Raleigh

Community-focused posts

There are 773 posts filed in Raleigh (this is page 20 of 78).

Construction begins on Oakwood North

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One of the last undeveloped, 10 acre plots of land inside the Beltline heard the rumble of bulldozers this week as construction began on the Oakwood North subdivision. The KB Home neighborhood promises 29 39 new homes within a mere two miles of downtown Raleigh.

The project is expected to follow this rough timeline:

October 2013 – construction begins
Fall 2013 – Brick or stone neighborhood sign erected near Tonsler and State
April 2014 – first home built (model) near Tonsler and State
September 2014 – Extension of Tonsler to State complete
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Time to get moving on public transportation

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As I was weaving my way along East Raleigh streets taking my daughter to school this week, I realized what was missing from Raleigh streets: frequent, reliable public transportation. No offense to Capital Area Transit which is doing the best with what it has, but this city has taken a half-assed approach to public transportation for far too long. It has to start with the top: city leaders must be committed to making this happen. That includes proper planning and funding.

Truly great cities have great public transportation. Heck, even Charlotte has great public transportation. Raleigh strives to be a destination city but we don’t have the basic amenity of workable public transportation.

Raleigh (as well as Wake County) needs to get on the bus and improve its public transportation or it will be left hopelessly (and possibly irredeemably) behind. I’m hopeful the city council and new city manager Ruffin Hall can make this happen.

N&O doubles down on council criticism

The News and Observer often fires volleys at city leaders for being too secretive, as the city’s hunt for a new city manager clearly demonstrated. Yet the N&O itself often leaves me scratching my head. I should probably let it go, I know, but I’m still mystified the paper is sticking by its story that Randy Stagner’s parking email was somehow the impetus for firing former city manager Russell Allen.

Today’s editorial:

Randy Stagner was the one incumbent who lost, to Wayne Maiorano, a newcomer. Stagner was not a bad council member at all, but he got himself in a bad position when he appeared to be pushing for the ouster of former City Manager Russell Allen over a parking space.

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McFarlane tops in Raleigh; moderates rule again on the Wake school board

Bob Geary pins the blame on Randy Stagner’s loss on the News and Observer’s dumb decision not to endorse him. I wonder how long it will be before they have to acknowledge this mistake?

Maiorano can thank The News & Observer for his narrow victory. Somehow, the newspaper decided that firing Russell Allen was a terrible thing to do and that Stagner was responsible. The firing was debatable, perhaps. What wasn’t debatable was that Stagner, a council rookie, had little to do with it. Five other members, including McFarlane, made the call to get rid of Allen. Stagner’s vote made six.

Nonetheless, the N&O pinned the blame on Stagner in story after story, after which the paper endorsed Maiorano.

via McFarlane tops in Raleigh; moderates rule again on the Wake school board | Citizen | Indy Week.

Flares over Raleigh attract no 911 calls

After learning from the Raleigh Fire Department that the flares I saw on the night of September 28th didn’t belong to them, I thought I’d reach out to the Raleigh-Wake 911 center to see if any calls had come in about the flares.

I got a response today from deputy director Walt Fuller who checked the records for downtown calls and turned up nothing:

I went back and looked into CAD and I saw several calls in the downtown area but they mostly security checks, traffic stops and other normal incidents. I saw no calls of the nature you mentioned.

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“We Hate Teachers” signs

Photo from New Raleigh

Photo from New Raleigh

Yesterday I drove through Raleigh’s Five Points neighborhood when I noticed a handful of signs tacked onto the utility poles. Usually these are advertising home-buying services, or fix-your-bad-debt services, but these were different. They say “We Hate Teachers – NCGOP” and below this is a phone number of 1-800-ART-POPE. I hear these signs are popping up all around Raleigh, with another group around Wiley Elementary.

I don’t know who created or posted the signs and I have my doubts they’ll do anything useful. I don’t think Art Pope hates teachers and the N.C. GOP doesn’t,. either. Still, I did chuckle at the audacity of it all.

Raleigh ‘Color Run’ race leads to dyed houses, towed cars

Looks like Colin Campbell at the N&O has picked up on the Color Run story.

By the way, I’m up to 16,045 page views now. Word has really gotten around.

Residents of the historic Oakwood neighborhood are fuming after a recent “color run” left brightly colored powder on houses, and some people’s cars were towed from outside their homes.

The Color Run is a for-profit 5k race where runners are doused with dyed starches along the route. They are held in dozens of cities across the country each year, billing themselves as “a race that celebrates healthiness, happiness and individuality.”

via RALEIGH: Raleigh 'Color Run' race leads to dyed houses, towed cars | Wake County | NewsObserver.com.

My Raleigh picture shows up on WTVD

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I noticed in WTVD’s story on Raleigh’s new city manager that the station is using my public domain picture of downtown Raleigh for its graphics about the city of Raleigh. Also, during my city council appearance last month I was amused to see my picture now displayed on the city’s projector at the beginning of the council session.

It’s pretty awesome that I’ve got people seeing Raleigh the same way I do!

Residents seeing red after Raleigh ‘Color Run’ | abc11.com

Ed Crump with WTVD just ran a story on Raleigh’s Color Run fiasco (and nice headline, Ed. Sounds kinda familiar …)

RALEIGH (WTVD) — Some residents of historic Oakwood in downtown Raleigh say they are annoyed by the noise and mess left from last weekend’s “Color Run.”

Runners and volunteers played loud music and threw colored powder as part of the 5K event at Halifax Mall on Sept. 28.

However, some residents said they were really upset when their cars were towed off the street with less than 24-hours notice.

via Residents seeing red after Raleigh 'Color Run' | abc11.com.

Color Run post attracts attention

I’m overwhelmed. Really. My post about the Color Run has gone viral with over 6,400 page views already, simply from posting a single link on my Facebook timeline. My webserver’s been buzzing ever since. Apparently I’ve struck a chord.

I understand the Color Run company is aware of it, too. Should they reach out to me I’ll be happy to share their perspective, too.