Who Are Raleigh's Real Progressives?

On July 2, at the Raleigh City Council’s last meeting before its summer break, a handful of residents stepped forward to oppose a rezoning request that might eventually allow developer John Kane to build downtown’s tallest skyscraper, on a site on Peace Street currently zoned for twelve stories.

Their complaints boiled down to the idea that the project was too much. Too tall. Too intense. Too many “transient” renters, as one put it. Most important, too much traffic.

One woman with cropped white hair and thick-rimmed glasses called a plan to add a bike lane to the project “almost offensive.” (She didn’t elaborate.) Bob Geary, who cast the sole vote against the rezoning as a member of the city’s planning commission, told the council that Kane’s building—in a thriving part of town abutting the nightlife district—would do nothing to alleviate gentrification or benefit the city’s poor, so it should be rejected.

If you ask him, Geary—a former INDY writer—will tell you he’s the most progressive person he knows. Most of the people who objected to Kane’s development would call themselves progressives, too. In their eyes, they’re standing up to an avaricious developer who is remaking the character of downtown, clogging its streets, and turning it into a playground for the elite.

Read more: https://indyweek.com/news/wake/raleigh-elections-progressive-development-affordable-housing/