IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CREEK


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Welcome to Brookside!
The City of Raleigh has a network of stormwater creeks that serve us by managing rainfall events, nurturing lush ecosystems with diverse wildlife, and providing us with calm, beautiful pockets of neighborhood wonder.
RaleighCREEKS NEIGHBORHOOD FOCUS

Brookside's neighborhood stormwater creek, Cemetery Branch, is the starting point of connecting neighbors & wildlife. The focus on this creek begins with an artwalk that brings stormwater creek ecosystem-themed artwork to the sidewalks, encouraging awareness of the wandering creek nearby.

As Raleigh grows, we must strive to be better acquainted with our creeks, becoming stewards and students of these beautiful ecosystems in the wake of severe erosion and wildlife habitat loss.

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The Brookside Wanderlust Neighborhood Artwalk is a SEEK Raleigh 25-26 grant recipient, enabling the first of three installation phases which concluded in March of this year.

As we paint our way down the sidewalks from Watauga and beyond Conn Elementary to Vale St. in the coming months, we are excited to bring our communities together in celebration of our stormwater creek, Cemetery Branch, and the curious collection of critters and creatures that it contains.

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BROOKSIDE WANDERLUST iNATURALIST BIOTHON
For a full year, we are encouraging citizen scientists to observe plants and animals within the neighborhood and contribute toward collective data. By pooling together our observations, we learn about the stormwater creek ecosystem that Cemetery Branch provides throughout seasonal fluctuations. Periodically, the Brookside neighborhood will host specific Bioblitz event days, but the observations can keep being submitted whenever wanderlust strikes!
Prepare to wander
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  • Download Seek
  • For Apple or Android
  • Help identify your observations prior to submitting to the project
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  • Download Merlin  to help identify birds
  • For Apple or Android
  • Now you are a birder for life! (You're welcome.)
RaleighCREEKS and the Brookside Wanderlust Neighborhood Artwalk are two initiatives collaborating to creatively address stormwater creek ecosystem awareness and begin cultivating neighborhood stewardship of Cemetery Branch.

What is a neighborhood artwalk?
An invitation to discover, explore, and be curious!

Utilizing public art to bring passive exploration from public right-of-way spaces inspires residents let their curiosity lead them to new discoveries within their own neighborhood.
Artwork is coming to the sidewalks of Brookside!
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By providing a perpetual invitation to wander and discover, we nourish our communities with small offerings of encouragement to go outside and observe the fascinating, interwoven relationships of urban backyards and stormwater creek wildlife habitats.


The reasons why

STORMWATER AWARENESS
Educating communities about dynamic behaviors of stormwater creeks in urban areas

ENVIRONMENTAL RESILIENCY
Providing context to the necessities of riparian buffer health, tree canopies, and root system integrity along stormwater creeks

WILDLIFE HABITAT RESTORATION
Inspiring collective stewardship to cultivate diverse habitat for wildlife which thrive alongside these natural waterways

MENTAL & PHYSICAL WELL-BEING
Finding reasons to step outside to find small joys

CONN ELEMENTARY
Hundreds of little reasons to cultivate curiosity

CEMETERY BRANCH
Our neighborhood creek to understand, observe, and restore

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RaleighCREEKS is a non-profit collaborating to address longer segments of stormwater creeks throughout our Raleigh neighborhoods, working to identify keystone community spaces to dedicate toward ongoing habitat & streambank restoration work.

By establishing neighborhood hubs, steeped in education about our stormwater creek ecosystems, we help diversify how we learn to become stewards of our connected backyard wildlife habitats, inspire rising generations of creek enthusiasts, and collectively cultivate neighborhood environmental resiliency.

 

(Website still under construction!)
(Sorry mobile viewers!)
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Want to reach out?

raleighCREEKS@gmail.com

Send a message!