Best Sign of the Day

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/07/20/590187/16-protesters-arrested-at-school.html

And Back on the Development Channel ...

This notice from the City of Raleigh:

Please join us at the Raleigh Urban Design Center (133 Fayetteville Street, Suite 100) Lunch Forum on Wednesday July 21, 2010 from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. for the following presentation.

Complete Streets
James Westmoreland, NC Deputy Secretary of Transportation

• What are Complete Streets?
• How does NCDOT plan to implement its Complete Streets policy?
• What role do Complete Streets play in developing Sustainable Communities?

Q& A Panel: Presenter, Eric Lamb, Manager, City of Raleigh Transportation Services, Raleigh Public Works Department, Elizabeth Alley, Planner II, Raleigh Urban Design Center

Contact trisha.hasch@raleighnc.gov, 919-807-8480, with questions or concerns.
All events are free and open to the public.

City of Raleigh | One Exchange Plaza | Raleigh, NC 27602 | US

Growing Pains

Cash Michaels has put together a PSA on the coming event for diversity in our schools.

HERE



And Steve Ford of the N&O explains how the clash of the cultures began.

HERE



Mayor Meeker certainly stepped in it when he recently tried to describe the problem facing older neighborhoods in Raleigh when it comes to the effect of this new school board's education policy. Quoting Steve Ford's article:

Don't be shocked, but Southern resentment of Yankees once was focused on the Northerners' determination to stamp out the Confederate rebellion and the practice of slavery, on which the ruling class of Southern whites believed their way of life depended.

Now we see a Southern mayor - albeit a District of Columbia native educated at Yale and Columbia - articulating that familiar cultural tension, but from the standpoint of someone convinced that the perspective of long-time Southerners (of whatever race) is more closely aligned with black residents' interests.

There is of course a disconnect in Wake between 1) the old-timers who went through desegregation of the schools, merger of the former city and county school systems and the crafting of diversity policies, and 2) the many newer arrivals, often settling in the rapidly growing suburbs, who put prime importance on stability in school assignments and on having their kids attend school with kids from the same kind of background.

No matter how it is pointed out, it is an important point. So hooray for the Mayor with goo on his shoes. Let's make sure all this sudden growth in Raleigh leaves no family behind.