Year / 2010

by Leo Suarez

Bonner Gaylord and the “Skinny High-Rise”

If you have been taking a break from the Clarence E. Lightner Public Safety Center drama you may not have heard that at Tuesday’s city council meeting, the decision to move forward on the project was delayed again. I highly recommend watching some of the debate, posted on-demand at the city’s website here.

The plans for the “skinny high-rise” of downtown, as Councilman Bonner Gaylord calls it, has been challenged. Now talks of an alternative plan, simply called Plan B, present a scaled down version consisting of multiple buildings spread across the city.

During the meeting, Councilman Gaylord tried to set the record straight on some misconceptions on the issue. Here are some that I thought were interesting.

  • Not the best location
    Gaylord argues that the building is located on the edges of Nash Square, a south facing side of it too. This very sunny, attractive side is more suited for public use and ground level activity, rather than a municipal building with very little public interaction.
  • The building is not a symbol for the city
    The councilman argues that the building, while looking great in the skyline, is not a symbol for the public because we would never interact with it. The Safety Center will have very few visits from the public and citizens will rarely use it.
  • The building design is a concern for employee safety
    Gaylord argues that the building design, with its two story public entrance, presents the opportunity for those with bad intentions to attack the building. With employees in a high-rise, damage to an important structural piece would threaten everyone inside.
  • No measurable benefit
    The councilman also states that no measurable benefit to our already great public safety can be measured or has been presented as a result of building the Clarence E Lightner Public Safety Center.
  • Job creation
    Jobs created by the construction are only temporary and are gone once the building is finished. Also, there is no guarantee the jobs will be local.

Mayor Meeker had something to say about each point after it was presented and watching him in action really shows you that he is 100% behind this project. Here’s his recent plan to get the building under way.

  • Postpone remote facilities, phase 2, of the expense. Lower priority then the Safety Center.
  • No tax adjustment in 2010.
  • $2.5 million from other sources in 2011.
  • 1/2 cent property tax increase in 2011, effective January 15th 2012.
  • Another 1/2 cent property tax increase in 2012, effective January 15th 2013.

Just for a comparison, the original tax increase was 3 cents over a five year period, a pretty solid decrease in my opinion.

The comments are open for opinions and debates, maybe some predictions on how this story will end.

Side note:
Quote from Bonner Gaylord:

In my experience, very few people even knew about the Clarence E Lightner Public Safety Center. I never heard anyone bring it up at all until it came before us in December.

Clearly, Councilman Gaylord doesn’t read any blogs:

by Leo Suarez

From My Inbox To Yours, Michael Franti & Spearhead to Headline Charity Concert

Posting this up for a friend.

Raleigh, N.C. (Feb. 15, 2010) — Band Together NC, a nonprofit organization that uses musical events to raise funds and awareness for select Triangle charities, has announced that acclaimed reggae, hip hop fusion artist Michael Franti & Spearhead will top the bill for this year’s charity concert May 22 outside Lincoln Theatre in downtown Raleigh. Visit www.bandtogethernc.org to purchase tickets starting at 10 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 19.

Last year’s Band Together NC concert featuring Rusted Root, the Rosebuds, Chatham County Line and HOBEX attracted more than 2,700 music lovers and raised more than $141,000 for the Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood. Supporting acts and activities for 2010 will be announced as the event date approaches.

Download the rest of the press release here.

Also, check out Band Together on Facebook and RSVP for the After Work Social next week.

by Leo Suarez

Hacking Meters: How To Use The New Pay Stations

So the new parking pay stations are coming, a topic we have touched on a couple of times, and they are actually pretty simple to use. Sometime in April, everyone will be required to drop off some loose change for that space out in front of CVS and the experience will be much easier. The city has some of the new parking pay stations set up along the Nash Square side of Hargett Street. Over the next two months, the rest of the 173 total parking meter swarm will be installed.

I’ve created this title, Hacking Meters, to talk about the pay station use and parking in downtown this year as a way to follow this re-addition of parking meters back into downtown. You might actually learn something. I’ll start out with some key links below for those that want additional reading.

  • City Demos New On-Street Parking Stations
  • Using Raleigh’s New Parking Meters

And now I can contribute by listing off the important things you need to know.

It’s really just a three step process. (click for larger)

  • Enforcement is from 8am to 5pm, Mon-Fri
  • Pay stations accept nickels, dimes, and quarters. Plastic options include Visa and Mastercard.
  • You can pre-pay for your spot starting at 6am and time won’t take effect until 8am
  • No receipts
  • Minimum amount you can charge is $1
  • You can pay in 15 minute increments
  • The green time zone signs will be replaced with blue metered signs with paying information
  • Maximum parking time allowed is the same as the currently allowed time on each block
  • There will be a two week grace period after the pay stations are installed and operating
  • Cars with handicap placards follow the same rules as everyone else except they can park for unlimited time, and will pay just the same
by Leo Suarez

RalConniversary: 3 Photos, With Wallpaper!

While not necessarily the best photos that have appeared on the blog, these three make for great desktop wallpaper. I’ve used them myself and now want to share them. I’ve included multiple versions of the most common screen resolutions used by readers of RalCon, gathered by the power of analytics, as well as the original version if anyone would like to play with it. Enjoy!

You are free to do what you want with the images at a personal level. Please respect my Creative Commons license (non-commercial, attribution) if using them on the web. Thanks. Click on the photo for a larger preview.

Satellites and Antennas

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The Raleigh Skyline

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by Leo Suarez

How Much Fun Did You Have During The Winter Storm of 2010?

I’m sure lots of people were enjoying the winter weather we had this weekend, especially the kids that are staying home from school this week. For those that watched the local news each and every minute up until the storm, I’m also sure it is a big relief that the apocalypse did not happen.

For more media of snow and Raleigh over the past few days, click below to re-live it all.

Photos on Flickr tagged with Raleigh and snow.

Videos on Vimeo tagged with Raleigh and snow.

Pictures on Twitter on snow in Raleigh.

by Leo Suarez

RalConniversary: 3 Best Videos

Video wasn’t my strongest skill but I did take some over the years. Enjoy these three videos that have made appearances on the blog.

The Shimmer Wall (under construction) from Leo Suarez on Vimeo.

This video was taken on June 14th, 2008. It shows just a small piece of the then new shimmer wall on the still under construction Raleigh Convention Center.

Snow in Downtown Raleigh from Leo Suarez on Vimeo.

This video was taken on January 20th, 2009. Between 2 and 4 inches of snow fell in downtown Raleigh that day.

Raleigh Pillow Fight from Leo Suarez on Vimeo.

This video was taken on April 4th, 2009. Just watch it and make plans to participate this year.