- Parking, parking, parking. You’re spot on. Parking is too cheap, especially on the streets. That is to say, it doesn’t reflect the real cost to the city and the neighborhood that is downtown. Parking is what kills downtown the MOST IMO. We have made some changes with removing parking mins, but parking still dominates the urban core. Until we move parking to structured decks, we will have a hard time with affordability. Put differently, we are more willing to subsidize and store cars than we are to actually house humans. I want to see the parking department streamline operations and ensure we have a plan to remedy the parking drain by the end of the decade. Happy to talk more about parking and cars in another response.
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I feel that sentiment. I am pro-public safety and security. We need more personnel paid fairly, more training, and more accountability.
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- Agree that downtown is struggling. In short, I think it is because of perception and the fact that we built downtown like a suburb structurally to house cars for a central business district. Until we talk about downtown as a neighborhood and lifestyle choice, it will continue to struggle. We should have suburbs and a proper urban core. Right now, we have car-dependent (mostly) suburbs and a downtown that operates effectively as a suburb. More neighbors living downtown, with more walkable/active/multi-modal options is our best hope for a thriving downtown.
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- I do think it is possible to work with NCDOT, but we’re going to have to really paint a compelling vision for what we want and we will need neighbors, like those of you following along, to out to lobby for the changes we want to see. I ride and walk all over the city and it’s sketch a lot of places. My kids ride with me and I’d love for that experience of the urban core to be widely different in the next few years.
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I’m here for it. I try to patronize all the spots.
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My platform is grounded in the assertion that housing, transit, and jobs must be inextricably linked together for us to grow well into the next decade and welcome new neighbors. I’m your urbanist, YIMBY candidate on the ballot this year and hope to continue JLM’s work on Council.
In terms of housing, I want to see more housing, more choices, and in more places. I also wanted to continue to push neighbors – particularly longtime Raleighites – towards Wake Tech training and education so that they can get into the workforce development pipeline that will get them the opportunity for a living-wage and life-giving job in Raleigh (we’re building these companies and recruiting them…we have to make sure we’re investing in people and not simply importing talent). Then, we need to connect more affordable and attainable homes to more great jobs via a multi-modal transit network. I love walking and biking (personally) since I’m a downtowner, but also want to jump on the bus and be able to get to places efficiently and reliably. Better train service is key, but that’s a bigger fish to fry IMO. Lastly, we must invest in our city teams who literally build the community that we envision every day. We need more public safety and security investments and places for teens/the next generation, especially around downtown. We cannot have a pro-business climate in the state while leaving our people behind (we have to ensure that companies by their fair share of taxes).
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Leo, really appreciate all your efforts through DTRCommunity over the years and the opportunity to engage with neighbors in this format/forum again. If I hadn’t found like-minded and like-hearted people who are wiling to work on behalf of our neighbors, I’m not sure I would have the courage to raise my hand for public service. Thank you!
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Thank you for all of your responses, it means a lot.
A few months ago we had an unsolicited offer to buy the Wilmington Street Deck. Immediately after the Downtown Raleigh Alliance and Marbles Kids Museum came out against it. Would you feel comfortable pushing back on them, if a suitable compelling offer were to come down?
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I’m comfortable with pushing back on the conversations around parking (not specifically on DRA or Marbles in this instance) and how the City manages our decks (like I said in the other response). I think the reactions sometimes are very “knee jerk” from the public (not just with parking) and we have to be more thoughtful and considered holistically about decisions, especially when parking (along with regular maintenance) are a huge cost burden to the city…even while most people’s perception remains that parking is expensive, far away, and inconvenient. We need parking to support our small businesses and downtown. I get that, but we also need to be clear about where parking is, how much it costs, what type of parking it is (street, surface, structured), and how long you can park there for. It’s a complex system that we must make easier and more accessible for more neighbors.
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Parking is what facilitates 98% of the trips into downtown from OTB where the majority of Raleigh residents live. Maybe in 10 years if BRT is a success, you could consider turning the screws on parking. Otherwise, you might as well build a castle wall around downtown and let it run as a self-contained town. I don’t believe that would turn out well.
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