On Saturday, May 2nd, Marbles Kids Museum and the City of Raleigh Department of City Planning hosted “Kids City”, a chance for kids to be planners, architects, and builders for a day.

The day began with an empty street grid in downtown and the nearby towns of Youville and Farmton. But Kids City’s growth skyrocketed as kids built custom buildings out of recycled cardboard boxes, construction paper, and art supplies. Of course, they needed to get a permit first and comply with Kids City zoning regulations (unless they built in Youville, which had no zoning).

Before long, downtown was a diverse mixture of colorful towers, apartments, and factories, while Youville and Farmton saw similar (though less intense) development. Hot planning topics included an industrial boom (an overflow of candy factories required rezoning for additional industrial land), a skyscraper height contest (between the Raleigh Observation Tower and Everest Towers), a strong market for dense developments, and an enthusiasm for green buildings.

Kids City also featured a visioning exercise where kids could draw what Raleigh will look like in 2030 – a connection to Planning Raleigh 2030, the major update of the comprehensive plan that is currently underway. There were kiosks on Raleigh’s history and on green living, as well as a GIS demonstration room. Kids and parents alike had a lot of fun learning about how cities grow.

For more information about the comprehensive plan update, visit www.planningraleigh2030.com.

Related Links

1. http://www.planningraleigh2030.com