And yet, between 300 and 400 residents must really like their broccoli, because they turned out for three workshops held around the city this week as part of the early stages of the update process. I attended the first one, held at The Church of the Good Shepherd downtown, on Tuesday night. About 140 people showed up for that one, which kind of knocked me back, because it's hard to get 140 people to come out for anything.

Why was I there? Well, we're working on a project for our Q section that is related to the comp plan process. We are hoping to run a Q in early January in which we would publish short articles written by local people about how they want Raleigh to evolve between now and 2030, the end point of the plan that's being updated.

So Tuesday, I wanted to hear what people would be talking about at these workshops to try to get a handle on what we should ask folks to write about. Our plan is to launch this in a couple of weeks by laying out what we think the big questions are that the city (and residents) need to answer, and then come back with your responses in early January. We hope to do one of this kind of Q a month.

Here's why I think the comp plan process is interesting. According to city projections, Raleigh's population may grow by 70 percent in the next two decades. This includes areas on the edge of Raleigh that will likely be absorbed by the city. In many ways, this is a blessing. Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Buffalo -- the great, old industrial cities that have lost jobs and population -- would love to have our future. (I recall going to the RBC for a Canes game and enduring the boisterous chants of lots and lots of former upstate New Yorkers who now live among us, cheering on their Sabres.)

But, obviously, how this growth is managed will determine whether Raleigh retains the quality of life that brings the moving vans here daily. There are lots of ways to grow 70 percent, some better than others. Raleigh's population has already grown by roughly 70 percent since 1989, when the last comp plan was adopted, and it did so by growing outward, mostly. This is not a new trend.

Since World War II, Raleigh's population density has dropped in half as the boundaries of the city have continued to expand into once-rural areas. So one big question is whether the new plan will shape a denser city, a more "walkable" city, a place where public transit becomes a real alternative for more people. (Go to www.planningraleigh2030.com to learn more.)

Group pages

If you have an organization that wants to set up a group page on the Share channel of triangle.com but need some help doing it, get in touch. If you already have a page but want to dress it up with photos and would like some help, same thing. My contact info is at the bottom.

The Promise

The Share forum on Barb Barrett's series -- The Promise -- has received a bunch of posts, including comments from soldiers who served with Chad Stephens in Iraq and other vets. I particularly was moved by the post from Spc. Jerry "Catfish" Moorhouse. Go to share.triangle.com/thepromise to read all the posts.

Deportation

The immigration debate draws a lot of comment on Share. Sarah Ovaska's story Thursday about the deportation of illegal immigrants arrested on traffic offenses was no exception. I'll run some of them on this page in the next little bit. If you want to weigh in on this law enforcement trend or just read the comments, go to share. triangle.com/deport.