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Community Corner

🌱 Student Housing Struggles + Fayetteville Street Revitalization

The quickest way to get caught up on the most important things happening today in Raleigh.

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Christina Fullford, Neighbor
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(Patch Media)

Happy "Hot Enough For Ya Day" Raleigh!

First, today's weather:

Mostly sunny and hot. High: 97 Low: 74.

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Here are the top five stories in Raleigh today:

  1. Students are set to return to campus soon, but off-campus rent prices are putting a strain on university housing. On-campus residences are filling up with waitlists to be considered, and students are struggling to find cheap places to live. According to Zillow estimates, the median one-bedroom rent in Raleigh is around $1,536 a month. Students who are planning for after graduation, are concerned that they will be unable to stay in the city due to rising rent costs. (CBS17) Many first-time homebuyers are being priced out as the Raleigh housing market is cooling much slower than other parts of the country. (abc11, WRAL)
  2. Pullen Park was without power on Friday afternoon, and patrons were being encouraged to leave the park. Families were unable to ride any of the amusement park rides during the outage. City officials discovered that the outage was caused by a fallen tree branch in the area and more than 750 customers were without power around noon on Friday. Initially, the outage was believed to have been caused by excessive heat, as the heat index in Raleigh was around 100 degrees at the time. (WRAL) Pullen Park hosted a demonstration warning people about the dangers of severe heat and the dangers of leaving a child or pet in the car during severe heat. (WRAL, WRAL)
  3. As businesses in much of downtown are beginning to see pre-pandemic revenues, Fayetteville Street still has several vacancies. Owner of Black Dollar Corp and board member for the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, Johnny Hackett, Jr. is looking to revitalize the area. The street faces challenges including vacancies and a shift in traffic as office employees don't come downtown in the same way as they used to. DRA hopes to entice people to return to the area with the social district pilot program and engaging installments. (CBS17)
  4. NCDOT planners are studying the feasibility of extending passenger train service to Greenville. Right now Amtrak has a route to Greenville that connects using a shuttle bus, but leaders in Pitt County want a direct train connection to Raleigh. Amtrak is looking to add more than 30 routes by 2035 with the Amtrak Connects US initiative. The biggest challenge in extending passenger service is sharing tracks used by freight carriers. (WHQR, WUNC)
  5. A Raleigh family is dealing with sewage issues after a crew drilled a fiber optic line through their sewer drain line. The company responsible, AT&T initially denied responsibility, but after another service provider and a city crew took a look at the issue, they took responsibility. The issue was underneath the family's driveway leading to an expensive repair. (abc11)

Today in Raleigh:

  • 10th Annual Bone Suckin' Sauce Peak City Pig Fest (11 a.m. - 9 p.m.)
  • Tattoo Arts Convention at Raleigh Fairgrounds Exposition Center (11 a.m. - 11 p.m.)
  • Never Late to Drag Brunch Christmas in July at Tin Roof (11:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.)
  • Sharky's Summer 2022 Bar Olympics at Sharky's Place (noon)
  • Dog Days of Summer Party at Gizmo Brew Works (noon - 9 p.m.)
  • Bingo Brunch at Killjoy Raleigh (2-7 p.m.)
  • Raleigh's Nostalgic 90's Bar Crawl (2 - 9 p.m.)
  • "Heal The Hood" Concert/Festival #2 at Triangle Town Center (3 - 9 p.m.)

Sunday in Raleigh:

Bonus: 7 Things to do with kids this weekend in NC (WRAL)

From my notebook:

  • It's Hot Enough For Ya Day, a day to make light of the extreme heats we are experiencing, and a great opportunity to remind you of the cooling stations provided by Wake County. I'm also going to sneak in this list of Splash Pads, Lakes, and Pools in Raleigh NC.
  • Raleigh's Juniper Level Botanic Garden opens this weekend to visitors. (CBS17)
  • Wakefield Rotary Club is hosting their Super Duper Duck Splash to benefit nonprofits in the community.
  • All Neurotypes is hosting a Human Rights Protest in downtown Raleigh today from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

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Events:

Now you're in the loop and ready to start this Saturday off right! I'll see you soon.

— CJ Fullford

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Raleigh Daily? Contact me at raleigh@patch.com

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