Interview with Ken Bowers with the City of Raleigh in Raleigh, NC

Summary: Ken and I have a wide-ranging conversation about all things Raleigh Planning and Development in the City of Raleigh.

Big takeaways include:
- How zoning can only say what can and can’t be built, not what will be built.
- How and why North Carolina has no county roads.
- What the Urban Projects group is, and where they will focus their efforts.

Mentioned in the show:

• Raleigh Planning Academy

• News and Observer

• Triangle Business Journal

• Raleigh Planning and Development

• City Council on Youtube

• Raleigh Midtown Park - Raleigh Magazine

• 99 Percent Invisible Podcast

• Book: Human Transit - Walker

• Book: Better Buses, Better Cities - Higashide

• Book: The Affordable City - Phillips

• Book: Fixer-Upper - Shuetz

• Book: Birth of a Building - Stevens

• Book: City in History - Jacobs

• Book: The Death and Life of Great American Cities

• Book: The Economy of Cities - Jacobs

• Book: Cities and the Wealth of Nations - Jacobs

• Book: City - Whyte

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About Ken: 
Ken Bowers joined the City of Raleigh, NC in 2006, was Planning Director from 2014 to 2019, and now leads a division within a consolidated Planning & Development department focused on plan implementation. Prior to joining the City of Raleigh, Mr. Bowers was a consultant and Principal with the firm of Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates in New York City, where he prepared plans, market studies and economic strategies for public, private and nonprofit clients in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region and beyond. He has a Masters in Regional Planning from UNC-Chapel Hill and a BS in Physics from NC State University.

Connect with Ken: Website | LinkedIn | Twitter

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Show Notes: Welcome to Dirt NC where we talk all about the places and spaces of North Carolina and the people who make them awesome, I am your host Jed Byrne.

Throughout my career in engineering, construction, finance, and development, I have covered just about all sides of the land use ecosystem. This show creates an opportunity for me to share what I have learned with you as well as introduce you to some of my  friends, both new and old who are doing transformative work.

With each episode of Dirt NC my goal is to make sure you walk away learning something new about land use. I promise to keep it