Development News in Raleigh

Need answers to these questions?

What does it mean to be pedestrian friendly?
Why is pedestrian friendly important?
What characterizes a pedestrian-friendly city?
How do we create a pedestrian-friendly city?
What is the connection between design, development, and sustainability?

This week you may get them!

As part of the Raleigh Department of City Planning’s Designing a 21st Century City Lecture Series, Adrienne Schmitz, Director, Residential Community Development, Urban Land Institute , and author of various books including Creating Walkable Places with Walter Kulash, P.E., Principal and Senior Traffic Engineer for Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin, of Orlando, Fla. will speak about The Public Realm and How to Create Pedestrian-Friendly Cities this Thursday September 20, 2007 at Kennedy Theatre in The Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts.

More Lecture Info Below the Fold

I received a tip this morning that Lulu.com may be relocating their headquarters to the “Yellow Bulldozer” site.  Earlier this year the company’s founder, Bob Young, purchased the site.  While Young’s original plans have continued to evolve, it looks at this point that he is considering moving the headquarters there, a scenario that was originally ruled out. If things go as planned the site would be redeveloped to meet Lulu.com’s needs and become the new North American headquarters for the company.

That part of Hillsborough Street is very much a college area.  Up until recently Google kept a Satellite office on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill.  This kind of strategic locating of offices allows company’s to build brand awareness and encourage local recruiting. It is assured that Lulu and NCSU graduates would benefit from this location.  With Lulu acting as one of the few public facing, Web 2.0 style companies here in the Triangle, Raleigh’s downtown would benefit immensely from its presence. The number of startups in the area is only rivaled by silicon valley.  Increasing the profile of the Web startups locally can only help enhance our image and encourage more of the “creative class” to move here rather than away.

As the teardown issue continues to steamroll across the public eye via blogs, articles and community groups a critical juncture is forthcoming. The public hearing for the possible rezoning of the Fallon Park and Five Points area is tomorrow, the 18th at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber of the Avery Upchurch Municipal Building.

More below the fold.

From Housing Bust, Credit Crunch Hurt Jobs by Jeannine Aversa, AP [Monday September 10, 2007]
“The first significant crack in the economy’s foundation appeared when a government report last week showed employers cut jobs for the first time in four years. But what’s going to happen next?... Q: What happened with housing?  A: After a heady five-year boom, the housing market went bust more than a year ago. Sales cooled and so did home prices. The housing slump—the worst in roughly 16 years—has been the biggest weight on the national economy.“

Since mid-2005, there has been much speculation of a nationwide real estate bubble, particularly in the residential housing market.  Of course, each part of the country, and each city for that matter, has its own unique set of demographics, growth patterns and economic circumstances which factor differently into various financial ratios and economic indicators that help economists forecast numbers and trends in housing markets.  For instance, median home sale prices in Raleigh rose a whopping 8.3% in the second quarter of this year, earning Raleigh the status of one of the Best US Housing Markets.

More forecast and analysis below the fold.

The next installment of the city’s Planning Department’s Designing a 21st Century City lecture series will take place next Wednesday, September 20st.

Details on agenda and speakers are below the fold.