The city of Raleigh’s Planning Department is bringing author and land use strategist Christopher Leinberger to town on Wednesday as part of the department’s “Designing a 21st Century City” lecture series.
Leinberger will talk about the emerging challenges facing suburban communities. The event is being held downtown at Fletcher Opera Theater at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts. It's free and open to the public and is scheduled to run from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Check in and registration begins at 6 p.m.
Leinberger has made a name for himself commenting on the future of suburbia, most notably in a March 2008 article titled "The Next Slum?" that appeared in the Atlantic Monthly. Leinberger is currently a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institute. He's also a founding partner of Arcadia Land Company, a New
Urbanism/transit-oriented development consulting firm.
There's been much discussion in recent months about whether the current economic meltdown will make many suburban communities no longer relevant. (The latest issue of the Atlantic has a story by Richard "Creative Class" Florida on which parts of the country will emerge as winners and losers once the economy recovers. Florida predicts the Triangle will be one of the winners.)
It should be interesting to see how Wednesday's audience responds to Leinberger. Many people in the Triangle love their suburban lifestyle, and it may be premature to proclaim the death of suburbia in this part of the country.
Business reporter David Bracken came to the N&O in 2004. He covers commercial and residential real estate. Contact David at 919-829-4548 or 
Comments
Since you live in Five
Mon, 11/02/2009 - 07:16 — hollisbxk271Since you live in Five Points you could easily take advantage of the bus if you worked at Progress Energy or any other major employer downtown. You may have to walk a couple of blocks to get the bus but I am sure you can handle that.
Bratz Games
WOW!!!!
Mon, 03/09/2009 - 16:20 — Tarheel45You people are unbelievable. Build me a train system and I promise I will take the train!!! But.... until that train is built, and there are enough high density places for that train to take me to, STOP bashing areas like North Hills, Cameron Village, Brier Creek for being crappy, out of date suburbia. No, the days of suburbia are not over. The issue is not whether or not suburbia is good for society, the issue with the article is that you are saying suburbia is over. I am simply stating that suburbia is not over. People who wish it was are dreaming and living in a bubble. You don't even have a grocery store downtown!!! If you had enough people living down there, surely HT, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's etc. would build one. Instead, the grocery stores choose locations with large populations within a 1-mile radius. How's that for density in Downtown??? Again, build me a train and I'll take it downtown to get groceries one day. Until that time comes, I'll get my groceries from Whole Foods in a suburban shopping center.
Perfect, wish I could be
Tue, 07/28/2009 - 01:00 — makeminePerfect, wish I could be there
Best Car
The *real* reality
Mon, 03/09/2009 - 16:09 — RonBThis is for the previous commenter and those who think like him/her. Wednesday's talk is *exactly* what the area needs to think about how the area will evolve going *forward*, not looking back to a manufactured 1950's surburban utopia. You never tried to take the train since you lived at the wrong time. The predecessor to Progress Energy used to run a trolley on rails from downtown to Bloomsbury Park on land that is now the Carolina Country Club. But GM bankrupted that system, giving the illusion that the automobile is the only option. And you, and others like you in the past, campaigned against it to make sure "those people" can't get into your pseudo-utopia suburbia. In the real reality, the next time you are on Glenwood, you know that road that takes you to the private shopping mall, try going the *other* direction, south. Don't get off on Wade Ave to go to Cameron Village. Don't turn on Peace to go to 18 Seaboard or Finch's. Keep on going and, here's the hard part for you, get *out* of your car and walk around. 510, 222, Glenwood Towers, West at North, the under construction Tucker apartments, etc. and the shops and restaurants near and in them create a walkable enviornment that doesn't require getting in a car. If you can't recognize the reality of a high density urban area a few miles from your house today, you will never see it in the future. In the real reality that is today's Triangle, a lot of people don't own a car, a dog, or a grill, let alone afford quality meat to cook on it. They have bared the burden of "compassionate conservatism" that has made a mockery of the local bus system, sentancing riders on most routes to a 30 or 60 minute wait to get to their next destination. While giving a toll-free ride on roads that spread police, fire, and other governments services thin to the point of breaking so that a select few can have more space between them and everyone else.
Back to Reality
Mon, 03/09/2009 - 14:49 — Tarheel45I'm all for the new urbanist, high-density lifestyle. However.....I tried taking the train to North Raleigh for work today but couldn't find it. So I had to drive. Then at lunch, I tried taking the train to a high-density, thriving city, but again, I couldn't find the train. So I ended up driving across the street to Chick-fil-A, in that terrible, awful, suburban shopping center that's apparently no longer functional due to the current economic meltdown. After work today, I'm not even going to look for the train, I'll just drive to my suburban house, in Five Points, minutes from everything. I'll get out of my car, play with my dog in the back yard, and put some food on the grill. The reality is, the entire Triangle region will do the same thing. There are no trains, no high density urban areas, and there won't be any here for the next 25 years. One day I hope there are. But the reality is, this kind of infrastructure will take a few billion dollars, which the city, state, and federal government doesn't have right now. It's a waste of time to talk like we're even close to mass-transit. We can barely afford one bus running a circle around downtown.
Back to Reality???
Mon, 03/09/2009 - 16:02 — eduncwWow!
You are one of those people who just does not get it yet.
Raleigh does in fact have an urban area. In fact the region includes several high density area. The triangle area has over 2 million people. We are not in NYC, LA Chicago or Houston. But the region is growing by more that 8% every year.
A regional transit system would not benefit you because you essentially reverse commute. Transit is meant for those people who live in highly dense residential area to major emplotyment districts... Downtown Raleigh, RTP. Do any of these ring a bell. Last time I checked there were a few major employers in the RTP and downtown.
Since you live in Five Points you could easily take advantage of the bus if you worked at Progress Energy or any other major employer downtown. You may have to walk a couple of blocks to get the bus but I am sure you can handle that.
Mass transit is not for today it is for 25 years down the road. Someone has to start the process because my flying car I was promised 25 years ago has not shown up. Planning and building a highy effective transit syetem takes a long time. We have some of the infrastruture in place.
When gas hits 10 dollars a gallon and it takes over an hour for your communte then you will start complaining and looking to move closer to a train station and find a job which is easily commutable. But what do you care you will be dead and you kids would say why didnt they build that train again daddy.