ComingUP: Triangle Smart Cities Summit, WakeUP After 5, and the Results of Raleigh’s Residential Infill Survey
This is our weekly series where we highlight a few of the important public events, meetings, and forums happening throughout Wake County during the upcoming week. For a full listing of events, check out the WakeUP Community Calendar. And if you know of any events or meetings coming up that we might have missed, feel free to let us know, either by commenting below or by emailing us at info@wakeupwakecounty.org.
Here’s what’s ComingUP in Wake County Monday, October 14th – Friday, October 18th. To add an event listed below to your Google Calendar, just click on the calendar icon above the event description.
Tuesday, October 15th
What: City Council Work Session and Regular Session, in Raleigh
When: Work Session at 11:30am; Regular Session at 1:00pm
Where: Raleigh Municipal Building, 222 W. Hargett St., Raleigh, NC.
What’s Happening:
At the 11:30am Work Session, Ken Bowers, with City Planning, will discuss the results of the City’s recent Residential Infill Study. The Infill Housing Study was initiated in July of 2018, following a review of work on Guidelines for Hillside and Sloped-Site Development in Mixed Use Districts. The purpose of the study was to offer guidance and recommendations for possible changes to Raleigh’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) and to learn community perspectives on residential infill.
The public survey, which received over 30,000 responses, was open to the community from August 14 to September 30th. Below are some of the preliminary findings.
In general, most respondents reported being concerned regarding residential infill development in Raleigh (75% Yes to 25% No). However, a number of residents took to social media while the survey was open to express frustration with the apparent leading nature of this question.
As the graphic above shows, concerns about infill development vary with residents’ age, with concern most evident among those 45 and older. Specifically, 81% of respondents aged 45-64 years and 82% of those 65 or older said they had concerns about infill development, while this was true for only 60% of those 18-29 and 73% of those 30-44.
Concerns about infill development similarly vary based on residents’ income levels. Nearly 90% of respondents in households with incomes less than $31,000 per year said that they have infill-based concerns. The percentage of respondents concerned with infill drops as household income increases, with those reporting $118,000 or more in annual household income being the least concerned group (72%).
Overall, the highest-ranking concerns among survey respondents were:
- Neighborhoods becoming less affordable (59%; n=1069)
- Green spaces and tree canopy are being lost (57%; n=1046)
- Existing viable homes being demolished (48%; n=883)
- Stormwater runoff impacts (50%; n=910)
Concerns that consistently ranked the lowest among respondents were:
- Construction disruption and impacts (29%; n=525)
- Personal impacts, like noise, light, and privacy (30%; n=553)
- Houses are too tall (30%; n=545)
- Additional homes are reducing on-street parking and increasing traffic (33%; n=599)
When asked whether there are any benefits to residential infill development, a full 80 percent of survey respondents said “yes.” The two most commonly named benefits were the minimization of sprawl and the potential that new homes bring to new families and the added vibrancy that new homes bring to existing neighborhoods.
You can check out the full report on the results of the City of Raleigh’s Residential Infill Survey by clicking here.
Wednesday, October 16th
What: 2019 Triangle Smart Cities Summit, in Raleigh
When: 8:30am-4:39pm
Where: Raleigh Convention Center
What’s Happening:
This is a free community event hosted by the City of Raleigh and North Carolina State University broadly centered around the themes of digital inclusion, transportation and mobility, collaborations, Smart city accomplishments, academic research, artificial intelligence, and connectivity and the Internet of Things.
Although the event is free to the public, registration is required. Click here for details on how to register. The agenda is shown below.
8:30 – 8:45 a.m.
Welcome Remarks Nancy McFarlane (Mayor of Raleigh), Tom Snyder (RIoT), Dennis Kekas (NC State), Marchell Adams David (City of Raleigh)
8:45 – 9:30 a.m.
How Digital Inclusion Drives Economic Development and How Your City Can Make a Difference – Will Aycock (Wilson Greenlight)
9:30 – 10 a.m.
Smart Cities & Maps: A Global Perspective – Mansour Raad (ESRI)
10 – 10:30 a.m.
Where We are as a Region – Nicole Raimundo (Town of Cary)
10:45 – 11:45 a.m.
Aerial Experimentation and Research Platform for Advanced Wireless: A PAWR Platform – Advancing 5G and Unmanned Aerial Systems Communications Terry Yates (Town of Cary) – Moderator; Gerry Hayes (Wireless Research Center), Darshan Divakaran (NC DOT), Ismail Guvenc (NC State), and Mari Silbey (US IGNITE).
Noon – 1 p.m. (Lunch)
Trey Rabon, President, AT&T North Carolina & Patricia Zullo, Senior Director of Smart City Solutions, Spectrum
1:15 – 2 p.m.
Innovation from Everywhere Virginia Lingham (Consultant) – Moderator; Linda Jones (City of Raleigh); Craig Walton (AT&T) Dr. Ali Karimoddini,(NC A &T)
2 – 2:30 p.m.
Smart City Implementation Strategy Curt Savoie (IDC)
2:45 – 3:30 p.m.
Digital Infrastructure Panel Steve Rao (Town of Morrisville) – Moderator; Rob Morrow (Building Clarity), Howard Self (ABB), Ann Brooks (Crown Castle Representative), and Scott Clark (Town of Chapel Hill).
3:30 – 4 p.m.
Collaboration Stormwater Partnership Sarah Glova (RIoT) – Moderator; Karen Lindquist (Green Stream), (Cisco), Joseph Threadcraft (Wake County), James Alberque (City of Raleigh)
4 – 4:10 p.m.
Closing Remarks Tom Snyder (RIoT) & Noah Otto (City of Raleigh)
Thursday, October 17th
What: WakeUP After 5, in Raleigh
When: 7:00pm
Where: Loading Dock Raleigh, 1053 E. Whitaker Mill Road, Raleigh NC
What’s Happening:
On Thursday night, WakeUP will help you to make your mark on Wake County by bringing the MIRA to the Loading Dock in Raleigh. The MIRA map is a Magnetic Interchangeable Reusable Adaptable hands-on, interactive map that was constructed in 2014 by Sara Queen and Tania Allen. The MIRA map serves as an interactive exhibit that, through the use of simple personal questions, demonstrates the connections that exist in the real world between broad topics in architecture, urban planning, transportation, and land use.
Is there something missing from your neighborhood? Would you like to find a better way to get to work? Are you living in a food desert? Join us on Thursday night, and let’s talk about the policies you’d like to see to help make your community an even better place to live.
Visit our Facebook event page for more information.
Friday, October 18th
What: Capital Area Friends of Transit (CAFT) Meeting, in Raleigh
When: 12:00pm-1:30pm
Where: NC Justice Center, 224 S. Dawson St., Raleigh NC
What’s Happening:
Jason Hardin, from City of Raleigh Planning, will join a discussion about Equitable Development around Transit (EDAT). You will have an opportunity to learn about the EDAT study and provide feedback on the type of growth, affordability, and density you think Raleigh should adopt around the planned transit areas.
At Friday’s meeting focus will be on the following issues:
- Equity and Affordability: How do we ensure the benefits of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) are shared broadly? What is the best way to address affordability near transit stations?
- Growing around Transit: Growing around transit can provide more housing and bring environmental benefits. What are the different scenarios for growing around transit, and what do they mean for the city’s future?
Visit CAFT on Facebook for more information about this event.