May 18 Newsletter
Hello, and welcome to RaleighForward on Substack!
Missing Middle Reform Still Under Attack
Raleigh’s Missing Middle reforms continue to come under attack. Eric Braun, Founder of RaleighForward was quoted in a recent News and Observer article about newly filed litigation challenging Raleigh’s Missing Middle reforms. As predicted in the April 12 RaleighForward newsletter, the RCC sued the City seeking to invalidate Missing Middle 2.0 because it is represented by the same lawyer representing the Hayes Barton neighbors who are also seeking to invalidate Missing Middle reforms. Missing Middle 2.0 allows developers to ask for additional density in exchange for reserving a percentage of units for affordable housing. The RCC filed this new lawsuit on May 8.
Read our full update on Missing Middle here on our website here.
New Raleigh Flag Update
RaleighForward reported last summer on the New Raleigh Flag project. More recently, the effort gained momentum after advocates pitched the concept to City Council in October. They presented the concept to City Council during two public comment sessions. Advocates asked Council to consider adopting the new flag as a second official City flag, to live alongside the existing flag, adopted in 1960.
Read our full update on the potential new Raleigh Flag on our website.
General Assembly’s Crossover Deadline
May 8, 2025, was the “crossover” deadline in the NC General Assembly. What happens now?
Although there were an unusually large number of bills filed to address housing, land use regulatory authority, etc. Virtually none crossed over. That means that absent extraordinary procedural maneuvering by House and Senate Leadership, these bills will take longer to percolate within the halls of the legislative building. As anyone familiar with public policy knows, the legislative process is a marathon, not a sprint. While some may be disappointed that more of this legislation did not advance, the sheer volume of bills related to housing and land use regulatory reform is cause for optimism. It just means that more work will need to be done to build coalitions to support efforts to pushing for legislative reform. There is momentum building, but more work is required to keep the momentum up through this legislative session and into the next. The General Assembly will be focused on the budget for the rest of the Summer, so movement on any land use reform is off the table until Fall. Our friends at CityBuilder wrote about the status of specific housing bills introduced in the NCGA this session.
For those interested in learning more about crossover, continue reading on our website.
Articles of interest:
You don’t often see Pulitzer Prizes given for articles about urban design. This year, Alexandra Lang was recognized for her commentary exploring how urban design and architecture affect parents and kids. Bloomberg’s CityLab republished her pieces to honor her award. You can read them here.
RaleighForward has written about Raleigh’s slowing growth resulting from a combination of dwindling developable land and legacy exclusionary zoning policies. The News and Observer published an article recently about the fiscal impacts Cary is facing from similar trends and rising infrastructure costs. Raleigh must move more swiftly to reform exclusionary zoning practices so there are more areas available for building duplexes, triplexes and anything in the 3-5 story range. Otherwise, it risks facing the same challenges Cary is beginning to confront- rapidly rising real estate tax rates to keep pace with infrastructure costs. Be on the lookout for more information from RaleighForward illustrating how Raleigh is starting to veer down a similar path.
Could this LEGO-like Construction Method Solve Fresno’s Affordable Housing Crisis?
This essay is about a year old, but it is an interesting longform exploration of the concept of “urbanism.”
This is a great list of resources related to issues and challenges around urbanism. Aaron Lubeck is one of those listed for his onHousing Substack. The list is definitely worth reviewing.
This is an interesting article from Pro Builder exploring why even building smaller homes may not help address affordability.
What Has happened to the American Dream? Via the New York Times.
Solving the US Housing Crisis: Missing Middle Homes Could Reshape the Housing Market. Read it here.
Missing Middle Housing: The Future of Affordable Living. Read it here.
Out with the old and in with the new: In a changing Austin, Gentrification Battles go on.
From the Data Department:
The Median price of real estate in Wake County jumped $18,000 to $470,000, according to the Register of Deeds.
Wake County unveiled a new housing dashboard covering the County and its municipalities. Click here to explore the dashboard.
Items of Interest in the Week Ahead:
Council meets on May 20, 2025. Here are some key agenda items for review.
During the 11:30 work session, planning staff will update Council on the status of the City’s efforts to redevelop City-owned property located at Moore Square. This is one of the City’s efforts to dispose of publicly owned property for affordable housing. Click here for the agenda materials.
During the regular meeting, Council will conduct a public hearing on TC-10-24 which is intended to make it easier to build Cottage Court communities. Click here for the agenda.
Other community meetings and items of interest:
Raleigh recently published the full results of its 2024 Community Survey. RaleighForward will examine the report in detail and provide insight about key findings in upcoming newsletter. In the meantime, you can read the full report here.
Raleigh recently announced updates to its Land Development Review Process to enhance the efficiency and predictability of the process.