I don’t believe there will be any off topic comments tonight. Both sides are stacked with TOD specific speakers… i assume. But yes, emails are helpful!
Hey! Me and my partner live where they are planning to redistrict and we are in favor of the TOD! We want to come out and support in favor of it tonight! Should we just come on in and sit with those who also support?
13 Likes
I think that’d be the plan!
Absolutely. Come on out! If you want to find me and chat, feel free. Else, thank you so much for supporting.
3 Likes
Welcome to the community, I think it would be great for you guys to attend!
2 Likes
Thank you! Excited to join! Just sent an email to city council as well! We will see you all there!
8 Likes
The body of the email that I just sent.
Dear City Council Members,
As a homeowner in downtown proper, I support all actions that increase the urban experience of all of downtown and that includes providing more ways for more residents to come to downtown without a car. In that light, I implore the council to approve TOD rezoning along the BRT route and specifically at locations that are walkable to the forthcoming stations. IMO, if we do not look at the BRT system holistically and with a focus on it being part of a greater effort to improve our downtown, increase our tax base without sprawl, and provide the density of residents to enable a viable and reliable transportation alternative to those without cars, the city’s BRT efforts will be dead on arrival.
13 Likes
I ended with, “don’t vote with your blinders on.”
7 Likes
WRAL being completely one sided as usual:
2 Likes
At least the first person quoted was from Wake Up Wake County, which is Pro-TOD. But yeah…overall the article is lopsided.
ABC 11 hasn’t updated theirs since before they interviewed me…they could be waiting for the 6 or 11 broadcast or something, I dunno.
Fear is a really good tool to use by those who seek to prevent change.
5 Likes
Email sent! Thank you for the address
2 Likes
Oh no, your property is worth more, raising your family’s wealth, what a shame.
To keep it balanced, a lot of folks aren’t the owners of their properties; they are renters. They won’t benefit from the increased values.
2 Likes
True, I was certainly being facetious (and I mentioned that in my email, which was far more thoughtful). But keeping land undesireable can’t be the solution to a growing city (as you know).
1 Like
Renters will be much less likely to afford to continue living here if the TOD doesn’t pass. It’s so short-sighted. In the short-term, yes, the property will be worth more. But, in the long-term, property values will rise and rise and rise at a much quicker rate if density continues to lack.
I just hope the city council has a bit of perspective here. Not approving the zoning makes it more likely that people get forced out of this area, not less.
6 Likes
Get your popcorn ready.
6 Likes
A bit late, but I sent an email as well. Here are some ideas in case anyone needs them should this thing draw on beyond tonight:
Dear Mayor and City Council Members,
As an employee in and frequent visitor to Downtown Raleigh, I strongly support actions that increase the livability, sustainability, and economy of the city, and this includes the proposed Transit Overlay District along the New Bern Ave BRT corridor. Allowing increased density along a high-capacity transit corridor such as the BRT corridor that has already broken ground is absolutely critical to ensuring that system’s success, and I would go as far as to say that the BRT corridor should not be built if there is not a plan to allow transit-oriented development along its route due to the inextricably intertwined nature of land use and transportation. Building density along this corridor, and other future BRT corridors, is also essential in reducing the amount of destructive auto-oriented suburban sprawl in Raleigh and creating a more sustainable city. Considering over a third of all greenhouse gas emissions come from the transportation sector, anything to reduce vehicle usage by supporting walking, biking, and transit is essential for Raleigh to achieve its goal of achieving an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050 as identified in the Community Climate Action Plan. Additionally, allowing more dense development will create more housing and retail options, including the possibility of affordable housing, and support more economically productive and sustainable land use patterns.
This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change policy to align with the City’s adopted goals of a more vibrant, sustainable city that offers greater mobility and housing options for all residents, and if not acted upon could set the City back years at the cost of future generations and the City’s $96 million investment in transit.
I urge you to support rezoning request Z-92-22.
8 Likes
Finally emailed council; a lot of this is copy/paste from posts I’ve written here.
11 Likes
I also wrote my councilor,
Hi Corey,
I’m Eddy Sackinger and I wanted to write you in support of the Transit Oriented Development Overlay district on New Bern Avenue. I live on Davie in District C and take transit in the corridor, the GoRaleigh Route 15. The Federal Transit Administration looked at the New Bern Avenue Bus Rapid Transit project and in reality the only reason they were willing to give us any money towards it was because we paid for more than half of the project, which is rare in Small Starts Projects. When they looked at our land use in the corridor, they rated it medium low,
They told us that 1/4 of the land in the corridor is not zoned to transit supportive densities and our policies and plans lack specifics on how to align the corridor’s land use to the Bus Rapid Transit implementation. We said that we would make station area plans as part of the station plans. The Federal Transit Administration likes it when we follow through on the things we said that we’d do. They like it when we have a high ridership project with transit supportive land use, like Charlotte did with the CATS Blue Line. Not doing this could jeopardize future transit projects.
We’re a growing region and the corridor is already becoming more expensive. With land becoming more expensive the corridor, housing is becoming more expensive. With 1/4th of the land zoned to low enough density that FTA doesn’t approve and the rest of the land being zoned lower than other regions in the triangle, the low density has to support all of the land cost. The land value increases lead this corridor to already becoming whiter and higher income and it’s land value is only set to increase in the future. High density transit oriented development allows that land cost be spread amongst many more people, decreasing the rent for each person.
Supporting both CP-7-22 and Z-92-22, encourages Transit Oriented Development be constructed in the corridor, increasing our competitiveness for future FTA funding, and allows land value to be spread amongst more people, allowing more people to stay in the corridor. Transit Oriented Development is good for the Triangle and good for Raleigh.
Thank You,
Eddy Sackinger
9 Likes