Category Archives: Housing

Cities, Cityreads, Housing

Placebook: How Do You Make Your Moves?

U-Haul at Storage Unit. Photo by Kristen E. Jeffers

When it’s time to pack up your things and move from one place to another, how do you do it? Do you just throw your things in random boxes and bins? Do you take the time to get decent boxes and bins and label them. Do you do like I’ve traditionally done and get a moving truck and a few able-bodied family members and friends? Do you pile everything on pickup trucks and the back of slightly too tiny cars? Do you even move your stuff at all? The dumpster and the local thrift shop are your friend, as everything gets dumped to them.

Well, this isn’t a physical move per se, but as I announced yesterday, we are getting a bigger house here at The Black Urbanist and Placebook. North Carolina Placebook will allow me to add coverage of placemaking issues statewide, and make this space here my own special office and playroom where I discuss issues of personal significance and the kind of news that doesn’t necessarily make you shell out subscription fees. Plus with more room comes more opportunities for parties, for party guests and of course rooms dedicated to issues you and I both hold dear. This move isn’t easy, but so far, it’s going pretty smoothly. In fact, why don’t you head over there now and check out today’s news, in its new format. (And if you can’t change websites just yet, news is right here too, after a word from our sponsors)

The Black Urbanist and Placebook are powered by Bluehost. Learn more about Bluehost and how they can make your website dreams come true here. (Clicking that link and signing up for Bluehost sends some of the proceeds back to me. This is a way to help us keep the lights on and keep the news coming to you every weekday).

Greensboro is not allowed to have its own utility tree-trimming regulations, per the state utilities commission.

The impact of the new statewide tax on entertainment on Greensboro cultural and entertainment venues.

Kohls is coming to Eden, while Staples may close some North Carolina stores.

If you have $800, you can buy a shoe named after Greensboro.

State Senator Marty Nesbitt died of stomach cancer.

The state approves Forsyth County’s early voting plan.

The makers of Texas Pete hot sauce may move their corporate headquarters into downtown Winston-Salem and are sponsoring the long-running Rock the Bock festival, changing it’s name to the Texas Pete festival.

Fayetteville is set to break ground on the conversion of its Mayfair Mall from an enclosed to an open air shopping district.

A longtime Cary community watchdog has died.

Cary is planning a new downtown park and citizens are asking for a new ramp at the current skate park.

Durham architectural firm The Freelon Group has been acquired by Perkins+Will, a multinational architectural firm.

Crime has risen in Durham.

Charlotte City Council has restarted their Friday morning coffee meetings with citizens.

This artist’s bookmobile plans a stop in Asheville.

Asheville’s Highland Brewery is expanding.

You can now fly from Asheville to Palm Beach, FL.

What the New York Times thinks you should do in Raleigh if you only have 36 hours.

Around the Nation and World: A town where everyone talks about death, a new video game allows you to build your own subway system, and maps that should outrage us as Southerners and a map that has Charlotte as part of the 50% of the US economy powered by major cities.

Cities, Cityreads, Housing

Placebook: This Kind of Old, but Kind of Modern House

BobisTraveling Raleigh Modernist Home

Image Credit: Bobistraveling on Flickr

So what makes a house old? Does it become old when it becomes run down? Or is it old due to age. What age makes that house old?

Yesterday, I included a link to a home in a “historic” area of Raleigh, that was being built in a historic style, if you consider historic style the mid-century 20th modernism. Raleigh, thanks to the architecture school at NC State, was once a hotbed for several mid-century modern homes. North Carolina also has the third largest concentration of modernist homes in the country.

These homes, which may not have the symmetry and the elaboration of homes from earlier historical periods, possess in my opinion, more creativity and stability than many of the cookie-cutter, cheaply produced homes of the late 20th century. Yet, because many look odd and some are flat-out ugly, they are often at risk of going before the bulldozer. However, the folks at North Carolina Modernist Houses are doing their very best to keep the memory of some of and the studs of others alive.

I do want to mention that the folks in Raleigh  have valid concerns. When I was doing my undergrad at NC State, the neighborhoods north of campus began to see historic  matchbox homes of the postwar era be replaced by Tudors of the McMansion era, many which blocked sight vistas and triggered gentrification. At first I was appalled along with the neighbors. Yet, as Raleigh sprawls further and further out, I’d rather the folks with the big house build it close in, yet find a way to integrate with their neighbors not only in style, but in their own substance.

But I digress. Here’s today’s news.

News from North Carolina

We may have an operating agreement for the Tanger Center for the Performing Arts.

HomeGoods comes to Greensboro on March 9th.

Great to see the Little Free Libraries movement has come to the Triad. Would love to see them spread out though.

Has Greensboro’s housing market recovered? Homes.com seems to think we have made a full recovery.

Winston-Salem may raise city taxes.  Brunswick County will raise taxes.

No vote for cell towers in Forsyth County, but a new law on solar farms.

Wake County has changed their middle school math requirements.  How Asheville City Schools could handle the new tenure and pay mandate from the state.

DENR is testing fish in the Dan River, to see if they are edible.

A mobile grocer has stepped up to address the food desert in Southeast Raleigh.

Western Carolina University will demolish the fire-damaged former home of Subway and other smaller retailers.

The Charlotte City Council has voted for an Atlanta firm to handle airport valet services.

The Leland Town Council has banned gated communities.

Fayetteville’s city council has voted to extend the sewer system to several homes annexed with septic tanks. Also worth checking out, the Fayetteville Observer’s year-long series on solutions to crime in Fayetteville.

News and Lessons from Elsewhere

Europe is also dealing with issues surrounding abandoned homes and chronic homelessness.

Charleston has proof that public housing doesn’t have to be ugly or poorly kept.

Just because you get priced out of an area, doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your passion for its history and architecture.

Meanwhile, friend of the blog Scott Doyon has the best breakdown of gentrification I’ve seen, as someone who is traditionally considered a gentrifier, yet recognizes the worst sin of gentrification is not the raising of home values, but the decline of respect of those who were there and may have built the value in the first place.

And finally, last week I included a link on how much one would have to make to buy a home in DC. Here’s how much it would take in several other cities nationwide (note, the NYC numbers seem a bit low).

Atlanta, Brooklyn, Cities, Cityreads, Cleveland, creative placemaking, DC, Durham, Government, Greensboro, Housing, Links, miami, Rail, Raleigh

Placebook: The Little Blue Walking Dot

U.S. Cities that walk the most. Image via Governing and Fast Company.

Hey Hey, it’s Friday! And with that, I’m looking forward to a quiet evening of sewing at home with my mom and a Saturday and Sunday filled with who knows what else? In the meantime, I know at least one day of this weekend I’ll be a part of Greensboro’s blue dot from the map above. But before that, here are some articles to take you through the weekend:

The polar vortex is not keeping folks from riding bike share bikes, at least not in DC. Meanwhile, Downtown Miami will finally see the DecoBike stations that have been operating in Miami Beach.

More affordable housing struggles, also in DC. Evictions are still hurting communities of color and poverty nationwide.

The Project for Public Spaces has great thoughts on how folk art influences placemaking. I saw this first hand while I was on the trip that made me a placeist back in 2012.

The fallacy of having too many municipalities in a small land area, illustrated by Cincinnati and surrounding Hamilton County, Ohio. Meanwhile, Cleveland is touting itself as the next Brooklyn.

It’s always sad when a beautiful building falls into disrepair and is then threatened with demolition, this time in the Bronx. More modern buildings in good shape that have won awards are also not safe from demo in NYC.

The RTP region is growing period. Greensboro has potential growth in HondaJet, a new microbrewery,plus a new ordinance that could allow more microbreweries.

New BART cars in the Bay Area and a slew of new transportation projects in DC.  2.7 million trips were taken on transit in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2013.

Get to know the Metro Atlanta Equity Atlas, the first equity-based data-cruncher and map maker in the Southeast that’s user-friendly and free and open to the public.

And finally, a post-mortem on Bridgegate and why calling the police is not always the best step when dealing with mentally ill family and friends.

And because it’s the weekend, sit back and enjoy DC-based short fiction from the Washington City Paper‘s 2nd annual fiction issue.

Food, Greensboro, Homelessness, Housing, Retail, Wishes

MORE: My 2014 Wishes for Good Places

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Last year, my wish/new years resolution was to maintain.

Overall, I think we succeeded in that. Downtown continues to grow. Even as beloved spaces elsewhere close, new ones spring right back up in their place, like a sushi bar right across the street from the bar I mentioned above. I’ve maintained employment. I’ve reconnected with family as family has passed on.

Therefore, as we look ahead into 2014, the word that stands out for me this year is simply:

MORE

How does more relate to good places? Here’s how:

More tiny houses

I was delighted to hear this story of how the Occupy Madison group managed to build a tiny house for a homeless couple. Far too many offshoots of Occupy have been blamed for being delinquent, whiny, and entitled. However, this group of folks actually did something about the problems facing our cities. They hope to build a whole village of these homes for people.

I also like tiny houses because they recognize that sometimes people can’t afford a certain amount of square footage, but that doesn’t make them incapable of owning their own home. We laugh at trailer parks, but honestly, at least those people have a roof over their heads. We used to laugh at apartments too, but I’m sitting in a luxury one.

More opportunities for youth to learn good citizenship

I’ve bled a lot of ink and blurred a lot of pixels about the cost of not engaging all of our youth and our citizens. The issue is near and dear to my heart, because I became engaged in placemaking and civic governance as a young child. My parents made sure I went to the library and they encouraged me to learn. So many people don’t have parents that do that, but there’s plenty of people in our community who can serve in that role for our youth. I want to find a way to do more of this myself, in a more productive and proactive way. I also think that if we don’t engage our youth, we will never be able to realize our placemaking dreams.

More parks

Thanks to where I work, I’m able to see a lot of new, cool things that are being built. I also have had a chance to see what’s planned for our new LeBauer Park, along with what’s been dreamed up thus far for the Union Square Park. I hope that these new parks, despite being public-private partnerships, hold true to the spirit of the public piece of the  partnership that is propelling them forward.

More books and reading and writing

I never imagined that by the end of 2013, I’d be walking to my very own local indie bookstore which stocks brand new books, smart magazines and used classics. I never imagined I’d be front page news and make news and have the bylines that I’ve had. In that spirit, I hope that Scuppernong revitalizes its block, not just with libations, but budding librarians. You’re seeing more posts from me here and who knows, I might whip up another book.

More microeconomies

As I talked about above with the support of tiny houses, some of our Occupiers have evolved into a group spearheading a new grocery co-op on the traditionally black east side of Greensboro. Meanwhile, opposition is growing for a Trader Joes (again) on a particular plot near the more wealthy communities of Greensboro. However, if it weren’t for Trader Joes offering some of the foods that make me stick my pinkies out while holding food, at a price that doesn’t make me feel like I’m breaking my pinkies, I wouldn’t be as proactive about healthy food. You already know the mind games I play when thinking about groceries. The more niches a market has, the better the market actually serves people and actually holds true to the notion of being free.

More transportation

I’m now part of a group called the Transit Alliance of the Piedmont, a group formed because of the need for real, not just realistic, regional transit. I hope to channel some of my dreams for transportation (more bus shelters, shorter headways, a serious rail plan, business support) into action in the coming year. We will have a website and some information up soon on how those of you in the Triad area can help. I’m also on the Bike Share Task Force led by Action Greensboro, another group working to bring new transit options to Greensboro.

2013 was one of the hardest years, from losing my father, to feeling alienated, to a major case of writers block. My hope is that my 2014 will be full of abundance, and that abundance starts with doing what I can to cultivate good places.

Bicycling, Cities, Cleveland, Housing, Links, New York City, Philadelphia, Rural, Transportation

Placebook: Where Veggies Come From

Happy Thursday! Yesterday I ate the traditional collard greens and black eyed peas at my grandmother’s with my mom, some uncles, and my cousins. My grandmother’s house sits on a few acres of land out in the country, not far from Greensboro. It’s no longer an active farm and it was never a big time deal, but when I was younger, my grandparents grew several rows of strawberries,corn, tomatoes and yellow squash, along with a patch of mixed greens. I used to hate going out there, especially in these summer due to the bugs, but now, I really appreciate what it means to know the true origins of certain vegetables. An adjacent farm has cows and horses and mules, along with this lovely pond, which you can sort of see below.

Out at my grandparents. The fields were behind the white house and so are the adjacent field with the pond. The main house is on the left. (Photo credit: Kristen Jeffers).
Out at my grandparents. Their  fields were behind the white house and so are the adjacent fields with the pond. The main house is on the left. (Photo credit: Kristen Jeffers).

This land and the land of others in the family is part of the reason I love the urban environment so much and want very much for both rural and urban (and really good in-between areas) to keep their character. Enough about that, here’s some links for your Thursday:

One of the best commentaries I’ve seen yet of what’s to come for NYC. Also, this one from my good friend Sarah Goodyear(@buttermilk1) She also wrote this cool article on the second lives of a suburban staple, the Pizza Hut.

The Overhead Wire (@theoverheadwire) spotlights some great street signs that have bikes printed where the bikes would need to turn to follow the official paths set by the town of Lafayette, CA.

Fireworks over several significant skylines to bring in the New Year.

What’s the best thing your city has done this year? Leaders in a handful of major cities share.

Philadelphia gets serious about developing a land bank.

Mayor Bloomburg took the subway home on his last day as mayor. He, along with the rest of NYC, can no longer take a horse-drawn carriage ride like in the movies.

Older renters will drive demand for apartments in the next decade according to this report.

And finally, urbanism (and the whole civic environment), is black and white in Cleveland. Shout out to Richey Piiparinen (@richeypipes), who through Belt Magazine and his own blog tell it like it truly is in Cleveland and through out the Midwest/Rust Belt region.

Also, please suggest ideas for this list by tagging them #tbuplacebook. The goal is for this to happen every weekday, including some holidays, depending on how they fall and how I feel. Thanks for reading!

Arts Districts, Cities, Education, Greensboro, Homelessness, Housing, Links, New York City

Placebook: Housing Standards, Art Coming Back to NYC and Economies of Fear

Good morning folks!

I want to thank everyone again for the support, the shares and the opportunities of 2013. I wish you the best and look forward to us sharing more in 2014 . Look out for my 2014 wishes for good places this weekend and a very special surprise in this space tomorrow morning.

Thanks to those of you who are sharing links using #placebook and #makeyourcity; keep sharing and I’ll include a few here.

And now today’s links.

  • People complain about The New York Times being completely out of focus with the rest of the world, but Paul Krugman is one of those who proves that wrong.  Here he talks about the fear economy, one I know all too well, as quitting is never an option for the middle class and below, even with a savings.
  • Gene Nicol in the [Raleigh] The News and Observer breaks down poverty in North Carolina. Yes, it’s bad.
  • Despite the economic crunch, some artists, are still making it in New York City. How the mayor-elect has supported these small  galleries and lesser-known producers in the past.
  • Finally, if you have a beat down house in Greensboro, either give it up or get it fixed up. Code enforcements are starting again.
  • Michael Benami Doyle (@chicagocarless) on how LA (and cities that have a similar relationship with their bus systems), can do better with their buses.

See you in 2014!