Welcome to WakeUP Wake County’s March 2024 Newsletter

WakeUP News & Things to Know | Catch up Quick | Set a Reminder | Stay Connected

Welcome to new WakeUP Members: Tony, Kelly, and James!

As always, feel free to invite neighbors, friends, and colleagues to Become Members as we advocate together for ensuring Wake County is a place where all can thrive.

WakeUP News & Things to Know

Dear WakeUP member,

As March winds down, WakeUP continues to engage in community dialogues across our municipalities. We’ve had a wonderful opportunity to meet with city leaders, present at community groups, and engage with donors and community partners from across our county (and beyond).

Locally, March was a busy month of community advocacy around development and growth with: additional components of New Bern TOD passing Raleigh City Council unanimously, Apex hosting, numerous public meetings to engage residents in planning around the Western Big Branch area, and Rolesville seeking feedback on affordable housing plans in their area. There continue to be ways to SpeakUP on development in your area listed below as well as on our Community Engagement page on our website.

We are very excited for a busy April as it is Fair Housing Month, Landscape Architecture Month, and National Volunteer Month - each of these intersecting into vital components of our work and with plenty to educate and mobilize around. WakeUP’s Board of Directors will have our annual board retreat and we look forward to hosting our first of many Virtual MeetUPs to celebrate volunteers in our community looking to engage more deeply in the work we are doing to advocate for equity and environmental responsibility as our area continues to grow.

Make sure to check out all the UPdates below and feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Denzel Burnside,
WakeUP Executive Director

CatchUP Quick

New Bern TOD Update:

Significant strides were made in the New Bern Station Area Planning at Raleigh’s March 5th City Council meeting. The council deliberated on rezoning options, placing emphasis on Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) while considering concerns about historic properties and state-owned land. The council moved forward with a unanimous endorsement of TOD, emphasizing areas without Neighborhood Conservation Overlay Districts (NCOD), historic sites, or state-owned properties.

With a focus on affordable housing, additional follow-up on April 2nd will focus on non-profit owned sites. In addition, a bus tour will be scheduled in order to provide council members and the public with an opportunity to explore various station areas. The proposed schedule and actions reflect a strategic and organized approach to the ongoing development process.

For additional information, please check out my breakdown in our new monthly feature “Denzel’s WriteUP”

YIMBY Town Spotlight

In addition to local happenings, Board Member, Chris Herndon, and myself had the opportunity to represent WakeUP Wake County at the national YIMBY Town Conference in Austin, TX. The conference brought advocates, politicians, and direct service professionals together to discuss the current state of housing in our country and in each region. With a focus on community engagement and issues related to housing, as well as forum discussion and best practice sharing.

Held in Austin, TX - this conference naturally highlighted the spectrum of opinions and thoughts on this topic. Conversation ranged from: discussions on vertical mixed-use development, parking reform, and transit-oriented development. We breakdown our YIMBY Town experience here.

WakeUP In the News:

WakeUP Wake County was excited to be featured in “The Atlantic” this month. The article highlights the strong partisan divide around the issue of housing and the need for nonpartisan engagement to solve the issue. I had a chance to reiterate WakeUP’s grassroots stance with the need to focus on solutioning by convening all parties toward a mutual goal of community:

“This can be a bipartisan issue. I’m always trying to find the ecumenical, theological, philosophical position of welcoming the neighbor. Even if that neighbor does not look like me. Even if that neighbor doesn’t think like I think… I got my patch, you got your patch, but in order for us to become a whole carpet we gotta find some places that we weave in the middle.”

Read the whole article here.

WakeUP Virtual MeetUP:

April is National Volunteer Month and WakeUP is excited to have a chance to connect with members and residents to go over ways you can be involved in our work to ensure equitable and sustainable growth across Wake County.

Join us for a Virtual MeetUP with Executive Director, Denzel Burnside and Director of Development, Angie Haugen:

Location: Your Computer
Date: Fri, April 19th
Time: Noon-1pm

Register HERE.

In case you missed it - WakeUP March Highlights:

In March, new WakeUP Board Chair, Tom Barrie, answered a few of our questions. We talked about all things WakeUP and what he’s looking forward to as our organization continues to grow. Read the full interview here.

National Groundwater Awareness week was a great opportunity to connect the pieces of WakeUP’s advocacy with one of our most vulnerable resources when it comes to development. Learn more.

And, for our rundown of books that may pique your interest, check out this post on social media from Read Across America week where we highlight some adult reads on the topic of urban growth (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram)