This is an exciting one and all of us (well, one of us) at DTRaleigh HQ are crossing all our fingers and praying that this Summer’s announcement for The Depot takes place. LODEN Properties have announced plans for a mixed-use development alongside the historic Depot site, flipping that surface parking lot into places for people instead of cars. (minus the parking deck of course) It’s sure to bring new life and vibrancy to the area and the renderings show real promise.
Continue reading →Earlier this year, I took a family trip to Paris, and it’s easily one of my favorite cities that I’ve visited in my adult life. The sights, the food, the walking — all of it was fantastic. But with every trip I take, I typically find one small detail to hyper-analyze. It was one of those things that, once you notice it, you can’t unsee it.
I’m talking about the corners of buildings. Not the inside ones. The outside ones. The ones that meet at intersections. But in Paris — especially in the older parts of the city — they don’t just meet. They gracefully arrive at the corner with a flat or sometimes even curved face that greets the street like it’s welcoming you inside.
Continue reading →During the February 6, 2025 Design Review Commission meeting, there was a presentation (YouTube link here) related to the plans for the upcoming Red Hat Amphitheater, which should start construction this year. The video really speaks for itself and it’s a highly recommended watch. While the images aren’t final by any means, they do a great job of giving you a sense of what’s being built along Lenoir Street, more specifically to the south of the current amphitheater site as it sits today.
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Today, let’s raise one up for the blog as we’ve made it 18 years since this thing has started. I am pretty sure there are some of you that have been with me since the beginning so for those folks, I thank you for sticking around. For the newcomers, as always, welcome and I hope you’ll find the content here somewhat interesting. The sister site, the DTRaleigh Community, is always interesting and I hope you’ll consider joining the conversation there as well.
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It’s been talked about all over the place that Fayetteville Street has still not bounced back to pre-pandemic levels. From my point of view, the street does seem to be in transition as a once office-heavy corridor adjusts to a region that has embraced work from home culture. I’m optimistic and am showing patience these days, believing that the street will find it’s way over time. That’s why I’m happy to read this article from Axios Raleigh highlighting the first glimpses of change taking place on North Carolina’s Main Street.
I thought it could be fun to go block-by-block and describe what’s to offer on the ground floor as of the end of 2024. The more places to visit, the more people there should be. That, in the end, adds to the vitality of the street.
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A new bus route, the #9 Hillsborough, started service in September of this year, offering 15-minute frequency between downtown and NC State seven days a week. This got me thinking about other bus routes that operate every 15 minutes—our definition of “high frequency” here in Raleigh.
I’m guessing you probably didn’t hear about this new route as you don’t use GoRaleigh. I feel confident with the claim as it’s estimated that only 2% of the Raleigh population uses the GoRaleigh bus system. (I may be off by a few percentage points but the point is, it’s pretty low) However, as Bus Rapid Transit grabs headlines these days, it’s the small details that are going unnoticed and there’s a case to reconsider GoRaleigh as part of your mobility toolkit.
Continue reading →Raleigh is Poised for a Leap in Cycling Activity Thanks to Electric Bicycles
This is my current thinking after my family purchased a pair of e-bikes in Spring 2024. After putting almost 400 miles on them between my wife and me, I’m convinced we’re closer to more bicycle adoption in Raleigh. If the infrastructure continues to improve, the numbers will keep climbing.
Continue reading →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: