February 9th, 2010 by Jason Hibbets
If you travel on Tryon Road between Raleigh’s Lake Wheeler Road and US 70-401 then you know what the Garner death curve is. At least, that’s what I call it. As you approach the two-lane, Norfolk-Southern Railroad bridge from either direction, your hands tend to migrate towards the 10 and 2 position on your steering wheel. You might even tense up a bit. This is the Garner death curve.

Tryon Road / Norfolk Southern Rail, Raleigh, NC (Google Maps)
Why is this section of Tryon Road being neglected? The parts from Cary, NC to Lake Wheeler Road are mostly complete and practically done. Four glorious lanes of asphalt with a median. We might even get to participate in choosing some of the landscape for that median.
Last December, a group of citizens started brainstorming on how South West Raleigh could get some attention to this forgotten part of Tryon Road. A group of neighbors from Renaissance Park are leading the effort to widen Tryon Road and complete the realignment project. You should sign their online petition if you haven’t already: Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: lake_wheeler_road, ncdot, norfolk_southern_railroad, petition, raleigh, renaissance_park, road_project, transportation_plan, tryon_road
Posted in Renaissance Park, SWCAC, Transportation | No Comments »
February 8th, 2010 by Jason Hibbets
I attended the educational workshop on Form-Based Zoning held in City Council chambers on February 3, 2010 hosted by Code Studio. The workshop provided an overview of the uses of form-based zoning, but left many more questions. Some of these questions were addressed during the Q&A session, but one question remains, what type of zoning code is right for Raleigh?
Special thanks to Betsy Kane for her review of this before posting to ensure it was technically accurate with all the planning and zoning jargon.

Form-based zoning example, credit: http://oceanfrontasbury.com/
Thanks to Ken Bowers for helping find this example of form-based zoning.
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Tags: development, economic_development, form-based zoning, gentrification, growth, newraleighcode, new_code, raleigh, udo, zoning
Posted in 2030 Comp Plan, DDNA, Raleigh Planning | No Comments »
February 4th, 2010 by Jason Hibbets
I attended the educational workshop on Form-Based Zoning held in City Council chambers on February 3, 2010 hosted by Code Studio. The workshop provided an overview of the uses of form-based zoning, but left many more questions. Is Raleigh ready for form-based zoning? Can it help us plan for and accommodate growth? Can this type of zoning help us have predictable growth, infill, and development? Here are my notes and insight on the subject.
Special thanks to Betsy Kane for her review of this before posting to ensure it was technically accurate with all the planning and zoning jargon.

Example Zoning
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Tags: development, economic_development, form-based zoning, growth, newraleighcode, new_code, raleigh, udo, zoning
Posted in 2030 Comp Plan, DDNA, Raleigh Planning | No Comments »
January 31st, 2010 by Jason Hibbets
Over 30 citizens from around District D joined on January 16, 2010 for the first meeting in 2010 of the District D Neighborhood Alliance (DDNA). On the agenda, the UDO (Unified Development Ordinance) with special guests Mitchell Silver and Christine Darges.
Handout: FAQs
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Tags: 2030, mitch silver, nc_bar, tc-1-10, udo, zoning
Posted in 2030 Comp Plan, DDNA, Raleigh City Council | No Comments »
January 26th, 2010 by Jason Hibbets
If you live in Raleigh, there are two numbers you should program in your mobile phone. The pothole repair line and the signal malfunction number: Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: potholes, raleigh, street maintenance, street repairs, traffic signals, WRAL
Posted in Lineberry Alliance, Trailwood Springs, Transportation | No Comments »
January 13th, 2010 by Jason Hibbets
With the new year starting, I thought it was a good time to find out what’s going on at Raleigh’s Department of City Planning for 2010. Lots of folks spent countless hours on the 2030 Comprehensive Plan last year and Raleigh’s New Development Code is ramping up. I sent Mitchell Silver, Director, Department of City Planning & Urban Design Center and Ken Bowers, Deputy Director, Department of City Planning the following questions to see what’s on tap for 2010.
1) Why is Raleigh’s New Development Code so important?
Planning and development regulations should be regularly reviewed and updated due to such things as new development trends and new environmental legislation. Although the City’s Zoning Code and Subdivision Regulations have been Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: 2030, gateway_plan, hillsborough_street, ken_bowers, mitch silver, new_code, raleigh
Posted in 2030 Comp Plan, Raleigh Planning | No Comments »
January 4th, 2010 by Linda Edmisten
The new planned community of Renaissance Park that is rising in the northwest quadrant of the intersection of South Wilmington Street and Tryon Road is located on the site of the Raleigh Municipal Airport that served this area during the early decades of the airline industry. Dedicated in 1929, only 26 years after Wilber and Orville Wright’s historic flight on the North Carolina Outer Banks, the Raleigh Municipal Airport represented the area’s leap into the future of 20th- century transportation that was lauded by such local notables as Raleigh News and Observer publisher Josephus Daniels and the then Secretary of State, Thad Eure, as well as the nationally- renowned World War 1 Flying Ace, Eddie Rickenbacker who was also the owner of Eastern Airlines. But perhaps the most intriguing personality to attend the Raleigh Airport dedication was Amelia Earhart, the female flyer who captured the imagination of a generation, and who inspired other young women to move into occupations that were heretofore closed to them.

The 1929 dedication of Raleigh Municipal Airport (Paul Freeman, NC Division of Archives & History)
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Tags: airport, earhart, historic_raleigh, history, stinson, stultz
Posted in Historic Raleigh, Renaissance Park | 1 Comment »