Impetuous Council Needs Unrestricted Renovation
Two years ago 10% of voters elected a new Raleigh City Council that quickly found itself at odds with its voters. Within months several drastic, potentially devastating measures were exercised:
Garbage Disposal Ban – Based on absolutely no scientific evidence, the entire city council (with the exception of Philip Isley ) voted in a ban on new garbage disposal installations. The ban was later overturned after a political firestorm. During discussions Rodger Koopman stated that “we are at war” with soldiers living in less than ideal conditions and it is “our duty” to “suck it up once in a while”. Councilor Crowder stated that this would be the “only logical step toward healthy water”, yet the evidence actually points to the contrary.
Water Restrictions – This city council, in the aftermath of a highly unusual drought situation, imposed a water use policy that restricts residents from properly maintaining a drought resistant lawn. Watering laws are irrationally based on days of the week, rather than ideal watering times. There is a prodigious amount of information published by N.C. State University and the state’s Cooperative Extension Service, yet this city council never even considered conveying some of the simple and proven best-practices for drought resistant lawns.
Water Rates – After restrictions and diligent citizen behavior reduced water consumption by 7%, the city council voted to raise water rates 8.5% because the public works division was suddenly losing money.
House Replacement Law – Russ Stephenson and Thomas Crowder were strongly in favor of limits on homeowner’s abilities to renovate or replace their houses. Crowder wrote in an email “If a new house is to be developed on a site where a house was torn down, it would go to the Planning Commission for approval unless it does not exceed a reasonable increase in the existing area of the structure – say 10 to 20 percent in area and 10 percent in height.” Later he wrote “I spoke with Russ and I believe we are on the same page . . .The house being replaced is no more than 30% greater than the gross floor area of the original structure and the height is no greater than 10% of the original structure height. To sum it up . . .if you have a 1,500 SF home you can increase it to 1,950 GSF. Same analogy goes for height.”
Can you imagine living in a 1,500 square foot house and only being able to add 450 square feet, regardless of the neighborhood’s setback scheme, the condition of the house, the height of neighboring houses, and the condition of those houses?
* * *
The problem with some of these incumbents is that they are willing to take drastic measures without thinking through the consequences. A garbage disposer ban would have led to scores of improperly DIY-installed disposers, additional loads on garbage hauling, increased animal control problems, and, as the research suggests, a sewer system with more clogs than is currently seen. The city imposed water restrictions, only to raise the rates, keeping the total burden on families the same or worse than before!
A severe limit to house replacement sizes would destroy the value of older homes inside Raleigh, and directly cause more suburban sprawl. Who would want to renovate a 1,200 square foot house in Five Points when all you could add is a little utility room and a closet? Young people would completely lose interest in older houses that were improperly built, and flee to the outskirts of Raleigh much like they did after World War II, collapsing the housing market in established neighborhoods.
Another problem with this quantitative approach to a qualitative problem is that many of Raleigh ugliest replacements and renovations would have still been allowed under these restrictions. Conversely, some of Raleigh most beautiful replacement houses would have been denied. ( Link 1 , Link 2 ). It would turn the Planning Commission into a draconian architectural review board, putting architects at the mercy of the commission’s whim.
Do we really want a City Council that makes irrational, negligent decisions? These decisions have direct effects on our lives, our savings, and our children. People were intensely interested in the presidential election last year, but to be honest, this city council election means far more. Only 10% of registered voters bothered to vote two years ago, and the effects have been chilling. We heard a lot about “change” in the last year. I’ll take some change! It’s time to instill some common sense, freedom, and empathy in the Raleigh City Council. Vote very, very carefully today , and make this city more attractive, more productive, and more beautiful than ever.
Get Ready To Vote
Tomorrow is voting day in Wake County and Raleigh. Below is a resource guide to help you make an informed vote. If you do not have time or patience to study the candidates, please do not vote. There are some truly insane candidates running for office and blind votes based on name alone can do irreparable damage to our city.
Are you ready for this year’s election? City of Raleigh candidates have the opportunity to vote for the Mayoral office as well as City Council offices. Wake County will also be electing school board members. These are incredibly important positions that have direct implications on our daily lives, much more so than last year’s election. Here are some links to help you make your decisions.
Step 1
Where Do I Vote? In What District am I? In What Elections will My Precinct Be Participating? All of these questions can be answered by visiting this NC State Board of Elections link:
NC State Board of Elections Voter Information
From there you can enter your name and location and see an excellent listing of your precinct and which districts apply (click My Districts). To acquaint yourself with the ballot, click Sample Ballot to see a PDF of your Tuesday choices.
Step 2
Read about the candidates!
Who’s Running for Raleigh Mayor?
Who’s Running for Raleigh City Council?
At-Large (2 Seats)
District A
District B
District C
District D
District E
Who’s Running for School Board?
Only districts 1, 2, 7, and 9 are seating a board member. See the PDF Table of Candidates by the N&O, and visit the candidates’ websites:
District 1
District 2
District 7
District 9
Triangle Ranked as America’s Smartest City
The Daily Beast compiled some numbers to determine which metro is America’s brainiest , and Raleigh-Durham came out on top. The criteria for the rankings of cities (of population 1,000,000 or more) was based in college degrees (and beyond), non-fiction book sales, presence of colleges, and voter turnout.
The top 10 included many usual suspects such as San Francisco, Denver, D.C., etc.. Charlotte ranks #16, Richmond is #29, Greensboro is #37, and Norfolk is #41. Congratulations, us!
REI Hosts Backpacking 101 Class
On Tuesday, REI will help take the mystery out of Backpacking at a show and tell session. The event is free and begins at 7pm at the North Hills store.
More on U2’s Claw
The talk of the town today is the stage setup for U2’s concert yesterday. I was able to speak to some of the production crew today and learned a few tidbits about the phenomenal rigging.
The 4-legged arrangement is called “The Claw”. It was inspired by the Theme Building at LAX airport . Designers were particularly impressed with the light footprint of the building’s supporting structure, and thought the design would translate into better sightlines for an in-the-round production. The idea arose on the Vertigo tour three years ago, and spent two years in the design and production phases.
There are 3 claws, and each has a unique canopy color: light blue, white, light green. Raleigh got the Green Claw, and everyone on the crew has credentials that are colored green. The team of about 300 people is called “Green Steel”.
Green Steel actually includes many traveling, full-time members, but also hires many regional contract workers. Many employees of sheds in this part of the country are joining one of the three companies for 2 or 3 of the gigs. The crew is run by a core of German workers, but the camaraderie has been exceptionally strong throughout the whole Green Steel crew.
The 3 claws are leapfrogging each other in order for the performance schedule to stay reasonably tight with the band. Once crews finish disassembly in Raleigh, The Green Claw will make its way to Dallas for an October 12 show. Crews on the White and Blue Claws are in Atlanta and Tampa preparing for this week’s shows.
The number of parts in the RBC Parking lot right now is stunning. The floor on the field was a series of interlocking plastic parts designed to shine light through to underlying grass. It also has rain channels that deliver water to the grass, hopefully leaving the lawn in reasonable shape.
Carter-Finley Stadium will receive a completely new turf installation starting Tuesday morning. The company that does the turf for the Super Bowl is bringing in the turf on giant rolls, readying the stadium for Saturday’s NCSU game against Duke.
Disassembly of the claw began at the concert’s commencement and continued through the night. The video boards were removed at around 3am.
The stunning video matrix is actually a series of 6’x8’ flat panels. These panels disconnect and get packed into large compartments in three different 18-wheelers.
The concert rigging requires 120 18-wheelers for transport. Remember the impressive Pink Floyd concert in 1988? It only required 50 18-wheelers.
The Claw is the tallest stage design on record. Standing 164’ tall, the design is twice as high as the previous record holder, The Rolling Stones’ A Bigger Bang rig.
Crews used the same technique to construct the Claw as they did constructing the RBC Center’s roof. Four temporary towers were erected to support the structure until all pieces were in place. Then the towers were lowered and stored until last night’s striking of the set.
The Claw was designed and executed in Germany, and its pieces were shipped across the Atlantic in late August. As soon as the 16-city North American tour leg is finished on the 28th, the rigs will presumably make their way back to Germany via the Pacific, and hit storage until the tour commences again in Frankfurt on August 10.
I have to say that after this, the N.C. State Fair ride assembly this year will be rather anticlimactic!
One final thought. Take a minute and look at this tour’s dates and cities . Two nights in Chicago, Toronto, Boston, and NYC, each. Then the tour went to single-night gigs for the south: DC, Charlottesville, Raleigh, Atlanta, Tampa, Dallas before tackling a few dates in the west. Certainly DC, Atlanta, and Dallas are required stops, but if they are doing 6 cities in the south, I think it is incredible that they picked Charlottesville, VA to be in the mix. It is only a couple of hours from D.C. and doesn’t access any areas that Raleigh or Charlotte wouldn’t already pick up. It is extremely interesting that they didn’t just do two dates in D.C. and one in NC. We here in Raleigh are incredibly lucky that we got this gig. That’s all I have to say. Think about it. This tour skipped Nashville, Cleveland, St. Louis, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and plenty of other larger cities. THANK YOU, U2!!
U2 Brings Magnificent Show to Raleigh
The U2 Spaceship landed in Raleigh and rocked for over two hours while a crowd of around 70,000 stood in awe; in awe of its massiveness, the band’s importance in rock history, and the show’s importance in the area’s entertainment spectrum. It was the first appearance by the world’s biggest rock band since they
played in a rainy Kenan Stadium
in 1983, opening for Todd Rundgren. Since those days of politically charged, angst rock, the band has matured, becoming a staple in dentists offices and Adult Contemporary radio stations around the globe. They are truly the world’s most accessible and versatile band, cemented as one of the 3-decade greats in rock history.
While we are lucky to live in an area that can support such an impressive evening of live entertainment, I found myself wondering: what took so long for the band’s return? It isn’t like the area hasn’t proven itself with a strong local music scene as well as its ability to fill one of America’s first 20,000-seat sheds, Walnut Creek, summer in and summer out. U2 had a date scheduled here in 1997 for their abominable Pop Mart tour, but the show was mysteriously cancelled, widely believed to be the victim of poor ticket sales. However that shouldn’t count against us. Rather it stands as a testament that we don’t shell out the bucks for badly slumping entertainers! U2 really found their stride again in 2000 with “All That You Can’t Leave Behind”, and the Triangle certainly would have responded well to a date on either of the last two tours! Nevertheless, we got our date, showed up in a big way, and had a great time.
It was an absolutely perfect night for a concert. After a day of watching football, fans trickled into the Carter-Finley lots throughout the late afternoon. We entered the East parking lot at 6pm, and had plenty of time mingle with friends before entering the stadium.
Muse took the stage around 7:15 with a gorgeous sun-setting backdrop and temperatures hovering around 75. It was the first glimpse of the awesome quadrapod canopy that became the highlight of the night. More on that later, because Muse was so good we didn’t really care about the canopy. Their set was flawless, though the sound engineers had far too much kick-drum in the mix. Their set lasted around 45 minutes to an hour, which gave the entering crowd their only chance to hear a hard rock band all day. They closed with “Starlight” (one of my favorite songs of the decade), then an impeccable “Time Is Running Out”. Muse is not for everyone, and to be honest, I’m not sure they were the ideal act to get typical U2 fans revved. They are a fantastic band, but not a strictly fun band, like the Black Eyed Peas are. I imagine the crowds seeing some of the Pea-opening dates will be a little more excited when U2 hits the stage.
The four-legged theatrical housing is awesome as billed. Taking 4 days to assemble, the massive structure’s footprint took over half of Carter-Finley’s field space. It will take two days to strike the set. Therefore there are actually two (and perhaps three) of these sets in the U.S. right now. The separate crews will leapfrog dates in order to provide the band a show date every 3-4 days.
The giant canopy housed the entire PA system, numerous lights on its exterior and interior, and a video cylinder made of thousands of small elongated hexagons. Later in the show the cylinder stretched downward almost to stage level, resembling a basketball net and offering a fascinating tornado/basket visual effect. The real genius of the canopy is that it was extremely lightweight at its base, affording ticket sales in 360 degrees.
The circular stage did not rotate, but was surrounded by a full circle outer stage, accessible by adjustable bridges. The band’s equipment was kept to a minimum, and afforded excellent sight lines for most of the 360 degrees.
The big surprise of the canopy was its exterior lighting. The visual artists made masterful use of the vertical spine that ran from just above Larry Mullins’ head up to around 40 feet higher than the canopy. It had mirror balls in its termini, and contained a myriad of internal and external lights.
The band had a tough task at hand: making a venue for 70,000 “intimate”. They worked all parts of the stage all night, and never seemed to sound musically distant from one another.
The light show was phenomenal. With a unique lighting program for each song, the concert never seemed redundant. Even at the end we were surprised with some lighting tricks: lighting from all around the stadium.
The band did a tasteful job of pushing its humane politics without being too pious. The pressing message of the night came during Walk On, as hundreds of children filled the circular ring holding in front of their faces pictures of political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi. It was a defiant challenge to the Burmese captors who apparently will imprison anyone carrying a picture of the Nobel Peace Price winner. Bono also acknowledged the efforts of both the John Edwards and Jesse Helms families for their work toward the “One” program. It was a classy way to disarm a crowd with strong personal feelings for these two local political giants.
While the concert was truly a phenomenal entertainment event, it wasn’t without its shortcomings. While the lighting canopy set new standards, the sound quality did not. The entire PA system was centralized, so the sound was projecting from a pinpoint spot among the immersive visual experience. It created a slightly muddy mix where instruments were not able to stand out and be heard by themselves. Overall the quality of that sound was adequate, it just wasn’t as complete a sound as we have heard in previous stadium shows like Pink Floyd and The Who.
Additionally, Bono’s microphone had a distinct digital sound to it, which did make his sometimes strident voice even edgier. Perhaps it was the major factor as well with our inability to understand what Bono was saying between songs. For instance, at the beginning of “City of Blinding Lights”, Bono pulled a boy up on stage and said something about why he was doing it. Because of the muddiness, we have no idea why they proceeded to run a lap around the ring and stop for Bono to sing a song about a city with blinding lights to him.
The setlists for the tour have been changing quite a bit. The Raleigh setlist contained some peculiarities that seem to be consistent throughout the tour. The band opened with “Breathe”, which really set the David Letterman crowd into a frenzy in March, but didn’t quite do it for this crowd. After a good performance of the annoying “Get On Your Boots”, the band launched in a huge crowd-pleaser, “Mysterious Ways”. I never expected to hear that song live due to the prodigious amount of sound tracking the song contains. “Beautiful Day” was really good, but the band didn’t really hit their stride with this audience until “Elevation”, which had just about everybody at field level and most in the stands bouncing. Early in the concert, it was painfully obvious that Bono had no idea just what you say to a crowd in Raleigh, NC. However at this point the concert was really taking off and Bono found his groove with the City of Oaks.
The most baffling song of the set was the incredibly gorgeous “Magnificent”, which was a complete flop with the audience. The movement of this song within the setlist throughout the tour proves that our response wasn’t unique. The band simply cannot figure out how to sell this song. They opened with it in Boston, but apparently that didn’t work because it was immediately moved into the middle for the next show. While the song has been a flop on the charts, a key problem with its live presentation is the lighting. They are keeping a constant bright aqua lighting theme throughout the song, which is unfortunate. If anything, this song should be sung under the cloak of near darkness and incorporate strobes and hyper lighting changes during Mullin’s pulsating drumrolls that spill into the chorus.
The set list needs some life at the end as well. I felt like the climax of the show came during Sunday Bloody Sunday, a full 45 minutes before the show’s end. After that point we were treated to “MLK”, “Walk On”, “One”, “Where the Streets Have No Name”, “Ultra Violet”, “Without or Without You”, and “Moment of Surrender”. This is ENTIRELY too much slow music for the last 45 minutes of a concert. Streets was excellent, but while Ultra Violet is up tempo, it isn’t a strong enough song for this set list.
WRAL FM’s Lynda Loveland and her husband sat behind us and it hit me during the show; U2 is an Adult Contemporary band. “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, “Elevation”, “Beautiful Day” are really good rock songs, but the bread and butter of U2’s catalog is really songs like “One”, “Walk On”, “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, etc. I realized that 90% of the show’s songs are extremely appropriate for playing in my dentist office, which means that this really is not a rock band with an “edge”, but rather one of the legendary Adult Contemporary artists of our time.
The Irish rebel band with bad haircuts found themselves at a crossroad with their fame and fortune. Instead of falling into the trap of writing noisier songs to deny their progressing age, U2 wrote better songs and reached out to more people. Their slump in the 90’s taught them some humility, and taught them that they cannot rest on their laurels. They still get out there and work their fannies off, and judging by people’s comments, U2 surpassed expectations. They may not be the hardest rocking band on the planet, but they are the biggest, and the Triangle has missed them in a big way.
5 stars (out of 6)
Setlist
UNC Unveils Kenan Expansion Plans
The Rams Club has put together
a new site demonstrating plans for expanding
the 60,000 seat Kenan Stadium. The addition will replace the 1927 Spanish styled original field house with a complex housing “premium” seating, a student-athlete center for non-revenue sports, a new academic center for athletes, and new visitor locker rooms. The project will cost about $85 million and is expected to begin within the next two years.
Urban Land Institute To Hold Planning Forum
The Triangle District Council of the Urban Land Institute will host the forum “ Planning for a Vibrant Region : Reality Check – From Concept to Action” on October 8 th at Meymandi Concert Hall. The program will discuss the outcomes of Reality Check, a regional visioning exercise conducted in February 2009. This program will also focus on how regional partners are collaborating to implement strategies to ensure that the Research Triangle Region maintains its competitive advantage.
This forum discussion will present an overview of the Reality Check implementation process followed by detailed discussion of its three guiding principles: Green Space, Vibrant Centers, and Transit. A networking reception will follow the program.
Speakers for this event include: Smedes York, chairman of York Properties/McDonald York and the former mayor of Raleigh; Kevin Brice, CEO of Triangle Land Conservancy; John Hodges-Copple, Regional Planning Director of the Triangle J Council of Governments, and Joe Milazzo, Executive Director of the Regional Transportation Alliance.
Crawl For Cancer Coming to Downtown
"20 Pitchers…10 People…5 Bars…1 Perfect Day…"
The Inaugural Crawl For Cancer
aims to bring Raleigh together to raise as much money as possible for cancer research. It is your chance to drink some beer and have a great time while doing your part for charity. The good people in Kansas City have been putting on this event since 2001 and its been a huge success…raising over $45,000 last fall! The local chapter hopes to grow to be just as successful.
How does it work? On Saturday, October 17th, teams of 10 people will travel to five Glenwood Ave. bars, where each team will receive (and can optionally drink) four pitchers of beer before moving onto the next bar. It’s not a race, so everyone will eventually end up at Buckhead Saloon for an after-party with entertainment and you guessed it, more beer.
Register now , as the registration deadline is Monday! Entry fee is $350 per team, only $35 a person for a 7 hour event, and an fantastic cause!
REI Hosting Trips for Kids on Saturday
Join 2009 REI Grant Recipient, Trips for Kids-Triangle, for the IMBA’s Annual " Take-A-Kid Mountain Biking Day " to be held in conjunction with the TORC 4th Annual Fat Tire Festival at Harris Lake County Park. The cost for each event is free.
Herons Hosting Southeastern Chefs Tasting Dinner
Scott Crawford, chef at The Umstead’s fantastic restaurant, Herons , will be hosting a special dinner on Friday, October 23. Guest chefs Ken Vedrinski from Trattoria Lucca in Charleston, SC, Steven Greene from Devereaux’s in Greenville, SC, and Colin Bedford from The Fearrington House Restaurant in Pittsboro, NC will conduct the five-course wine-paired dinner; The Umstead’s Pastry Chef Daniel Benjamin will offer the dessert.
Guests are invited to join the guest chefs for cocktails on the terrace at 6pm prior to dinner which will be served at 7:30 in Herons. The dinner is $110 per person, and seating is limited. For restaurant reservations, please contact (919) 447-4200.
TeaGschwendner Now Open in Cameron Village
The worldwide tea sensation, TeaGschwendner has landed their fourth U.S. store in Raleigh’s Cameron Village.
TeaGschwendner began as a small tea shop in Trier, Germany, and features a selection of more than 250 varieties of tea, including black, green, oolong, white, rooibush, herbal and fruit. Seasonal specials will be e-mailed or listed on the store’s Facebook site. They will also offer “Introduction to Tea” classes in 2009 which include teaching mixed with tea tasting. More classes will come early next year.
The store is located next to Globtrotter, facing the Village Draft House.
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