Pro-environment and Pro-business are not mutually exclusive

I think there are a lot of young professionals and single moms and dads that could shoehorn their family in to 700 square feet so their kids could get into Chapel Hill Schools.My father was in a family of 7 and I don't think they ever had 1,000 square feet. I know some of the projects and slums they lived in were a lot a smaller... As for families, singles or students. It would be nice if some of the single teachers and teachers assistants could afford to live here. 

Just a note on the affordable housing units in East 54.  It's true that our marketing efforts had to target a different demographic than has been our traditional market to sell these homes.  However,  once we got the word out in the right places, we found a lot of demand for these homes.   Our homeowners at East 54 include senior citizens--couples and singles---who appreciate the safety and maintenance free living features of the development,   wheelchair dependent individuals who can live an independent life because of the location and amenities,   nurses who can now be close to work and able to respond quickly when there is an emergency; adults taking care of an elderly parent, and families with children, too.     Yes those condos are small.  Yes, perhaps you or I might not find them as desirable as what we live in now.  But I have personally seen how excited and thrilled the people who bought those condos have been and I realize that we have a diverse community with diverse housing preferences.        I remember when Southern Village was built and everyone was aghast that the lots were so small.  I remember several people saying that the SV community would never make it because "people want a yard"  and "those houses are on top of each other."  And yet,  today SV is an community in high demand and with the highest apprecation in all of Chapel Hill.   What I have found in marketing East 54 is a group of people--retired, single, couples, etc--with the same interest in homeownership as you or I.   These East 54 condos came at such a good price point that we were able to offer home ownership to people who  could not have afforded anything else in our affordable housing portfolio.    When a guy taking care of his elderly father can buy a home and pay less than he does in rent for something nicer and safer,   benefit from the tax advantages of home ownership,  and be close enough to his job that he can come home and fix dad lunch everyday---well that's pretty good in my book.   

In fact, I voted for East 54 when I was on the Planing Board and I would do it again. I thought it was a pretty good plan - it seemed to show that Roger Perry had learned a lot from Meadowmont and put that knowledge to work here.  (Athough I still hate the name! Could it be less descriptive?)I don't get all these candidates who say they are pro-business but don't articulate reasons they oppose East 54 except that it's big or something.  It's exactly the type of thing the Town wants in a transportation corridor and future rail station. It might not be gorgeous, but the Town can't legislate or require that. I think once folks get to actually visit the place they will find it's not so bad, and it won't be long before those buildings don't seem relatively tall either.

Like Ruby, I have also scratched my head over the concerns about East 54 "looming" over highway 54 into town.  When did a six-lane arterial with mind-numbing traffic that is brutally indifferent to pedestrians become a cherished community asset to "preserve?"  Yes, the buildings are four stories tall and cast shadows onto the road in the darker times of year.  As a commuter who drives (and rides the bus) in this corridor, this actually may improve safety for westbound travelers and pedestrians in the fall and spring, when it can be hard to see peds in the glare just before dusk.  Yet the discussion of building shadows suggests that prior to East 54, you could take a folding chair out into the middle of 54 on a sunny afternoon, and curl up with a good book on the non-existent median strip.  The community has lost no such opportunities. As someone who works all over the Triangle region, I can tell you that despite the lackluster name, East 54 may be the most forward-looking and best-executed new development project in the Triangle.  Why?  Here are a few reasons:

• It is located on a current and future transit corridor.  Over 4,000 people ride the bus past East 5 each day.  It is within a short walk to a grocery store, and numerous other services within the East 54 buildings, Glen Lennox shopping center, and Meadowmont.  Residents will have great opportunities to reduce their VMT or not drive at all for many trips.  Hotel guests may not need to rent cars when visiting Chapel Hill.  The research literature of the last few years has been quite conclusive that compact, mixed-use walkable development reduces VMT and greenhouse gases from transportation.
• The buildings are vertically mixed-use and DENSE.  Many "mixed-use" projects wind up being half-baked or quarter-baked failures by separating their retail and living components, and making their density low, which often means surrounding the various elements with a sea of parking.  East 54's density allows the elements to be close together, vertically integrates them, and provides structured parking to help minimize distances among the buildings.  Which provides...
• Benefits to pedestrians.  The on-the-ground layout is extremely pedestrian-friendly, with numerous traffic calming features.  If your mixed-use component is strong but your pedestrian circulation is poor, peopole will drive from building to building to feel safe.  To see failures on either this point or the previous one, visit Brier Creek in Raleigh.  
• New public gathering spaces.  Despite the big lawn at the University Inn, other than the barbecue of the ill-fated Edwards campaign, I never saw a large gathering on that site that was open to the public in the years I have lived here.  East 54 maintains a nice park-like space with more natural amenities, while also bringing an urban plaza (that is protected from the noise of traffic on 54 by one of the buildings) with a stage/bandstand and an area that can be quickly made carfree to support all sorts of events.  
• The buildings are LEED certified as green buildings.  Silver or Gold level, if I remember correctly.  
• The transfer tax mechanism George C mentioned.  Obviously, East 54 will have economic and environmental benefits.  But on the social justice side, I am not sure why this has not gotten more attention, as it may be one of the best innovations in keeping the OCHLT program fiscally sustainable, while adding many affordable housing units to the OCHLT rolls.

This is the type of development we should be doing in town.   

Hi there. I'm new here, first post, Chapel Hill resident (for 16 months), just wanted to chime in on this. I do like East 54, in general. I admit to liking it more conceptually more than in practice -- in particular, I think the main building overlooking 54 lacks the sort of careful attention to detail that a building serving as a gateway into Chapel Hill should have. But hopefully over time the hard edges will soften, and it's got a lot of going for it. Patrick M. hits the high points in his comment, but I'll just add that the smaller size of the residences (versus your typical new single-family monstrosity) means reduced energy expenditure, and the easy access to interesting places both by foot and by public transit are big environmental benefits.Thanks -- hope to keep contributing to this great forum.