Not in Our Side Yard

The N&O ran a thoughtful editorial today on the problems facing the inner city neighborhoods. Oddly these first ring suburbs are now referred to as downtown, but I digress...

Please check out their assessment of things here.

Enjoy reading sentences such as this --

So why are teardowns so controversial? In large part, because they're out of control. ...

Take Anderson Drive in Raleigh, often cited as an epicenter of the trend. There, where the older houses are no match for the underlying land values, many have been bulldozed and replaced by much larger structures. The scale is all out of kilter -- relatively modest houses sit cheek by jowl with their super-sized new neighbors. ...

The key issues for public policy are size and setbacks, not style. ...

A parallel route to limiting teardowns is the rezoning request slated for a hearing tonight before the Raleigh City Council and the Planning Commission.

Ever faithful Fallonia was at the zoning hearing and can honestly report that a swell time was had by all.

Something will be done in the civic arena, but the timing is crucial. The way these things work means Raleigh is just starting to be a part of this destructive cycle. If you want things to improve in your lifetime, it is time to get involved in municipal politics.

Please visit our fellow Raleigh bloggers and blogettes for the low down and higher up on our candidates for October 9th. And take a carpool when you go to the polls. It's green, in more ways than one.



PS: this is not considered recycling