making the 306 acres of the former Dorothea Dix campus into a destination park.

A park at Dix would be a huge shot in the arm for urban fans in Raleigh as resulting development around the park, therefore adjacent to downtown, would be denser. This results in more walkable, bikable neighborhoods and more Raleighites thinking more on their feet than within their car.

             Quote from DLA member Leo Suarez.  

Downtown Raleigh skyline as seen from Dix Campus

Downtown Raleigh has little open space today as the historical design that included 5 green spaces has dwindled to just two small parks.

The Dix campus would make an excellent central park for Downtown Raleigh visitors and residents to enjoy, and a catalyst for attracting businesses and tourism revenue to our city.

The NC Council of State will decide the fate of the Dorothea Dix Campus.  The vote on whether to enter into a lease agreement with Raleigh for the property is scheduled tomorrow, Tuesday December 4.

Please join the DLA and contact Governor Perdue and our Council of State today and ask them to vote to lease Dix Park to Raleigh!

Read more about What A Destination Park on the Dix Campus Means for Downtown on the dtraleigh.com blog.

 

DLA Adopts Downtown Bus Shelter: early adopter of new city-wide program

November 17, 2012 /

The Downtown Living Advocates has adopted the R-Line (R9) bus shelter located at the corner of Dawson and Morgan Streets.

The City’s shelter adoption program began in September, and the DLA quickly volunteered to be one of the first adopters.

 

About the Adopt-A-Shelter Program

Adoption requires maintaining the shelter and assisting in removing trash in and around the shelter area on a monthly basis.  The City of Raleigh provides trash bags, disposable gloves and safety vests to assist in the trash removal around adopted shelters.  Volunteers are also asked to notify City of Raleigh staff of any special maintenance needs and report vandalism or suspicious activity.

Residents can sign up for a one-year commitment to keep the adopted bus shelter clean for CAT riders, and all of the 184 bus shelters throughout the City of Raleigh are available for adoption.

Code for American web application makes signing up easy

Code for America has stepped up to offer an interactive web web application to encourage participation in this City program.  The online application displays which Capital Area Transit (CAT) bus shelters are available for adoption.

The URL for the app is http://adoptashelter.raleighnc.gov/

Code for Raleigh includes volunteers from CityCamp Raleigh, who advocate for existing applications and technology created by Code for America, a national non-profit focused on improving government through technology.
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Race for Reuse Campaign targets 20 adopted shelters by December 6th

The Raleigh brigade has entered the Code for America Race for Reuse campaign, which is looking to have 20 new shelters adopted by December 6 to meet its success criteria.

We think we can double the existing adoption rate from 20 adopters to 40 adopters during the campaign,” said Jason Hibbets, a Code for Raleigh brigade captain. “Over the coming weeks, we hope to drive awareness of the bus shelter adoption program and host a ‘civic-athon’ on December 1 to sign-up new users, add new features and create Triangle Wiki pages about each adopted shelter.

Civic-athon Event December 1st

Register today and save the date for Saturday, December 1 to Adopt a Raleigh bus shelter and address bug/feature requests to the web application.  The event will be located in downtown Raleigh, but the exact location has not been announced.

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