Housing and the Raleigh City Council Election

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Good morning, readers.

Our thoughts are with our neighbors in Western North Carolina who are just beginning to assess the full extent of the damage from Hurricane Helene. 

We’ve compiled a rolling list of Triangle drop-off sites and other local resources for hurricane relief efforts. 

If you’re looking for more ways to help, Blue Ridge Public Radio and WFAE have good lists of organizations working on the ground and in the air. 

Unlike voters in most Triangle towns and cities this fall, voters in Raleigh have a municipal election on their ballots—they’ll be choosing a new mayor and city council, and the stakes in the city council election are just as high, or higher, than in the top-of-ballot races. 

In the past five years of outgoing Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin’s term, the city has grappled with several issues and crises, but the one that has impacted the most residents—and arguably the one on which the council has made the most progress in addressing—is the city’s shortage of housing. 

For our second installment in a four-part series on the Raleigh City Council election, writer Jasmine Gallup took a deep dive into the council’s work on bringing more housing to the City of Oaks. 

We meet a young couple looking to buy their second home, a renter looking for an affordable apartment, and a mother experiencing homelessness. We learn how housing policies, such as the council’s missing middle policy enacted in 2021, have made it easier to build in Raleigh, and the impact those policies have had on the ground including a surge in new construction and lawsuits. And the story looks ahead to the next council—will it continue on the current pro-growth trajectory or will it slow down?

Part Three in the series, which takes a look at downtown Raleigh’s future following the vote to “save” Red Hat Amphitheater, published today as well. 

Read Part One of the series recapping Mayor Baldwin’s five-year tenure here. Read Part Two on housing here. And click here to read Part Three. 

Have a good Wednesday. 

—Jane

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Orange

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North Carolina

In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the state legislature will need to develop a plan to use the state’s $5.5 billion in emergency reserves. For now, officials are still assessing the damage.

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