Travis Crayton's blog

Planning Tomorrow's Urban Neighborhoods Today

Last week, you might have read a Gizmodo article about how millennials will live in cities unlike anything we've ever seen before. If you haven't read it yet, I highly encourage you to, because, unlike so many articles in the media today, this one does an excellent job of capturing the nuances of why we are seeing certain behavioral patterns among millennials when it comes to where we live.

The critical takeaway from this article is one that has major implications for us in Chapel Hill/Carrboro: Millennials are choosing to live in urban neighborhoods, but not necessarily in urban downtowns.

This behavioral pattern shows that what millennials value is not the big city life itself, but having easy access to amenities like walkability and public transit. For suburbs around the country, this means attracting the next generation of Americans requires urbanizing to provide these kind of amenities.

Share Your Bike/Ped Concerns on Chapel Hill's New WikiMap

In case you haven't seen it yet, Chapel Hill has launched a new mapping tool to report bike and pedestrian issues across town. So far, there are plenty of issues that users have already reported, including unsafe biking conditions on Estes Dr Ext and MLK Blvd, inadequate pedestrian crossing lights on East Franklin St, and a laundry list of concerns around UNC's campus.

I'm glad to see the town proactively gathering this information, especially with the 2015 bond referendum including $16.2 million for streets and sidewalks, including bicycle and pedestrian safety. I hope the data they collect here will directly inform the priorities that can be funded if the bond passes.

Have you used this tool yet? What are your biggest bike/ped concerns around town, and what would you like to see done about them?

Obey Creek Approved in 7-1 Vote

The Chapel Hill Town Council voted 7-1 to approve the Obey Creek development agreement last night. Council member Ed Harrison was the lone no vote against the proposal.

The development will be built across from Southern Village on 15-501 South and, at full buildout, will include 800 apartments and townhomes, 475,000 square feet of retail space, 600,000 square feet of officespace. and 400 hotel rooms. The project is expected to take 20 years to be completed.

The development agreement also preserves 85 acres of land to be named the Wilson Creek Preserve.

Lavelle Running for Re-Election in Carrboro, Parker Running for Council in Chapel Hill

With election filing under a month away, announcements are coming in from local candidates. Just this morning, Carrboro mayor Lydia Lavelle announced she will be seeking re-election. Earlier this week, Michael Parker, a health care consultant and Chapel Hill Planning Commission member, announced he will run for Chapel Hill Town Council this fall. (Parker also applied for the seat vacated by former Council member Matt Czajkowski.)

Chapel Hill Town Council members Lee Storrow and Donna Bell confirmed earlier this year that they will also seek re-election. Council member Jim Ward has also indicated he will likely seek re-election as well.

Have you heard of any other potential candidates or any other candidates who are seeking office this year? Or is there anyone you would like to see run? Let us know in the comments.

Town Council Delays Vote on Obey Creek

At their meeting last night, the Chapel Hill Town Council took public comment and discussed the Obey Creek development agreement, but delayed a vote on the proposal until next Monday.

The Council also discussed and enacted the 2015-16 budget and approved a revised personnel ordinance.

Public comment on Obey Creek centered around the issues that have long dominated the discussion: traffic, transit, and the size of the development. Council members seemed interested in delaying their vote a week due to new staff information, including smaller development scenario outcomes, that the Council received last Friday.

Tweets recapping last night's meeting are captured in the Storify below. Have thoughts about Obey Creek or the other items discussed? Add them in the comments.

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