Raleigh

Community-focused posts

There are 776 posts filed in Raleigh (this is page 67 of 78).

Neighborhood College update

I’ve been slack keeping y’all in the loop on the Raleigh Neighborhood College classes I’ve been taking. In a word, this program is terrific! I thought I knew my way around the city services, having been here for so long, but the resources available are truly impressive.

The class on communications and emergency services was memorable. We got a chance to tour the 911 center: a place I toured eight years prior as part of Garner’s police citizen’s academy. It didn’t seem to have changed too much, though I did notice the addition of multiple large, flat-panel TVs along the walls. Most of them were tuned to traffic cameras, though a few were tuned to the NCAA basketball tournament.

Hey, no sweat, as long as the phones aren’t ringing. And that’s one thing that wasn’t happening: there were few if any calls. I heard one dispatcher remark to another one “wouldn’t you know it. We get guests and there’s nothing going on.” Seems that people don’t hurt themselves or others when they’re glued to their televisions.
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Snippy Sheehan

N&O columnist Ruth “I Love Jessie Taliaferro” Sheehan gets snippy with councilman Rodger Koopman in today’s column. The man must be doing something right. Perhaps she pines for the days of unresponsive, condescending council representation deep in the pocket of Big Real Estate.

I sure don’t. While I think the goals of the disposal ban were laudable, the people have spoken. Rodger is brave enough to admit he was wrong, and he listens to his constituents. Glory!

Falls Lake is full again!

I got the news Saturday that Falls Lake is now full again. In fact, its 1/10th of a foot above normal at 251.6 feet. The non-stop rain we got last week really pushed us over the top. Officials expect even more rain to trickle in and raise the level even further. We’ve sure come a long way from the Christmas Day reading ten feet lower than that.

Now we’re going back to the more lenient Stage 1 restrictions. It remains to be seen whether we’ve learned anything. Rampant development will continue again unabated and we’ll wind up facing the same dilemma again within three years. You watch.

Downtown help is definitely available

I walked up to the office just as two police cars were driving up to the corner of Fayetteville Street and Hargett Street. From what I gather, a man on a scooter ran into a pedestrian walking along Fayetteville Street, knocking him down but not seriously injuring him.

While I was glad the man was okay, I was amused at the amount of response his injury garnered. There were two police cars, a firetruck, an ambulance, and a half-dozen cops on bikes that showed up. One of the first cops on the scene began dispersing the bike cops by giving them the classic “there’s nothing to see here” line, after which some appeared somewhat embarrassed.

The traffic or the view?

I took a walk past the State Capitol today to clear my head, on my way to the credit union branch on neighboring New Bern Avenue. The credit union sits on a little sliver of New Bern that has since become essentially a parking lot. Its a shame that this slice of New Bern is cut off from the rest of the street grid, because it absolutely offers the best view of the Capitol.
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Beatification

I was looking into what Raleigh’s Neighborhood Improvement Grant program might do for my new neighborhood, so I wanted to see what kind of programs were being supported by other local governments.

I think I found one that tops them all. Cary’s grant (Cary Grant?) can be used for beatification:

The goals of the Neighborhood Improvement Grant Program are to improve the health of Cary’s neighborhoods by addressing needs through the active involvement of the neighborhood residents themselves. Specific goals include:

  • Improve neighborhood organization and pride by encouraging more resident involvement in addressing neighborhood issues and needs.
  • Leverage both Town and neighborhood resources towards addressing neighborhood issues.
  • Improve community aesthetics by encouraging physical improvements in Cary’s neighborhoods such as beatification programs, environmental enhancements and neighborhood clean-ups.
  • Maintain or improve property values in the neighborhood.

I know it might cross the line between church and state, but I think it would be pretty cool to ascend to Heaven and have people pray to me and stuff.

Our last week on Hobhouse Circle

Today marks the beginning of our very last week here at 8321 Hobhouse Circle. We close on our new home on Friday and the moving trucks crank up Saturday morning. While I’m excited about the possibilities our new home will bring, I am also going to miss this house. Its been so good to us.

Kelly and I have discussed this before, how we couldn’t wait to leave our Garner home and didn’t ever regret that move. It was nothing against Garner but more particular to our house, or more specifically our neighborhood, I suppose. We had no sidewalks and no front porch there. We didn’t have the chance to meet our neighbors the way we do here. Even though our new neighborhood has no sidewalks, our home has a porch and our home sits right next to an active pathway into the next neighborhood.
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East CAC meeting

I went to my first meeting of the Raleigh East CAC last night. I’ve wanted to see what was on the minds of our future neighbors so this seemed the perfect opportunity. Since the meetings are held at Lions Park which is a stone’s throw of our new house, I won’t have much excuse for missing them.
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First meeting of Raleigh Neighborhood College

I went to my first meeting of the Raleigh Neighborhood College last Thursday. I would’ve blogged about it that night but it turned out I was out later than I expected.

The classes are held at Peace College, incredibly convenient to my job. I arrived a little after five, walked into the dining hall, got introduced to Charlene Willard (one of Raleigh’s Community Specialists) and enjoyed a fine dinner while getting to know my fellow classmates. Twenty-five citizens from all over the city share the class. They’re a very energetic, friendly bunch, too, from what I’ve gathered.
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