Former City Planner to Run for City Council 

Mitchell Silver announces his candidacy for District A in the 2024 municipal election. 

If you think you don’t know Mitchell Silver, think again. During his tenure as Raleigh city planner, he oversaw such significant projects such as the Warehouse District, Raleigh Union Station and Downtown South—and is also credited for dubbing Midtown District. Now, he’s back in the mix and ready to run for a seat in local government as a candidate for City Council’s District A. 

“[Running has] been on my mind since I returned [in 2021 from a stint in NYC],” former Raleigh planning director and chief planning and development officer Silver told Raleigh Magazine in an exclusive interview in front of his announcement. “I was very active in Raleigh as the planning officer and director for 10 years. I want to offer leadership to make sure the city goes in the right direction.”

Silver, who is largely credited with developing Raleigh into the vibrant, modern city it is today, is also attributed with efforts to develop the city’s comprehensive 2030 plan and Unified Development Code, with the intent of creating “great streets, places and spaces,” connected by 12 transit corridors. “We’re seeing that vision become reality with 60% of our growth in these centers,” says Silver. “Raleigh is a great city, and I want to ensure we have quality growth and we are urbanized in the right places.” 

In addition to quality growth, Silver told RM he will be focusing on attainable housing choices and public safety—and ensuring we are making thoughtful and visionary comprehensive plans. He also travels as a speaker and currently serves as principal at McAdams, emphasizing equity and inclusion through urban planning, land use, parks and public space planning.

District A Overview

District A, currently led by city councilmember Mary Black, includes Six Forks, Falls of Neuse and Midtown. Encompassing a variety of green spaces, neighborhoods and development, it also comes with all the obstacles of maintaining the burgeoning district. 

For starters, Midtown has seen rapid growth over the last decade-plus—with four high-rises of 10-plus stories since 2017 alone, and two more in progress. With such density—and more development on the way—safety infrastructure has become a hot-button issue for the area.

As population booms, traffic also becomes a mounting concern for those often logjammed in rush hour (and beyond). Much of that traffic, of course, is on Six Forks, which was recently approved by City Council to widen to six lanes in late 2025 (also meaning congestion will likely get worse before it gets better). Beyond that project, district representation will have to fight for the space and funding to build updated safety infrastructure, and develop a low-budget short-term solution to the traffic problems accompanying the rapid development of the area. 

Filing dates for the 2024 municipal elections run from July 5 to July 19, and Election Day is Nov. 5. Stay tuned to our May issue for a comprehensive district-by-district breakdown of each candidate and the issues they are bringing to the table.

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