November 3rd Newsletter
Hello,
This is our final newsletter before Election Day on Tuesday. If you didn’t have a chance to vote early, we encourage you to make a plan to get to a polling place on Tuesday!
RaleighForward and WakeUP Wake County are joining to host Raising the Roof | Housing Choices for Wake County. This annual reception is set for December 5th. We invite you to become a sponsor; details on investment levels are below. Please reach out with any questions!
We want to continue promoting community events over the next year and we will need your help to do so. Please consider making a donation so that we can increase our reach and make sure we all have a voice in Raleigh’s direction.
Reach out to eric@raleighforward.org to find out how you can get involved and what we have in store for the next year.
Articles of interest:
Raleigh has limited land left for new housing, so it must be used wisely. The City should enhance its Missing Middle ordinances to promote diverse housing when redeveloping older properties. Simply replacing one home with another single-family home isn't always beneficial. Sometimes redevelopment needs to add more units to meet the demands of younger people moving in, renters transitioning to ownership, and current residents looking to downsize. This Washington Post article discusses why this is essential.
What if Cities Legalized Adult Dorms? More from Vox.
A Radical Approach to Redeveloping Affordable Housing. This article explores how the New York Housing Authority is using HUD’s “RAD” program to build new mixed-income subsidized housing units. Something the Raleigh Housing Authority is putting to use also.
Healthcare companies are building affordable housing for the homeless because studies show the “housing first” model saves on medical expenses. Given the financial struggles facing Raleigh’s HBCUs, this could be an opportunity for Triangle healthcare providers to partner with these educational institutions to redevelop land for affordable housing.
This report from the Pew Charitable Trust suggests that co-living reforms could unlock the office to residential conversion just as Raleigh considers reforms to allow more co-living opportunities.
This Bloomberg article explores how Courtyard Apartments can help fight sprawl.
This article explores some of the reforms being explored across America. It’s time the NC General assembly work with city and county governments to give them more tools to address these challenging times. “Policymakers push for solutions amid the uncertain future of cities.”
This Texas Tribune article explores how zoning has exacerbated the housing crisis in Texas (and in cities across America).
As Raleigh begins its “housing first” pilot project called “Brining Neighbors Home,” this article about how Redondo Beach successfully reduced its homeless population to “functional zero.” We encourage Raleigh residents to follow this pilot in the coming months. It has a real chance of tackling Raleigh’s homeless challenges.
The Atlanta Fed has a good analysis called the “Multifamily Housing Conundrum.” It explores the relationship between the extended entitlement process and “filtering.” Essentially, they conclude that by streamlining the entitlement process, the development process would become more responsive to market demand which would minimize rental spikes like we saw recently. From the Atlanta Fed.
Reports and Data Analytics:
A recent report suggests that the median sales price of homes in Raleigh now exceed that of Charlotte, via WRAL.
New York City is better than most local governments at securing grant funding from the Federal Government. Now, it is offering guidance to help other local governments improve their efforts, from Bloomberg.
Items of interest in the week ahead:
Because the election is on Tuesday, Council meets on Wednesday, November 6, 2024. Similar to other recent meetings, Council’s agenda is fairly light as the election approaches.
There is an agenda item related to the City’s proposed acquisition of 2 adjacent properties on Hillsborough Street for use as future affordable housing. Since the parcels are along the future Western Boulevard BRT route, they qualified for purchase using affordable housing bond proceeds. Click here for details.
City staff will present the results of its annual financial audit. Click here for details.
Other items of interest.
Council authorizes modifications to the Missing Middle Ordinance. On October 15, 2024, City Council received a reportfrom the Planning Director related to potential changes to Raleigh’s Missing Middle ordinances. The report focused on 2 possible areas of reform-tree canopy and character/built-form. With respect to tree canopy, Council decided to take no further action after hearing the report and asking questions of staff. As to potential changes related to character and built-form, Council authorized staff to initiate a text change. The discussion related to refining the current Missing Middle ordinance to ensure that it continues to produce new and diverse housing options, with a particular focus on preserving the affordable housing incentive contained in the Frequent Transit Overlay District. At the same time, Council expressed interest in modifying the ordinance in ways that would encourage new development to better blend in with existing development.
At this point, all Council did was direct staff to initiate the text change. That entails staff drafting a proposed text change, then bringing it to Planning Commission for review and public comment. Once Planning Commission completes its review, the resulting text change will then be placed on a future City Council agenda for a formal public hearing and a possible vote.
Given that a significantly different Council is likely to be elected on Tuesday, the new Council could alter what happens with the proposed text change. It could kill it altogether, or Council could direct staff to make more or less significant changes to the Missing Middle ordinance. For those interested in Missing Middle, it’s important to keep track of the pending text change and stay involved in the process as it winds its way through the development and review process. To catch up with Council’s most recent action on Missing Middle, click here to watch the Council meeting video replay starting at 1:15:25.
The City recently completed an online survey asking for community input related to issues surrounding housing in Raleigh. You can review the results here.