by Leo Suarez

Municipography, Transit, UDO, and Historic Districts

Transportation bond increase from $37 million to $40 million, includes Union Station


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Transportation Bond
During the June 7, 2011, City Council meeting it was directed that an item be placed on this agenda to consider adding $3 million to the proposed transportation bond for the Union Station/Train Station proposal.

Overview of the comments submitted for the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO)


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The Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Advisory Group Report
The Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Advisory Group will provide a report to the City Council on their final review and assessment of the Unified Development Ordinance April 6, 2011, Public Review Draft.

Recommendation:
Receive the Advisory Group’s final review and assessment for purposes of authorizing an official public hearing date for the proposed Unified Development Ordinance.

2. Summary of the Unified Development Ordinance Public Comment Period
Staff will provide a report on the comments received from the public comment period (April 6 – June 6) of the Unified Development Ordinance April 6, 2011, Public Review Draft.

Recommendation:
Assess staff’s report on the UDO public comments for purposes of authorizing an official public hearing date for the proposed Unified Development Ordinance.

There were lots of comments submitted and the video goes over some of the comments received. More time was asked to go over this feedback as well as to continue formulating the UDO before bringing it to a public hearing. We’re certainly not near the end of this UDO process as the hearings will most likely take place at the end of this year or early 2012. The Raleigh Public Record has this all nicely covered.

South Person/South Blount Historic Overlay District Proposal

As follow up to a 2000 City-initiated small area plan, the Raleigh Historic Districts Commission (RHDC) will present the Report and Recommendation for the Designation of the South Person/South Blount Historic Overlay District, based on feedback received from property owners within the proposed boundaries in response to both mailings and RHDC-sponsored community meetings.

Recommendation:
Receive as information the Report and Recommendation for the Designation of the South Person/South Blount Historic Overlay District, and refer the report and recommendation to the Department of Cultural Resources, the South Park-East Raleigh Neighborhood Association (SPERNA), and the Downtown Raleigh Alliance (DRA) for analysis and recommendation.

Raleigh’s Creative District


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By split vote, the Committee recommends approval of the project titled “Amplifying Southwest Raleigh Through Branding and Economic Development Strategies” with the understanding that the City Council will receive periodic reports on the project.

by Leo Suarez

First Presbyterian Church Building For The Future

If you haven’t noticed already, the First Presbyterian Church on the corner of Morgan and Salisbury Streets has leveled their education center and construction is underway for the replacement. Why the need to destroy such an old and historic building? The good people of the church tell us why right on their site:

The main driver behind this ambitious construction and renovation project was the deteriorating condition of our “Old Education Building,” the part of our property that housed our library and some Sunday School classrooms. After a period of neglect, the building reached an unsafe state a few years ago. We no longer ventured into some of its scarier sections. Our Building and Grounds Committee raised a concern several years ago that portions of the building were subject to being condemned by the city and constituted a hazard.

Not only is the education building being replaced but the sanctuary is being heavily renovated as well. The sanctuary has been up since 1900 but the congregation goes back as far as 1818, meeting in buildings either on or around Capitol Square until the present day building was erected. While the present day capitol building was being constructed, the North Carolina Supreme Court used to hold meetings in the church’s session house from 1831-1840.

The renovation and design work was done by Frank Harmon Architect PA. Some may recognize that name as they are the firm that designed the NCAIA building that is now being built on Peace Street. The firm has designed a master plan for the church and their complex along Salisbury Street. From this press release:

According to Frank Harmon, FAIA, his firm is working on a plan that will unite the different elements of the campus, provide open green space within the campus, introduce principles of environmentally sustainability, and improve the property’s accessibility, which features a five-foot grade change.

The project will also involve replacing the current two-story educational building with a three-story structure (including basement), The new building will feature such “green” elements as a vegetated roof, an abundance of natural light and ventilation through atria and window placement, a geothermal heating/cooling system (or ground source heat pumps), and rainwater collection cisterns. Materials used will be locally available and, wherever possible, recycled.

Expect all the renovation and construction to be complete around Summer 2012. You can also catch a small rendering of the new building on Frank Harmon’s website.

by Leo Suarez

All About Downtown Raleigh FREE Wi-Fi and More


Click to see the full map.

Reading about New York City’s recent expansion of Wi-Fi in city parks made me start to think about what we have in terms of free connectivity to the internets while being outdoors.

As a refresher course for those that don’t know, there is free, public Wi-Fi in certain sections of downtown Raleigh. Take a look at the map above for the covered areas but simply put if you are standing outside and are around:

  • Nash Square and City Government Complex
  • Fayetteville Street
  • Wilmington Street
  • Raleigh Convention Center
  • Moore Square
  • City Market

you should be able to pick up the signal, labeled “Downtown Raleigh FREE WiFi”.

The City of Raleigh provides the Wi-Fi service and you can get more information about it here.

Now having the Wi-Fi is great and all but I’m curious to know how many people actually know about it. Walking the sidewalks of Fayetteville Street, there is no way to know that bandwidth is buzzing around you. I think for some visitors, it would be useful for them to know that they are in an area where there is free, public Wi-Fi.

In a subtle way, maybe it would be helpful to let people know of this service. I put this sign together really quickly to illustrate one possible idea.

The wireless symbols above the 100 indicate that this block has Wi-Fi. Signals on the blue wayfinding signs could also be added. There are lots of ways to go about doing this.

by Leo Suarez

Municipography, The City Budget and The Arts

Municipography is a summary of current issues going through the Raleigh City Council and other municipal departments in the city. The point is to try to deliver any video, photos, and text associated with the discussions happening at City Hall or elsewhere. Since this is a downtown Raleigh blog, the focus is on the center of the city.

The agenda during the City Council meeting yesterday, June 7th, 2011, did not involve many downtown topics directly. The Raleigh Furniture building, at 119 East Hargett Street is up for consideration as a historic landmark. This issue moves to the Raleigh Historic Districts Commissions and will report back on June 21st.

The excitement during yesterday’s meeting were the many comments on the 2011-2012 proposed budget. Watch or listen to the video below to get an idea of what citizens had to say.

Comments About The Budget


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The comments about the budget went long during the evening session of the council meeting and arts funding opened it up. After some brief words from a few members of the community, the show of support was strong when a large group of arts supporters stood up and left together, bringing the meeting to a short stop before moving onto the next comments. There is no doubt that the arts are important to downtown Raleigh so this line item on the budget should be tracked closely.

by Leo Suarez

CityCamp Raleigh Follow Up and The Council To Discuss Open Source

Campers on the last day of CityCamp Raleigh prepare their presentation.

The first ever Citycamp Raleigh was a huge success. The Friday government and business panels were thought provoking and insightful about how data can be used if it was opened up to the public. The unconference format was a perfect fit for the many discussions and brainstorming sessions that took place throughout the day Saturday and Sunday. After this weekend, I’m inspired and motivated to demand that our city, county, and state open up more data to the public for our consumption. Transit, parking, zoning, crime, pollution are all examples of the types of data being gathered already and could potentially be released to the public.

A really great story I heard during the CityCamp discussions was of an open data experiment that took place in Washington DC. The city of Washington DC opened up their transit data in a friendly format for web and app developers to play with. In a short time, many applications were created by citizens or small companies. While most failed to take hold, the few that did stick eventually became adopted by many users of the transit system.

What I like about things like this is that the city does not spend money on one application and we are forced into that one environment. What are the chances that it may fail? By opening up the data and allowing independent developers to take a stab at making an application, we can learn what works and what doesn’t before the city spends money. The risk is lessened this way.

I could go on and on about the benefits of open data and how other cities are embracing this philosophy but I’ll stop here and move on to the city council agenda for this week, the meeting on June 7th, 2011. Here in the special items section:

Open Government/Open Source Systems
During the May 3, 2011, Council meeting, Councilor Gaylord presented a resolution
concerning open government by encouraging the use of open source systems and insuring
open access to public data. It was directed that the item be placed on the May 17, agenda
for consideration.

During the May 17, meeting, several questions were voiced by Council members and it
was directed that the item be placed on this agenda for further consideration. A copy of
the proposed resolution is included in the agenda packet.

If you support this and want to see more data available to the public then I want to ask readers to e-mail their councilors and tell them to adopt this. Info to get it done is below.

E-mail the entire council at: citycouncilors@raleighnc.gov

Write your own e-mail or copy and paste this one.

by Leo Suarez

Your Comments Needed on CAT Buses

No, the Hurricanes aren’t in the Stanley Cup. But when they do go back, if you would like to see more CAT buses decked out in red and white, you need to comment on the Short Range Transit Plan being carried out by the City of Raleigh and a few other organizations. Comments about your current use and how you feel about investing in more buses would be helpful too. You can find a survey on the city’s website here. From the site:

Project Scope
The purpose of the plan is to identify ways to increase mobility in the Capital Area. The plan will be based on input Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, the City of Raleigh, the Town of Cary, Wake County, the North Carolina State Wolfline and other Wake County municipalities, agencies, businesses, community leaders, residents and other interested parties. The Bus Transit Development Plan will look at the transit needs for all of Wake County and will be designed to integrate with regional transit routes.

I feel bad talking about this a bit late as two of the four public meetings have already occurred but here are the dates for two more meetings to discuss this plan.

Tuesday, June 7 5-7 PM
Triangle Town Center 2nd Floor, near Belk
5959 Triangle Town Blvd
CAT routes:
1 – Capital
25c – Triangle Town Center
WFX

Thursday, June 9 5-7 PM
NCSU McKimmon Center – Room 3
1101 Gorman St
CAT Routes:
12 – Method

by Leo Suarez

CityCamp Raleigh Announces $5000 Prize For Best Idea of The Weekend

Have you registered yet for CityCamp Raleigh? It’s already been mentioned once on the blog so take another look now that the free event happening this weekend may point some cash your way.

The organizers have announced a $5000 prize to the team or individual with the best idea at the event.

CityCamp Raleigh announces a $5000 prize to be awarded to the top group or individual with a technology solution. The prize will be awarded on creativity, execution, and feasibility. Details will be provided at the event.

Technology and government may not seem like a great team but when the two are combined, great solutions to everyday problems can be created. That is what this event is about. There is a growing list of ideas out there already. Dive in and take a look to get the creative juices flowing.

As a reminder, the agenda for the weekend is as follows.

Friday, June 3, 2011 12:00 – 5pm
Vintage 21, 117 S. West Street, Downtown Raleigh

Friday, June 3, 2011 5.30 – 8pm **GovUp MeetUp Event**
Flying Saucer, 328 West Morgan Street, Downtown Raleigh

Saturday, June 4, 2011 9am – 5pm
Vintage 21, 117 S. West Street, Downtown Raleigh

Sunday, June 5, 2011 10am – 4pm
The Stockroom, 230 Fayetteville Street, Downtown Raleigh