As someone who doesn’t live in downtown (yet), this is my least favorite thing about Raleigh. Even most American cities have more than one neighborhood that isn’t car-centric, but we really just have downtown (I honestly don’t count North Hills at this point — you kind of have to own a car even if you live there, considering how poorly connected it is to… everywhere else).
I’ve said this before, but Raleigh really needs to start focusing on building out multiple urbanized hubs. I’m really counting on BRT bringing these into existence, and I honestly don’t expect change until those routes start coming online. Smaller walkable hubs (like North Hills) will continue to be car-centric until they get fast, frequent transit connections to downtown.
I think we sometimes get hooked on this idea that the only way to increase walkability in Raleigh is to keep letting downtown creep in all directions, but downtown isn’t the only opportunity we have to make that happen. There are plenty of brownfield and greenfield properties in city limits that could be redeveloped into dense urban neighborhoods. So yeah, bring on projects like Downtown South (though it should probably be called something else) and the redevelopment of Tower Shopping Center. Give car-free residents in downtown other neighborhoods to visit, and give them a way to get there. And give folks who can’t afford downtown proper an opportunity to still live in a walkable neighborhood.
Jenn Truman is friend and neighbor. She knows her stuff and walks the talk. Getting her elected to the District D seat is not going to be a slam dunk. There are Jane Harrison signs up all over my neighborhood.
For those who live in District D and want to see Jenn elected please consider supporting her campaign: https://jennifertruman.com/
Jane Harrison was canvassing in my neighborhood a few weeks ago and we received a flyer in the mail. I spoke with her briefly but not long enough to get a real feel for her specific ideas. I’m guessing she’s been doing this in other neighborhoods, too. I didn’t get a sense from our conversation that she’s a hard line NIMBY, but it’s tough to know without more details.
I haven’t received any campaign materials from other candidates so far.
Did anyone go to the District D meet the candidates night on Wednesday? I had another engagement but I would be curious to know what you thought if you were there?
I’ll knock on your door for Jenn! Went knocking in my neighborhood last weekend. She’s the real deal. She’s on the transportation board, actually rides the bus and e-bike around town, been speaking at council meetings for years, was on the Dix park committee, is an architect and ex-civil engineer. understands infrastructure, traffic, equity (lives in a very diverse neighborhood, my neighborhood), walk/bike, and transit.
I watched it live but the audio cut in and out, sometimes even video. Made WRAL look pretty amateurish. I do want to go see if they at least got a recording that’s decent to re-watch. Let me know if you do.
Apparently I live in District D, so this is helpful. I already know who to vote for as mayor and one of the at-large (MAB and Melton). Who is running for the other at-large seat that I should be giving my vote?
Count me among those who think that the best way to create more walkability is to let downtown creep in all directions. While I theoretically understand that there are other areas that can improve walkability (and that’s a good thing), I don’t see them being essentially as robust of a total experience as a series of linked/connected urban neighborhoods supported by the creep method.
I’ve also always been a proponent of focusing on places between places. This was my mantra years ago when I felt like the downtown districts were disconnected with a prime example being how Glenwood South and the Warehouse district didn’t have a nice walkable experience between them. This has been changing with the development of Block83 and now 400H.
For me, the opportunity areas are west through the Village District and NC State, southwest through Lake Wheeler/S. Saunders to the Farmers’ Mkt., east through the New Bern corridor, and north through Glenwood/5Points, & Capital+ Wake Forest to the Iron District. These are the areas that I see the most walkable potential for the city.
Awesome! I haven’t actually started my city council research yet, but Jenn sounds like she checks all the boxes for me. I just mentioned that Jane had been out early, so that could be why it seems she has more support at this point.
The desire is noble, but the implementation is nearly impossible. I’d go all the way to impossible, but I’d rather not be absolute in my language.
In order for the entire city to become walkable, there would have to be a complete overthrow of Raleigh’s vast area of suburban development.
Could there be areas of dense development dotting the entire city? Certainly, but that’s about the most that Raleigh could expect.
To put this into perspective, Raleigh would need to be the population of Philadelphia to achieve widespread walkability in the city. It’s just not going to happen.
that all said, I do think it’s possible to create walkable nodes throughout the city that could add tens of thousands of people without expanding the footprint of the city.
This is starting to drift closer towards density focused instead of council members, but “something more walkable” is my key phrasing here. I’m talking solely about everyone in Raleigh having a neighborhood bar or corner-store within walking/biking distance, even if they still have to drive many other places. Just a couple places to walk to, even if it’s not really “walkable”, can be transformative. I do understand there’s likely a minimum density required for businesses to thrive, though, so even this might not be possible for the whole city.
Redeveloped mixed-use centers that are truly walkable, with great greenway access could also do a lot as ebike ownership increases. I believe the city is looking into ebike incentives.
I’ve sort of wanted the same thing but I describe the Raleigh I’d like to see is one where a majority of people/families are living a “car-light” lifestyle. This is where a majority of homes only have a single car and on some days (probably the weekends) that car doesn’t go anywhere.
This is my personal dream when I retire (whenever that happens). We intentionally moved into a neighborhood with daily amenities (grocery stores/pharmacies/dining options) are within walking distance. One weekend last year, my wife and kids went on a trip. I parked the car Thursday afternoon and walked everywhere I went until I left for work on Monday morning. That was living the dream IMO. Here’s hoping more and more folks will get on the wagon and opt to walk rather than drive.
Exactly. I thought the same thing, that retirement would be when I get around on my own two feet and use transit. That’s partially true right now but mid-career people with kids (that’s where I’m at) tend to have a lot of logistics (therefore less time to commute) and getting around a car-centric city is easier in a car with most trips. Transit + density may make these things happen a lot sooner.
Here’s hoping more and more folks will get on the wagon and opt to walk rather than drive.