Category / News

by Leo Suarez

BeerCon: Deep South

Deep South sits at the end (or the start?) of the warehouse district on Dawson and Cabarrus Streets. This cool bar has a rock attitude and the walls are covered with legendary quotes of some of the most famous rock songs out there. They have all your beer needs covered as well as the cheapest specials I’ve seen in town.

The location seems to be a little off from the current downtown watering holes but Deep South is ahead of the curve. I think that once the Raleigh Convention Center is up and running as well as the downtown amphitheater, this area will buzz with activity.

Sells cigarettes
Pool Table
Live music on select nights
Small outdoor area
TV’s
Wifi

Website: http://www.deepsouththebar.com/

430 S Dawson St
Raleigh, NC 27601
(go to map)
(919) 833-1255

by Leo Suarez

RalCon Gets A New Look

Sleek and simple is the new look I’m going for here. Those that have been reading the blog for awhile could have seen this coming and I’m really excited to get a new theme up and running. Hopefully there will be no major problems this week as the majority of the conversion has been done and I still have things to tweak. Report here if you see any problems with the website.

by Leo Suarez

EnviroCon: General Assembly Building Boasts Largest Rain Barrels in Raleigh?


The North Carolina General Assembly building has three, 18,000 gallon tanks to collect rainwater that falls on the roof. The system also collects condensation from the air conditioning system inside the building. All this water is being used within the building and for landscape irrigation. Links for those who want to know more:

Stormwater Collection Project Facts

Video about the system

A cool fact stated in the video is that it only takes an inch of rain to fill the tanks completely.

City’s largest?


The fountains are flowing again.

by Leo Suarez

EnviroCon: Are You Participating In Earth Hour?


Earth hour was started last year in Sydney, Australia and the event is growing in popularity with more cities participating this year. Raleigh has not signed up and I wish I knew of this sooner to get us on there. You can still participate by shutting off your entire house for an hour at 8pm tomorrow, Saturday March 29th. Even in its second year, there are huge contributions to this planned event.

So on March 29th, whenever 8pm rolls around, over 350 cities in 35 countries, millions of individuals, the Sears Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, and 2,100 corporations including HP, Coca Cola and McDonald’s, are all turning off their lights.

Via Ecogeek

by Leo Suarez

Downtown Concert Venue Possible [UPDATE: 1-4-08]

Make sure to read this WRAL article about the possibility of an outdoor amphitheater on the block directly west of the new convention center. I had thought that this area was supposed to be used for future convention center expansion. I really think that using this land for an outdoor concert venue is not the best use of it.

This is valuable property that is in the thick of our budding downtown. If the city is really serious about pushing conventions here, the potential of expansion should be maintained. Hopefully, if this amphitheater is built, it will not impact this or can be taken down. If expansion is not considered, then the land could be sold at a premium price and something tall and dense could be built.

If the amphitheater is built, it will sit empty for a majority of the year. Raleigh does not have the weather for a permanent venue to hold shows and events for 365 days. There are typically no more then maybe 15 downtown outdoor concerts each year with the current trend. The outdoor concert scene needs to improve, not expand.

I really think the land should remain open space for now, but I’m waiting for the final design from the city. Here’s my idea for big outdoor concerts: make the Dix property a park and you’ll have plenty of room there.

UPDATE: 1-4-08

Here’s a final rendering of the convention center. This also shows the block to the west, with the current warehouses gone. I’m curious to see how an outdoor amphitheater would work with the ramp that goes under McDowell St., used to load large items in the convention center.

by Leo Suarez

First Night Re-cap

Here is a link list for those that were not downtown for First Night. All the links include pictures or videos of the celebration.

Pictures on:

  • Goodnight, Raleigh here and here
  • RaleighChronicle
  • WRAL

Videos on:

  • Raleigh Chronicle here and here
  • The News & Observer
  • ABC11 News

Know of any others worth seeing? Share it in the comments.

by Leo Suarez

EnviroCon: Parking Pay Stations

GreenCon is a new label that I want to introduce highlighting any ‘green’ efforts going on around downtown. The latest one that I stumbled upon were the new parking meters on the 200 block of West Hargett St. Here is some background information about these meters. We could see more of these pay stations instead of parking meters in the future.

The stations are very easy to use. The picture below gives you an idea of what they look like. I first thought that parking spaces were labeled on the street, but the signs make it very clear as to what your space number is. Being able to pay before 8 a.m. is also a plus to this system.

What makes these new pay stations green is that they are run on solar panels. It is not a new technology as other cities have installed them but I think whoever made the decision to go with this model deserves a pat on the back. However, whoever installed the pay stations and signs were not thinking things through. See something wrong in this picture?


Slight miscalculation.

by Leo Suarez

Winter Restaurant Wave

In case you have not noticed, we are in the middle of another wave of restaurant openings. The convention center may be the reason for fueling the increase of downtown food choices over the last few years. Here is a list of recent openings; some are talked about in the new downtown news section added to the left sidebar.

  • The Pit has opened up in the former Nana’s Chophouse location in the warehouse district. I’ve tried it out and the “upscale” BBQ has such a different feel that in no way does it compete with Cooper’s. I highly recommend it to any fans.

  • Raleigh Times has expanded next door with the creation of “The Smoking Times”. From what I’ve seen in passing, the place has a different feel and look then its neighbor but will easily become a downtown favorite.

  • Poole’s diner has now re-opened with a different look. This N&O article breaks it down. I have put it on the to-do list.

  • The Mint looks very close to opening and their website claims it will open this month. If you pass by it on its Fayetteville St. location, take a look inside.

  • There are plans to split up the old Greenshield’s spot at City Market in order to encourage smaller tenants, rather then a large one. No news yet on who might be moving in.
  • Work on the future sushi restaurant, Waraji that will be located at the corner of Hargett and Salisbury St., has started. Rumors say they will open in February of 2008.

I really think that this wave of restaurants is mostly the result of the convention center. They are preparing for the fall 2008 opening and should see a lot of convention traffic. I’m glad the convention center has helped spur growth downtown but the next wave of growth that I want to see come around are stores and food places that cater to the residents of downtown, not visitors. I’m hoping that the number of condos opening next year will help encourage more shops to open for the new rise in population. This will also go along with the Downtown Raleigh Alliance’s plans for more shopping downtown.