The Renew Raleigh Ruse

The Renew Raleigh slogan that once read “Citizens for Stronger Neighborhoods” has been scratched out and replaced with a new motto—“Developers Cashing In On Your Neighborhoods.“

The Renew Raleigh Ruse is a mock website that swipes the graphic style of Renew Raleigh and in turn addresses the “rubbish posted on the Renew Raleigh site.“

From The Renew Raleigh Ruse…

Welcome to The Renew Raleigh Ruse Site. Unlike the Renew Raleigh site, we really are actual citizens and neighbors concerned about the increasing political debate over unchecked commercial development in Raleigh’s established communities.

The sprouting Renew Raleigh signs present a visual vocabulary that makes it hard to determine what the group’s objectives are. The seemingly ‘grassroots’ message is so arbitrary that it can be well received by individuals on all sides of the residential infill debate.

In order to understand the organization one must either examine the context in which the sign is placed, or google ‘Renew Raleigh’ Doing so, you will probably find The Renew Raleigh Ruse website.

It may then be argued that this faux-site attempts to confuse the message of Renew Raleigh, but in my opinion, it tries to present a lucid description of Renew Raleigh’s purpose in an unexpected way.

From The Renew Raleigh Ruse…

Renew Raleigh Claims to be a group of concerned Raleigh citizens -“including homeowners, property owners and small business and service providers.“ Until recently there was not a single name associated with the group. They have recently added the name of Philip Miller as spokesperson, but that is it - there is no clarification as to who he is, or any one else associated with the group. Investigating the website name (whois:renewraleigh.org) reveals that steps have been taken to specifically hide who is the site owner/supporter. Why wouldn’t they want you to know who they are?

Greg Flynn at Stop The NC Home Ticks can answer that question. Last week he discovered that Renew Raleigh sits on the same webserver as ‘ItsaBadIdea.org’—the NC Association of Realtors’ PR stunt from the fall—designed to confuse residents and fight the transfer taxes that help pay for growth. Renew Raleigh is no different and might as well have the same NC Association of Realtors badge on the site.

While The Renew Raleigh Ruse touches on the adverse effects of Renew Raleigh’s agenda it doesn’t go into great detail about the specific problems. Take a look at the Respect 4 Raleigh 2008 Petition to see accounts from individuals who have been affected by the development that Renew Raleigh is supporting—despite their claims that it will benefit all citizens.

rsc02/11 09:59 PM

My favorite part is where the Ruse guys insist that they’re “actual” citizens. Nothing shows respect for your opponents and their points of view quite like insisting that they’re ineligible to vote.

Good to know.

abe lincoln02/12 02:33 AM

Of course the real estate development & brokerage community supports Renew Raleigh…property rights are an issue, but this is how these folks make their living.

I think our court systems are overburdened and there are plenty of ugly and oversized lawsuits. Let’s limit the size of lawsuits attorneys can file. Or we can require that the attorneys need approval from the folks who have offices next to them prior to filing a lawsuit.

Dana02/12 12:34 PM

This doesn’t seem like a very mature or productive reply to Renew Raleigh.

Mark02/12 04:14 PM

happy birthday, Abe

MSP02/12 09:13 PM

Say what you want about the Renew Raleigh movement and who started it but it has support from alot of homeowners inside the beltline. Many homes in my neighborhood are displaying the sign including some by new residents wanting to expand or teardown one day but many by the families that have lived in the homes for years. I don’t care who started it and neither do most in my neighborhood.

CVB02/13 12:54 AM

Did the “Renew RaleiGh” developerbots intend the irony in the oversized capital G?

HelenTart02/13 12:18 PM

I don’t much like this response either, Dana. It reminds me of the fake Mary Ann Baldwin site that does more harm than good for the issue it tries to address.

However I’m more offended by the Renew Raleigh folks describing the people that are just attempting to stay in their neighborhoods as “special interests”.

I do understand the frustration that the Renew Raleigh group inspires in people who don’t have a PR machine behind them. Me, I look at who is making money. It sure isn’t the people who want to stay in their neighborhoods.

Money is what pays for PR machines. A good Public Relations professional can convince you that black is white and have you out there fighting folks that say different. An issue with as many sides to it as this one .... doesn’t even take a particularly talented PR person to distort these issues.

Anne02/13 10:53 PM

The mock Renew site is not just immature, it’s probably illegal. The mock site copies everything from the original site. Whoever did this should be called out for copy right violations.

Besides, who has the time to sit around and do this kind of stuff?

Sure adds to the debate.

georgia02/15 10:16 PM

I really appreciate Helen’s point—

[However I’m more offended by the Renew Raleigh folks describing the people that are just attempting to stay in their neighborhoods as “special interests”.]

This handle has been applied over and over, even by a City Councilor. And that is the kindest thing they have said in public.

Also like the “follow the money” point.

FallonParkCryBaby02/19 02:17 PM

How much are the developers and real estate agents paying to put those signs in all the people’s yard?

It must be a conspiracy- go back to focusing on the Kennedy Assassination and the Roswell UFO incident.

FallonParkCryBaby02/19 02:20 PM

Follow the money. It leads back to all the homeowner’s pockets, which you are trying to steal from with these proposed restricts.

FallonParkCryBaby02/19 02:27 PM

I agree with Ron112-

If everyone on the area is on board there is such a demand for restrictions- using the present means available to you should work. If your group can’t afford to purchase the homes, you don’t need to buy the homes. If the present home owners are so like minded, they will happily restrict their own deeds to prevent development.

“A better solution for you is to pool your money together and buy these houses when they come on the market. Then you can restrict the deeds to impose your will and then resell them. I think you will find that you won�t have many buyers. Then you will have to turn them into rental properties or create your Brave New World.“ Ron112

ifUwantcarymove2cary02/19 04:13 PM

“How much are the developers and real estate agents paying to put those signs in all the people�s yard?“

You sound like a real-estate agent in my neighborhood called john.

Of course you are smart enough to understand that it’s mostly the developers and real estate agents putting those signs in their own yards, right?

Dana02/19 05:02 PM

While builders and real estate agents have participated by putting signs in their own yards, they are in the VAST MINORITY. I know at least 50 people who have signs in their yard. NONE are affiliated with the industry.

ifUwantcarymove2cary02/20 01:19 AM

Public decency and wanting to continue on this forum prohibit me from telling you what I think of your “vast minority” comment. You say you know “50 people who have signs in their yards” - this organization claims 500 supporters (as per non-developer figure head Philip Miller’s N&O;piece this weekend - I wonder who wrote that for him), which means that only one tenth of the “supporters” feel strongly enough to put a sign in their yard. Sounds like a mandate doesn�t’ it?

I can tell you that I regularly drive around Five points, Anderson drive/six forks, and university park area. What I see there are signs in front of known rentals, homes that are being built, homes that have just finished being built that still have realtor signs in front, and homes that have just sold. To be sure there are homes that do not fit in this criteria that also have the sign, but hardly what I would call a majority of the signage homes.

This is all a distraction anyway - you know as well as I do that Renew Raleigh is developer born, developer bred, and has but one goal - to stop any discussion, any engagement, any study, any anything that will stop them from unfettered money making. We also know that its not really about teardowns and infills. Infills are a necessary and good part of a neighborhood. The real issue is the grossly out of scale super-sized McMansions these developers (that do not intend to live in these homes and neighborhoods) drop next to property owners that have lived here for years, removing their sunlight, cutting down their shade, reducing the value of their home to the dirt that it sits on.

Don’t believe me? Tell me what they are for. Tell me what they think the city council should do (not what they should not do). Tell me what if any changes to city codes, laws, regulations, etc, should happen.

Because if you (and they) cannot, it means that they are ignoring all the citizens that do feel there is a problem. All the citizens that have emailed the city council. All the citizens that voted in the last election to put in more representatives that would look out for their interests as property owners in their beloved neighborhoods.

Renew Raleigh says that there IS no issue. That this Infill/teardown is much ado about nothing. And they say that only 3% of all new home construction in Raleigh since 2002 resulted from infill projects. It doesn�t add up. It’s not honest. It smells bad.

Dana02/20 01:38 AM

“reducing the value of their home to the dirt that it sits on.“

This is not correct. Do you think that rundown 1,200 square foot houses go for >$300 sq ft because of their individual charm?

Believe me, I know this crowd. Developers may have printed the signs, but the support is wide and strong for their cause. Where were their detractors at open city forums?

Yes, there are some horrible replacement houses. However you cannot legislate taste with numbers. You also cannot assume that all of the development decisions of the 1940’s and 50’s were good ones. Some of the finest examples of replacements don’t fit with the proposed numeric method of “control”. It’s a square peg in a round hole.

The bottom line is that the characterization (and attempted character assassination) on this forum surrounding Renew Raleigh are laughably incorrect.

ifUwantcarymove2cary02/20 01:54 AM

And that was the only thing you could respond to? That’s telling.

Follow the money (not you Dana - you know where the money leads, don’t you?)

Dana02/20 10:35 AM

I’d ask you to be more specific, but by your first paragraph (about the 500 supporters) it clearly shows that you aren’t actually reading what I’m writing. Sorry I didn’t fall in some imaginary trap for you.

Isn’t it interesting that this top down campaign is supported by real people (online and at meetings) outside of their real homes, yet their opposition only posts their thoughts in forums and on their own blogs using handles.

“All the citizens that have emailed the city council” should have enough guts to show up at the meetings and use their real names.

ifUwantcarymove2cary02/20 11:49 AM

�All the citizens that have emailed the city council� should have enough guts to show up at the meetings

They should have the guts? Is that the standard? Is that your standard - that someone have enough guts to do more than vote, more than email? more than sign online petitions like Respect4Raleigh? those things aren’t enough for you?

They have to also show up to a room downtown, in the middle of the week, in the middle of a work day? and sit among a crowd of aggressive organized developers that cheer and boo at the sways of the council?

right. you are undemocratic. you don’t care about peoples rights.

The petition is here btw: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Respect4Raleigh/

HelenTart02/20 01:36 PM

A couple of points that get left out of the Renew Raleigh verbiage:

- Many newer neighborhoods are protected by homeowners associations, so the idea that “restrictions” are taking away from property values must be lost on those developers.

- It is entirely possible to renovate “rundown 1,200 square foot houses”—even triple the size—without damaging your neighbors quality of life. Look up 500 Boundary Street. That house is brand new. Of course decades ago, that neighborhood went through the massive amount of work entailed in getting historic designation.

BTW: I do show up at the City Council meetings and use my real name. Almost no one on this forum uses their full name.

I have used my real name in every post on this forum. (“Tart” is a very common family name in Harnett County where I grew up:) ) But then I ran for City Council so I prepared myself for abuse months ago:)

Dana02/20 01:39 PM

Didn’t these people vote in an election that occurred in the “middle of a work day?“ What about the nighttime hearing where absolutely nobody spoke in favor of proposed regulations? I could only watch on TV, but more than half of the faces that I recognized at that meeting have nothing to do with Big Real Estate. We all have busy schedules, but I said NOBODY supported the new guidelines. The presence at these open forums has been amazingly one-sided.

I do care for people’s rights; the rights to reasonably do what they want with THEIR OWN PROPERTY, as long as it reasonably conforms with the nature of the neighborhood. This is where mature discussion is needed. You are right in some ways, though. I don’t care for the imaginary rights that people think they have to other people’s property.

I am quite democratic, as I show up to vote with my real name. A democracy is not constructed of people hiding behind pseudonyms.

I am by no means a staunch New Raleigh supporter. When I am at a party and about 10 doctors and lawyers stand and give a toast to “New Raleigh”, it is a very different scene than the Big Real Estate-only portrayal here of the group. I simply want the facts to be heard.

With the manner in which New Raleigh is being opposed, I have to wonder about the veracity of the names on these petitions. Defacing yard signs, mock websites, name-calling, and personal attacks on irrelevant namesakes do not bring understanding to the table. Participating in the process does.

HelenTart02/20 01:47 PM

Dana,

Where do you mean “Renew Raleigh” above and where you mean the blog on which we are writing?

Dana02/20 01:59 PM

I’m sorry, Helen. These names are so similar! I meant to say that I am not a staunch supporter of Renew Raleigh, that the toast was to “Renew Raleigh”, and the manner in which Renew Raleigh is being opposed. Ooops!

FessSikes02/20 08:00 PM

Dana, this is not an issue about right or wrong it is about labeling. I questioned one of the Scale leaders on how they could sleep at night knowing that they are misrepresenting facts when trying to drum up support for their cause. The answer” perception becomes reality”. Boosting about lying.

This is not the Raleigh you and I grew up in. This is not the open minded tolerant ITB it once was. Houses in Raleigh don’t make me sad the venomous people do. Hypocrisy rules and unless you are politically connected you don�t have rights. It isn�t about money it is about what group you associate with.

Spiro02/25 02:48 PM

Helen:

How is Renew Raleigh keeping people from remaining in their present neighborhoods?

Also, I think it is reasonable to call a small group of activists from a few neighborhoods who want to impose their own “progressive” ideas of size and appropriateness on all Raleigh property owners a “special interest group”.

Mr. Angry03/07 04:26 AM

Why are you forced to pay money to sign their petition? I’m from Raleigh and agree completely with stopping “McMansions” (I hate that term…I also hate McDonalds). I filled out their petition and clicked “next” but it sent me to a PayPal page with the lowest option being to donate $2. Come on! I wanna help out but I don’t wanna pay to support whatever online petition corporation they have set up their petition through. That shit was a waste of time!

David03/07 12:02 PM

Mr. Angry, if you read the text on that page- that petition service just asks for donations after you sign a petition- it is not required and it does not go to any Raleigh group. So don’t sweat it you don’t have to give a penny to sign the petition.

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Chad Monday, February 11, 2008