What are you doing Saturday afternoon? Oh, sure, you could mow the yard or go bike somewhere or get ’faced on high-gravity beers at Tasty or watch the new Star Wars trailer (squee!) or maybe this hilarious video of Pat McCrory failing at sitting down, on repeat.
Those are all good options. Here’s another, probably more productive one: Check out the City Livability Tour, brought to you by the good people at WakeUP Wake County, designed to help educate and engage the public on issues related to building a better, more sustainable downtown Raleigh.
“Growing downtown is our big concern—prosperity and environmental sustainability,” says Karen Rindge, WakeUP’s executive director.
Her group looked at putting together a sustainability tour of Raleigh, but that already exists, Rindge says. “We thought we need to go beyond that. It’s a broad brush, not just energy efficiency or green water infrastructure.”
Instead, the self-guided walking tour (though there will be guides) will focus on the more nebulous idea of livability, of which sustainability is a part, of course, but also things like walkability, affordable housing and public transit. Or, as Rindge puts it, “Aspects of what we think we have to do with sustainability but also create a vibrant city.”
The tour—which starts 2 p.m. Saturday at CAM; $25 in advance, $30 day of (it’s also a fundraiser for WakeUP)—includes stops at Raleigh City Farm, Citrix (“They have a bocce court on the roof!” Rindge says), The L-Building, the not-yet-open Death and Taxes, Foundation, Union Station, the Boylan Pearce Building, Moore Square Transit Station, the LEED-certified convention center and Wake County Justice Center, and other downtown landmarks.
In the end, Rindge says, she hopes to stir a conversation about how “we can build a city and it can also be sustainable. Also, maybe some new ideas. I’ve invited lawmakers from all over the county.”
