Obey Creek
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.
It’s tough trying to boil multiple-hour meetings into a news story. Local media outlets have recapped the public hearing where the Obey Creek development agreement was approved after a nearly six year process (read more here and here). I tried futilely to capture what Council said in 140 characters (see Storifys from the May 11, May 18, June 8, and June 15 meetings that discussed Obey Creek).
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.
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.
Though most of Orange County's public bodies are still in recess for the holidays, the Chapel Hill Town Concil will hold three important meetings. The first, a work session, will cover the financial side of the town's transit plan. The council will also meet with the county's state legislative delegation to discuss priorities in advnace of the Genenal Assembly re-convening next week, and hold a special on Obey Creek.
CARRBORO BOARD OF ALDERPERSONS
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The Board is in recess until Tuesday, January 13.
CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL
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