Oaks & Spokes sent a questionnaire to all candidates running for Raleigh City Council. Here are the responses received. Thoughts?
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@Brian. This was a terrific article and it really helped to clarify my thinking on some of these topics. Thank you for sharing. Of baby boomer age but I couldn’t disagree more with my cohort and some of their efforts to thwart appropriately dance and walkable development. What is ironic to me is that in their efforts to keep from cutting down paradises and putting up parking lots, they are in fact encouraging it by discouraging denser development in the areas that are already covered in parking lots. I also feel like there’s a fundamental selfishness to the notion of wanting your neighborhood to stay exactly the same as it was when you bought your house 20 or 30 years ago.
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So if someone spends a few hundred thousand dollars for a neighborhood home that is exactly how they wanted it to be (hence the reason they bought the home to begin with), and they now don’t want a 6 story 400 apartment building built across the street from them… they are considered selfish? I suspect about 95% of all single family homeowners could then be described as selfish.
I wouldn’t say “selfish” as much as I would debatable…density is coming to Raleigh, we will agree, disagree, and agree to disagree. But let’s at least keep the communications going…
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Definitely keep it going. I would love a large apartment across the street from me as it would bring more restaurants, cultural opportunities etc. No one has the right to expect time to stand still just for them. Cities grow and change or they die. Then everyone complains that their owns have no opportunities, jobs etc. Been to many dying towns. Don’t care to live in one.
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To Crowder:
PWhat are your thoughts on removing publicly subsidized parking to provide an area for bicycle lanes and transit infrastructure?
Often the solution is to move the parking to a more appropriate place, for example from a streetside to a parking deck. The current problem is that there is not enough deck space. The City needs to find innovative incentives to increase off-street parking, even if the need is significantly reduced by widespread adoption of alternative transportation. This will make the streets and sidewalks safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
Huh? Was this questionnaire from 1970?
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From Saige:
What are your thoughts on removing publicly subsidized parking to provide an area for bicycle lanes and transit infrastructure?
Cars and parking are not the future of our downtown urban core, micro-transit and residents walking are. Raleigh City Council has a moral obligation to our people and to our taxpayers to begin a strategic and methodical process of removing publicly subsidized parking and begin to refocus our resources and future planning on providing necessary infrastructure for non-vehicular modes of transportation.
Significant difference. Shocked that the Councilwoman is promoting more parking decks, which is off putting to hotels. You should not expect a free/cheap parking space at a hotel in the urban core. $55 to park in DTPhilly.
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Even that’s on the cheaper end of the spectrum. Spots in Boston easily go for 80$ I think
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I’m a Gen X’r, child of the 70’s and 80’s, and I can appreciate how the opinions of some baby boomers were formed. Back then a lot of development was suburbs (further and further out), strip malls, and big box stores. But development isn’t an inherently good/bad thing, it follows the market. Things have changed since the 70’s and 80’s and there’s now more of a market for denser/walkable development, which also happens to generally be better for the environment and human well being by nudging people into physical activity and unplanned social interaction.
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Not sure I’d say “selfish” either, but people who expect things to stay as they are forever are only setting themselves up for disappointment.
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This response is all kinds of crazy. Increase off-street parking even if we don’t need it? So spend lots of money building unnecessary parking capacity? There won’t be widespread adoption of alternative transportation modes unless we invest in the infrastructure to promote that. I don’t see how we do that while also building unnecessary parking capacity. 
Interesting that Crowder did not respond to this question:
How often do you ride a bicycle or take public transportation?
And for a serious mayoral candidate I thought some of Francis’ responses were a bit out of touch.
How often do you ride a bicycle or take public transportation?
I have regularly used the subway in other cities like Washington, D.C., and New York, where it is quick, cheap, and accessible. When I am visiting Chicago, I often take the train from the airport to downtown. If we can push towards this in Raleigh in an efficient, low-cost way, all of Raleigh would move towards this plan. With respect to cycling, it is my preferred mode of transportation at the beach when vacationing with my family.
Low-cost subway is an oxymoron. And FYI - cycling isn’t just a recreational activity.
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While you don’t exactly say it, I will. The council of no & their supporters represent the selfishness of established downtown(ish) neighborhoods and residents. “They got theirs, now screw you” seems to the guiding principle of the political movement. While the city changes and grows around them, they will do whatever it takes to make sure that they are not impacted in all ways possible. They see dense development as something that affect their neighborhoods and their daily driving patterns, not something that takes a step towards freeing the entire city from more traffic congestion. They see tall towers as something that casts shadows on them, even when they are so far away that it’s laughable. They’ve already proven through their actions that they’ll listen to one whiny resident/business owner over the will of the people, as long as that person reinforces their agenda.
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I think another very unfortunate aspect to the political approach of the Council of no, and other similar so-called Pro neighborhood groups is that they create intergenerational tension, pitting millennials who wish to buy into the American dream against Boomers who already have their own. These policies have created severe housing shortages in other parts of the country and have effectively locked many people out of home ownership or even living in certain parts of certain cities. These policies essentially arrest market forces through government fiat using zoning and other regulations. They can do it because they have the power. For the time being anyway.
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So who should the the various City Councils listen to? The concerns of the residents who actually now live here or those who may eventually move here? Some time ago two dense proposals on two corners of Davis Dr at High House Rd were eventually approved by the Cary Town Council. This was against the wishes of a very well organized group of current Cary residents and was often in the news. (of course now these developments have been mostly built out and many current Cary residents enjoy visiting them to eat and shop). The long range result was the Mayor and several council members lost their reelection bids. Trust me when I tell you that current members of any City Council understands what it might mean to vote against the wishes of real actual current residents. The majority of current residents simply do not hold the same views as most of us in this blog.
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I am certainly not disagreeing with that. The upshot is that we get stuck in this endless unsustainable Ponzi scheme of suburban sprawl. But I have hope that that will change as younger people begin to filter into positions of power. I am in the medical profession and we’ve already seen it happen there. Interns and residents are interviewing asking questions about family life balance and other such things. Back when I was interviewing for my internship I would have been laughed out of the room had I have asked that question. But now we accommodate them because we had to, and over all, I believe it’s been for the better. I think we’re beginning to learn that we don’t need to do things the same way just because it’s the way we were taught to do it.
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As much as members of this forum are unhappy with our current council is anyone seeing/hearing signs that those running for re-election are in any danger?
I’m in District D and I’ve seen nothing to suggest that Brittany Bryan, Saige Martin, or April Parker will mount a serious challenge to Kay Crowder. Lots of Crowder yard signs in our area. I won’t be voting for her but I have no reason to believe she won’t be re-elected.
Maybe Mendell or Cox are in more trouble?
Election is in 43 days.
Definitely see Mendell and Cox in more trouble than Crowder. Mendell barely won last time and that was with the Democratic Party endorsement. She won’t get that this time.
I think it’s hard to unseat an incumbent when there are so many challengers.
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Agreed. Maybe the best we can hope for is a slight reduction in the council of no’s hold on power.
I think the only hope with Crowder is that it goes to a runoff. Either that or a great get out the vote effort from Brittany or Saige.
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