by Leo Suarez

Dive Into the Final Report That Will Reinvigorate Downtown Raleigh

Recently, the Downtown Raleigh Alliance (DRA) released the final draft of the Downtown Raleigh Economic Development Strategy, the ongoing study that hopes to revitalize urban Raleigh post-pandemic. We talked about part 1 earlier this year, with a heavy focus on Fayetteville Street, and now we have the complete report which lays out new ideas and a bold vision for downtown. Here are the many ways to dive right into it:

At 27 pages, it’s not a bad read and a lot of these ideas are pretty inspiring and hopeful. Of course, this is if they are implemented. Since the report is worth a read all on its own, what I’m going to do today is try and rank the likelihood of these ideas, or strategies, ever happening. We can then check back to this post in 5 or even 10 years to see how we’re doing.

The report has ten strategies with a description and some visuals to help get the idea across. Accompanying each one is a timeline with near-term and long-term action items. This tees it up for the DRA, the city, and other partners to take the idea to the next level, probably with some studies, to then execute and deliver.

Before we get into my list, I just want to say that I intend for this post to be fun and hopeful, rather than critical and a downer. Let’s call it a bet on myself to see what might take place and what is most likely a longshot. If you know me at all, I’m ready to help make downtown better rather than site behind a screen and criticize. So with all that, let’s take a look at each strategy and start with the ones that are most likely to happen and ending with the least. (in my opinion)

Most Likely to Happen

I definitely like our odds of the city working on the public realm and creating great spaces. In recent memory, their Urban Design Center and planning staff have consistently delivered ideas and plans for improved sidewalks and creative use of urban spaces. I’m referring to things like parklets, streeteries, the still somewhat fresh makeover of Moore Square, and the Commerce Place Woonerf. Let’s see more of this and execute on it!

Alongside these, the “Bold connection to Dix Park” idea has legs among the public. It seems to be an idea that’s on everyone’s mind and was even part of the Red Hat Amphitheater fiasco and the closing of South Street. Yes, I think we’ll get some kind of bold connection to Dix some day. My fingers are crossed for that gondola.

So I’m including these three items in the Most Likely to Happen category:

  • Energize downtown core with daily activation and placemaking to bring more people downtown
  • Create exceptional public spaces for everyone
  • Create a bold connection to Dix Park

Somewhat Likely to Happen

The next set of things that I think could happen require coordination and collaboration. I really like these ideas related to making downtown Raleigh the Creative and Design center of the Triangle. The report states, “Downtown Raleigh has the largest concentration of design and creative firms in the Triangle.”

That right there should be celebrated and marketed. I feel like we did something similar in the 2010s as the group Innovate Raleigh would celebrate the startup community and entrepreneurship in Raleigh. To me, that felt like it oozed from downtown Raleigh and it created some good energy around it. Rebooting something like that with a design focus could be really cool and the public realm could see benefits from it. Not to mention all the shops and restaurants benefitting from more events and more visitors.

Combining this with innovation from downtown Raleigh companies as well as nearby NC State could also be beneficial. We’d need leaders from downtown as well as the university to create those partnerships so I’m hoping there’s an appetite for that as students could see a big benefit here.

Finally, to round this out with a play on inclusivity, weaving in grants and loans for the expansion of Minority and Women-Owned Businesses makes these efforts something everyone can access, rather than a subset of people.

We already have momentum in these fields so expanding on this is very much within reach. So I’m really hoping leaders can get together and work on:

  • Position Downtown Raleigh as the Creative+Design Center of the Triangle
  • Expand capacity of MWBE entrepreneurial ecosystem
  • Support growth and diversification of innovation sector downtown
  • Elevate public art to create a unique experience that celebrates Raleigh and North Carolina

I Really Hope it Happens

The last three, I think are the most difficult but certainly possible.

First, designing streets to encourage walking, biking, and public transit is certainly possible but the city is going to have to navigate a populace with a strong car culture that loves their parking. I’ve seen small businesses in downtown fight against bike lanes and defend parking spaces. Surrounding neighborhoods fight against traffic and tend to demand that the on-street space in front of their houses are for their use only. This is perhaps worth a post onto itself but while I advocate for this strategy, I feel it’ll be a tough one for the city to work on.

Moving on, diversifying retail opportunities sounds like a hard one because downtown Raleigh is a combination of hundreds of owners that can do whatever they want, given the market demands. If they want to open up another Subway, well, why not? Hopefully, the DRA has tricks and incentives, and I hope the city can assist them, to create a diverse retail environment in downtown.

Finally, I hate that I rolled my eyes at integrating the government campus with downtown but maybe I’m just jaded at this point. It’s such a good idea as the state government campus is largely under-utilized but I just don’t see it happening given our political climate and the state’s history. But wouldn’t one of their low-rise office buildings work so well for a life sciences lab? (just as the report says we should work on)

Here’s hoping for these three:

  • Design streets that encourage walking, biking, and public transit
  • Diversify retail opportunities to address the range of merchant needs
  • Integrate the government campus with the downtown core

Share Your Thoughts

We’re discussing all these over on the Community so please jump over and join us.

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