by Leo Suarez

Car Sharing In Downtown Raleigh, WeCar Officially Debuts

This week, the Raleigh DLA had a big announcement that it has brought a car sharing program to downtown Raleigh. With the help of the Glenwood Agency, the car sharing company, WeCar, will maintain two cars in designated parking spots for the program. Jump on over to the Raleigh DLA’s blog post for all the details on how they got it done and how it will work.

WeCar is owned by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, who, if you don’t know already, has a rental car lot at the corner of McDowell and Cabarrus Streets. They will cover the maintenance of the cars while not in use. The two Honda Civics will have their own designated parking spots; one on the Enterprise lot and the other on West Street near the North Street intersection.

Car sharing has launched in several cities, including this year in Nashville and has been around since 2008 in St. Louis, and some universities, with the University of West Virginia and University of Missouri having their own car sharing programs.

Two cars may not sound like a lot but today the seed has been planted. The city of Raleigh has put out a bid for an official car sharing program for the area and if WeCar wins this bid, more cars will start to pop up in downtown as well as around NC State and Meredith College.

Car sharing is another option for anyone living downtown to be more mobile and get around the city. With this system in place, there is an option to use a car when the city’s transit network can’t get the job done. Increased options is always a good thing.

If successful and car sharing grows in Raleigh, this hopefully will impact future developments. If the need for more cars goes down, so does the need for parking decks and more space can be built for sale rather then for metal boxes. It will be exciting to see car sharing grow in downtown Raleigh over the next few years.

by Leo Suarez

Restaurants Coming Soon, Eventually, Someday

I noticed the other day while walking down Hillsborough Street the “Coming Soon” sign in the building next to Second Empire. Don’t get excited about this if you are not already familiar with it, that sign has been there for over a year. Now I understand that the times are tough and the restaurant business is competitive but these “Coming Soon” signs have got to go.

Tyler’s Teaseroom

No one wants the Tyler’s Taproom rumor to die. It seems to pop up every now and then and any movement over at Seaboard Station has beer lover’s screaming for the taproom to finally open. First mentioned on the blog over two years ago, the Raleigh location tease is still up on their website with the “Coming Soon” details taunting you to keep believing.

Glenwood South Ale House

Mentioned in November of 2008, a new member to the rooftop drinking army of one was going to be Carolina Ale House at the corner of Tucker and Glenwood Ave. As of a few weeks ago, the “Coming Soon” sign was still up on the glass windows facing Glenwood. Reliable sources have told me that this Carolina Ale House is not happening so don’t let the sign fool you.


Signs from March 2009.

Of course, I would love to be wrong and for all these possibly great places to finally open up and contribute to downtown Raleigh. But after years of “Coming Soon”, the best the signs do is give the tourists something to look forward to on their next visit, or the one after that, or the one after that……

by Leo Suarez

What Is The Future of Capital Boulevard?

About two weeks ago, I attended a workshop at Bobby Murray Chevrolet about Capital Boulevard and what the future has in store for this road. City of Raleigh Planning Director Mitchell Silver mentioned that during the city’s Big Ideas workshop in April of 2008, more people complained about Capital Boulevard then any other area of the city. There was definitely evidence of this because the dealership was full of people and opinions on this day.

The workshop split everyone into tables and each one was assigned a facilitator. The facilitator lead the group through a discussion about the study area, shown above. With an enormous map out on the table, we talked about the what we envisioned for the corridor. A briefing book, which can be seen here, was also provided and there is some good history and statistics in there.

Capital Boulevard is important to downtown Raleigh because it is one of the major arteries that moves people in and out, from the neighborhoods and suburbs of the city. There is also a great redevelopment opportunity here to handle Raleigh’s growth and re-invigorate some blighted areas.

The comments and discussion at my table were mostly about transit options in the future Capital Boulevard. I really enjoyed talking about this topic since most of my feedback would be based on this. My idea, at a high level anyway, is to create a corridor that gives people alternatives to the typical mode of travel in Raleigh; driving a car.

The map above shows the current zoning of the area, mostly industrial. (colored in purple) Looking at the history section of the briefing book, Capital Boulevard was planned to support Raleigh’s growth in industry along the rail lines. Here’s a quote from the N&O dated October 27th, 1955:

The project serves to create industrial sites and “should represent an added desirable feature in the development of local industries, employment and service to all citizens.”

So now that 55 years have gone by, how desirable is that area now?

A Multi-modal Corridor

Our group all agreed that Capital Boulevard was dominated by car travel and that the current bus service was a very poor experience. We also agreed that the greenway that runs through the area is an important asset to keep in future developments but was the only safe place to walk or bike. With all kinds of different transit options, I think Capital Boulevard should be redesigned to accommodate feet, rubber, and tracks.

A smarter plan for moving people up and down the corridor is to have walkable greenways, protected bikeways, and unobtrusive roads for cars and rail. It will take some finesse to lay out all these modes of travel efficiently but if done correctly, it could really help the future of Raleigh and perhaps provide an example for other developments to go by.

There are many ways to get around any city and I believe that if all modes are treated equally, people will use them all. If Capital Boulevard could provide us with a way to walk, bike, ride, and drive then it will give us all a choice in how we want to move ourselves through a part of Raleigh. Having that alternative mode of transit, yes walking is transit too, is so important for a city that is trying to grow up.

If you have any comments about the study area, please let the Project Manager, Trisha Hasch, know about them. The planning stages are going on right now so let them know what you think. Send an e-mail to trisha.hasch@raleighnc.gov