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WakeUp hosts Greg Hatem, John Kane, Mitchell Silver and Melanie Wilson

• Tico06/29 08:59 AM

  So is this open to the public?

• Sarah06/29 09:11 AM

  It is open to the public and free! There will be light food provided by Sitti. Bring your friends.

• Jim06/29 09:56 AM

  Kane/Hatem ~ Yin/Yang

• arthurb306/29 10:57 AM

  Jim! your funny!

• Ashe07/01 09:56 PM

  I missed seeing this in time. I would have loved to have attended this meeting. I hope New Raleigh had someone there that will post on how the event went and what was discussed.

• Christian07/06 12:55 AM

  I attended the first 45 minutes of the talk - I had to leave early because of another commitment, not because I walked out or anything. It was funny at first because Sitti originally planed to host this in their basement but because of the large crowd they moved us outside to the courtyard. Sitti provided free pita and hummus and had set up a bar station for people to purchase select beer and wine. Logistically everything was fine except that there were no microphones so it was very hard to hear the speakers. One thing of preliminary note is that this is designed to be a series, with the next event taking place at Mez Mexican Restaurant on August 5 and sometime in September at Busy Bee Cafe. The speakers were asked to introduce themselves and to describe what their specific role in development was. Then someone from the WakeUp group (a/k/a the sponsors) informally moderated by asking questions, mostly of the “softball” variety. Nonetheless, it was an interesting discussion. There wasn’t much debate and the speakers generally seemed to be in agreement on most points. For instance, they emphasized the need to have a clear vision for development looking 5, 10, and even 20 years into the future. What do we want Raleigh to be? Sustainability is key according to the speakers. They challenged the city council and local government to be more proactive in facilitating development. What stuck with me the most was when one of the speakers noted that nearly 100 people had attended the downtown development talk at Sitti on a Wednesday night, yet hardly anyone shows up at City Council meetings. Why is there such a discrepancy? Obviously people are interested in development but for whatever reason don’t car enough to actually stand up and be heard in front of the real decision-makers. Did you know that nearly 100 people PER DAY move to Wake County? Hatem specifically noted that downtown is an amenity that belongs to everyone in the state. Raleigh is the capital city, and he wondered why there was such a strong ITB-OTB schism in Raleigh. Downtown is not an ITB thing. It’s the capital city and belongs to EVERYONE. Plus with more and more people from surrounding areas like Cary and Chapel Hill coming downtown to take advantage of events like Downtown Live, there is a need to think broadly for development so that downtown does not alienate certain groups of people. Well, that’s kind of a summary of my notes from the talk. I was originally planning on doing a formal write-up to post here on New Raleigh, but I simply couldn’t find the time. However, if anyone is interested, pencil in August 5 at Mez for the next downtown development talk, and we will try our best to alert readers sooner next time so that everyone has a chance to attend.

• Sarah07/06 02:42 PM

  This series is a “Summer Series on Growth in the Triangle.” There will definitely be an event on August 5th at the Mez in Durham. This will focus on Water and Utilities. Then back in Raleigh on September 2nd to talk about transportation. These events are being hosted by Emerging Tar Heel Leaders and WakeUP Wake County. The format will largely be the same for all 3 panels: mix and mingle at 6 pm, start around 6:30, try to wrap things up by 8. I hope to see lots of folks at the Mez! - Sarah