Raleigh

Community-focused posts

There are 773 posts filed in Raleigh (this is page 19 of 78).

Charlene Willard retires

Charlene Willard and me

Charlene Willard and me


Charlene Willard retired this week from the City of Raleigh’s Community Services department after a 25 year career. I was very happy I could attend her retirement party Thursday afternoon.

Charlene has been a big influence in my life. It was one morning in 2008 when I first spoke with Charlene when she was calling to tell me I had been accepted into the city’s Raleigh Neighborhood College (RNC) program. Originally there had been no openings but Charlene told me another participant had just canceled, making a spot available to me. I enjoyed the next 12 weeks of RNC classes with Charlene and then went on to work closely with her as the Community Services liaison during my three years as chair of the East CAC.

Charlene’s is the kind of person who has to be involved in something so I expect we’ll see her keep busy with some deserving projects around the area. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to work with her again!

Oakwood North progressing

The Oakwood North subdivision is progressing nicely, though the schedule is quite aggressive. The first two homes are due to be built by February, which doesn’t leave a lot of time. Crews have cleared and graded the property and septic lines have been installed. The cut-through has been cleared and work has now begun to connect the Edmund Street end to State Street. A crew was working yesterday on a wall on the back of the second lot. I assume this is part of the temporary retaining pond but it could be a drop in elevation (the tree protection area is right behind it).

A huge pile of tree debris remains on the property. I heard the tree stump grinder, a huge machine, was busy working on the pile when the cutter surface shattered, sending metal shards flying. The contractor has been working to repair this machine, causing a many-day delay in removing the debris.

This week, KB Home put up its sign at the edge of the property, announcing the subdivision. Strangely, the sign is angled towards Edmund Street rather than State Street, where it would gain more visibility.
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The Jesse Ford Taylor Plantation and Lotus Villa

Belvidere Park and Woodcrest neighborhoods recently had a neighborhood get-together where I shared some of the history of the community. I had learned much of this at the East CAC’s “history night” at our October 2009 meeting, when a descendant of the Taylor family shared a family history.

I’d had this history tucked away in paper form ever since that 2009 meeting. At the recent get-together I decided I needed to share it with the neighbors. Putting our new multi-feed scanner to use along with some optical character recognition software, I reformatted the document into one much more easily read. As far as I know this document does not exist anywhere else on the Internet.

Here’s part of the rich history of East Raleigh: the story of the Taylor Plantation and Lotus Villa as told by Eliza Lindsey Baucom in 1956. Read it all here [PDF}.

Raleigh’s special events office

The city recently created a special events office, coming in response to the Color Run fiasco, among others. I think this is a wonderful approach, as I think Raleigh should do its best to accommodate the growth of running in our city. Hopefully with staff dedicated to managing events, we can find a way to let runners run and showcase more of our city to the participants.

RALEIGH: North Person Street business district fills up fast

Here’s a story about the growth the Person Street business district has seen in the past few years.

RALEIGH — Craig Heffley first visited the North Person Street business district about a decade ago, around the time he was opening Wine Authorities in Durham. He spotted a series of vacant storefronts amid two thriving historic neighborhoods, and he made a mental note.

“This would be a great space if I ever opened in Raleigh,” he recalled thinking. “It’s got spunk to it. It’s a good mix of neighborhood people and people who are driving through on their way to downtown.”

I found a big goof in this story, though:

And more neighbors are on the way to fill prescriptions with James, sip wines in Heffley’s store lounge and dine at Piebird. Peace Street Townes, an 18-unit townhouse development, is under construction near Krispy Kreme. Even Oakwood is expanding with a new subdivision called Oakwood North.

Oakwood North is in no way related to the Historic Oakwood neighborhood. It just has Oakwood in its name.

via RALEIGH: North Person Street business district fills up fast | Raleigh | MidtownRaleighNews.com.

Nextdoor getting mixed results

Earlier this week I saw someone forward a notice to a neighborhood listserve which had first gone out over Nextdoor. The forward was prefaced with this comment:

This was on nextdoor. I hate nextdoor, I need another social network like I need a hole in my head.

I responded to the poster, asking her to elaborate. She was happy to do so:

I don’t really want my neighborhood communications shunted off into a stand-alone platform, I thought email worked well for [Belvidere Park – Woodcrest.] When I do get email notifications from nextdoor, I have to click through to see the whole thread, which I don’t want to do on my smartphone. If Nextdoor were integrated into FB, which I’m already resigned to, that would be one thing. I have zero interest in ramping up conversations in a new platform. I felt like I had to join it to stay looped into Oakwood/Mordecai events, where my office is located, because they opted into Nextdoor entirely.

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Fritsch: RTP has lost its edge

Highwoods CEO Ed Fritsch says what I’ve long said: RTP is a dinosaur.

Ed Fritsch, CEO of Raleigh-based real estate company Highwoods Properties NYSE: HIW, is blunt in his take on Research Triangle Park.He says RTP has lost its edge, and he questions whether there’s time to get it back.Fritsch, speaking to a crowd at Triangle Business Journal’s Power Breakfast at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary on Thursday morning, doesn’t pull any punches.Years ago, “we would show RTP properties and say, ‘this is the heart of the economic engine,’” he says.No more.

via Fritsch: RTP has lost its edge Video – Triangle Business Journal.

RALEIGH: Gun rights group threatens to sue Raleigh over outdated park signs

A gun nut group threatens to sue Raleigh over its signs saying guns are prohibited in its parks. While the signs might no longer be accurate, as far as I know they are still legal. I’m not sure what jurisdiction Mr. Valone thinks he has over the city’s signage.

RALEIGH — North Carolina’s most vocal gun rights group is threatening to sue Raleigh if it doesn’t update signs in city parks that tell visitors firearms aren’t allowed.

Grass Roots North Carolina sent a letter to the Raleigh City Council this week, requesting an update to the signs now that state law allows concealed-carry permit holders to bring guns to playgrounds, greenways and college campuses.

via RALEIGH: Gun rights group threatens to sue Raleigh over outdated park signs | Local Politics | NewsObserver.com.

Halloween zombies

Turner Zombies, 2013

Turner Zombies, 2013


The Turner family did another turn as zombies for the Haunted Mordecai Trolley last night. The weather was much more agreeable than last year, though Hallie was feeling a bit too much like a zombie, having had a sleepover the night before.

Given up the gavel

I gave up the gavel of the Raleigh Parks board last night, passing on the chairmanship to Kimberley Siran, who along with Scott Reston make up the new leadership team. We went through the entire meeting agenda last night without a quorum, holding off on the action items until one more member arrived. When Rodger Koopman arrived around 6:15 we voted to approve our minutes and to officially elect our new leaders.

It’s been a fun ride as chair of the Parks, Recreation, and Greenway Advisory Board (PRGAB) but I’m looking forward to seeing what the new leadership brings us. Congratulations to the new team!