Last week, Leigh Tauss wrote about all the new high-rise buildings in the pipeline for downtown Raleigh that will surely change the skyline. Our readers had a lot of thoughts about gentrification, Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin, and Raleigh turning into Charlotte. 

“Height is irrelevant. We need specified affordable housing, public transit, and minimum public parking requirements,” writes Facebook commenter Melody Maybe. “Otherwise these tall buildings will be empty tax write offs for the developers. Gross!”

 “Adding units alone will not slow housing cost increase,” writes commenter Emily Galvin. “We’re filling this city with luxury apartments and high rises when what we need is workforce housing, affordable to working class people including those making minimum wage. Mary Ann Baldwin and this city council are not just oblivious to what this city actually needs–they don’t care.” 

Commenter Jeffrey David Zacko-Smith sees some good about all the new development but also has some reservations: 

“I think higher urban density is overall a good thing … especially *IF* there are good public transit and walkable resources (like grocery stores) available, and *IF* at least 40-50% of the housing created is affordable,” Jeffrey writes. “That said, this is like a gentrification replay of so many cities that end up being too expensive, less diverse and more generic (Seattle, Austin, Nashville, Portland). At least Seattle has great public transportation and I could walk to get everything I need. Doubt that will be true here.”

“Raleigh wants to be Charlotte so bad,” writes Brandy Hollingsworth, with two laugh-cry emojis.

We also wrote for the web last week about award-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones’s decision to pass on a tenured position at UNC-Chapel Hill. 

“She’s completely correct. It is NOT her job to heal UNC-CH, but what a loss for North Carolinians,” writes Facebook commenter Carol Lawrence.

“Well she just delivered a master class. Her work is done here,” writes Sylvia Pfeiffenberger.

“I would have made the same choice in her shoes. Our loss is Howard’s gain,” writes Christy Marshuetz Ferguson.

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