November 2, 2025 Newsletter
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Save the Date: Annual Reception with WakeUP Wake County on December 4th
Featuring Keynote Speaker Dr. Jenny Schuetz, a prolific writer on housing markets and author of the book, Fixer Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems.
Save your seats now! Tickets are available here.
Junction West
Downtown Raleigh
310 S West Street, Suite 110, Raleigh, NC 27603
As in the past, this is a gathering of friends who share a vision of a sustainable and equitable region. WakeUP Wake County’s Executive Director Bert Fox, Board Chair Thomas Barrie, and RaleighForward’s Director Eric Braun will present WakeUP’s and RaleighForward’s plans for education and advocacy priorities in 2026. Connect with like-minded people and enjoy heavy hors d’oeuvres, beer, wine, and refreshments from the bar.
Supporting RaleighForward
If you are interested in helping RaleighForward carry out our Mission and Vision, please reach out to eric@raleighforward.org. We could use help building RaleighForward’s social media reach, fundraising, and newsletter content.
Articles and Resources of interest:
Renters Have the Upper Hand. And they are Probably Keeping it, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The Surprising Reason Home Prices Remain Stubbornly High, via the Washington Post.
Check out the 2025 Charlotte State of Housing. The findings are instructive as they mirror much of the same challenges facing Raleigh.
Why It’s Still so Expensive to Build Houses in America, according to Bloomberg.
The cost burden of housing may be starting to impact family size, NPR reports.
This Charlotte Ledger article highlights why assurances made during public hearings are not binding unless they are included in a written agreement or a zoning condition. “As The Pearl Opens in Charlotte, Where is the Affordable Housing?”
Since Raleigh is getting ready for its first Citizen Assembly to gather public input related to the City’s next Comprehensive Plan, here is a link to two case studies from the Federation for Innovation in Democracy - North America. They take a deep-dive into 2 projects that utilized Citizen Assemblies to engage residents.
An Unusual ‘Village’ Aims to Help People Leave Long-term Homelessness for Good, NPR reports.
As communities seek to reduce the cost of housing, modular construction is likely to become a key component to improve housing affordability. UNC’s Department of Community and Economic Development published this explanatory guide.
In Utah, Trump’s Vision for Homelessness Begins to Take Shape, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
From the Data Department:
The City has a nice data profile page that is worth exploring if you are interested in learning about various Raleigh demographic information.
Items of Interest in the Week Ahead:
Raleigh City Council meets on November 4. Here are some items of interest:
Council will consider transferring a portion of the funds for the cancelled Six Forks Road improvement project to accelerate the preliminary design process for the proposed Midtown Multimodal Bridge Project that will enhance pedestrian and greenway connectivity in the Midtown Area.
Staff will ask Council to approve $2,200,000 from the City’s affordable housing bond for the construction of a 17-unit affordable rental community on the women’s campus of Healing Transitions.
Council will be asked to approve the schematic design phase of the South Parke Heritage Trail from the 2022 Parks Bond.
Other items of interest:
The City is seeking input for the next budget. Please consider taking the 5-minute survey.
Speaking of budgets, the City has an excellent resource page related to the current and past budgets.
Five Surprising Places you can Reach from the Raleigh Greenway.
Click here for the latest City Manager Report.
Washington Post designates 8 City Parks in the US Worthy of a Trip (Dix Park is one of them).
Raleigh is rolling out a new customer service option for managing residents’ utility accounts.
Raleigh Area Land Trust
RaleighForward has written about the Raleigh Area Land Trust (RALT) as they were just beginning to develop housing opportunities for the greater Raleigh community. RALT is the first and only community land trust in Wake County. One of its first projects was the Cottages of Idlewild. Now, the Raleigh Area Land Trust (RALT) has 14 new homes available in Apex and Raleigh for families earning between 30% and 100% of the area median income.
Through RALT’s community land trust model, homeowners purchase their homes while RALT retains ownership of the land. This structure lowers the upfront cost, stabilizes property taxes, and ensures homes remain affordable for future generations by giving working families a sustainable path to homeownership.
Available homes include modern three-story townhomes in Apex’s Huxley and Prestwick neighborhoods and two new-construction townhomes in downtown Raleigh, all priced between $316,000 and $346,000 with sizable down payment assistance available.
At a time when rising prices continue to push families out of the market, RALT’s model of balancing permanent affordability with shared equity and wealth building offers a permanent solution — keeping affordable homeownership in reach, not just today, but for decades to come.
If you know someone that could benefit from RALT’s offerings, have them contact Angel Johnson at angel@ralt.org.