As the 1970s dawned, residents in Raleigh became more and more concerned about urban sprawl. While the city’s population was rapidly growing and several development projects were being proposed, community organizations felt that business interests heavily influenced municipal offices. Instead of choosing him from the electoral list, the city council altered the election procedure to elect the mayor directly. Instead of being based on at-large representation, most city council seats were allocated to districts. The reforms took effect for the first time in the 1973 elections. Clarence Lightner, a member of Raleigh’s City Council, defeated Raleigh Merchant Bureau Executive Director G. Wesley Williams for Raleigh’s first black mayor, the first black mayor of a major Southern city with the majority white population.
Raleigh City and Wake County school merged in 1976 to become Wake County Public Schools, now the most extensive school system in the state and 19th largest in the country. The I-440 beltline was built during the 1970s and 1980s, which eases traffic congestion and provides access to most major city roads. In 1977, the first Raleigh Convention Center (replaced in 2008) and the Fayetteville Street Mall opened. As a result, Fayetteville Street became a pedestrian-only street to help the downtown area, but the plan failed, and business declined for years. The main thoroughfare of Raleigh’s downtown was reopened in 2007 as Fayetteville Street.
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