City of Raleigh Holding Urban Design Education Forums

Jayne Kirkpatrick, Director, Public Affairs
Prepared by: John Boyette, Public Affairs Specialist

For more information: Trisha Hasch, Urban Design Center, 919-996-4641

Oct. 17, 2012

City of Raleigh Holding Urban Design Education Forums

Want to learn about and discuss issues affecting Raleigh today as the City plans for its future? The public is invited to attend a series of Urban Design Education Forums, sponsored by the City of Raleigh Urban Design Center, a division of the Department of City Planning and Development. The overall theme of these forums is “Raleigh’s Identity ---What’s Downtown Got to Do With It?”

The forums will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Urban Design Center, located at 220 Fayetteville St. (same location as the Raleigh City Museum). All the forums are free.

The following is the schedule for the Urban Design Education Forums with the topic and guest speaker for that day’s session. Each session also will include a question-and-answer session:

• November 14 --- “Downtown Planning-Then and Now.” Moderator will be Grant Meacci, planning and design manager at the Urban Design Center. Presenters will be Raleigh Assistant City Manager Dan Howe and David Diaz, president and CEO of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance;
• December 12 --- “Return on Investment-Economics of Downtown Development.” The presenter will be Mitchell Silver, chief planning and development officer for the City of Raleigh and director of the City’s Department of City Planning;
• January 16 --- “The Fine Art of Enjoying Downtown Living.” The host will be Brian Reece of Downtown Living Associates. Presenters will be  Anne S. Franklin, urban advocate and community organizer, and Chris Roberts, associate principal and architect with LS3P Associates;
• February 13 --- “Bike Share in Raleigh.” Presenters will be Jennifer Baldwin, bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for the City of Raleigh Office of Transportation Planning, and Mauricio Hernandez, transportation planner with Toole Design Group;
• March 20 --- “Residual Raleigh-Tapping the Potential of Unused Space in Downtown.” Presenters will be Brett Hautop, an architect with Gensler, and Matthew Griffith and Erin Sterling Lewis, principals with in situ studio, a Raleigh architecture firm;
• April 17 --- “Downtown Durham’s Open Space Plan.” Presenters will be Tom Dawson, urban designer, and Sara Young, Urban Design Center supervisor for the Durham City-County Planning Department;
• May 15 --- “Raleigh, A Festival City.” The host will be David Diaz, President and CEO, Downtown Raleigh Alliance. Presenters will be Sarah Powers, executive director of Visual Art Exchange, an organizer of the SPARKcon festival, and Samantha Hatem, who handles media and outreach for Empire Eats; and,
• June 19 --- “Raleigh’s Pedestrian Plan.” The host will be Eric Lamb, manager of the City of Raleigh Office of Transportation Planning. Presenters will be Lauren Blackburn and Helen Chaney of the North Carolina Department of Transportation and Fleming El-Amin, transportation planner for the City of Raleigh.

For more information about the Urban Design Education Forums, visit the City of Raleigh’s website at www.raleighnc.gov/urbandesign or contact Trisha Hasch at the City’s Urban Design Center, 919-996-4641, or email trisha.hasch@raleighnc.gov.