For those that need to plan and want more information on some big events coming to downtown, here is some useful information:
I was having a conversation two nights ago with a good friend while admiring the view from the patio at the Boylan Bridge Brewpub. Most of it was about downtown and what we “needed”. While drinking some beer, we painted a picture of Raleigh in the future. I, like most, seem to get carried away with grand plans for the city that realistically will take decades to be seen. I always have to drag myself back to earth, however, and when I do, I focus on the near future. I think about the kind of things we can start today or can change in 12, 18, or 24 months from today.
Ever since I got into this whole downtown Raleigh thing, one of my top online sources for information was the city’s Livable Streets site. A key page I would like those interested to see is the Five in 5 Strategy. Even though there are about 130 strategies to the Livable Streets plan, these five:
were chosen because of their ability to be a catalyst for others, to build momentum and to excite all members of the community. One or more of the Livable Streets Partners has agreed to accept responsibility for each of the five. Each has already begun moving toward completion. As one is finished, others will be undertaken until we have the vibrant, active and livable streets that we all desire.
Does City Plaza mark the end of the revitalization of downtown? I certainly do not think we have achieved livable streets in Raleigh. The idea also should not be limited to this area as the rest of the city should have elements of what livable streets are. The Livable Streets website states:
We believe that people make a city great. Yet, so many of the world’s great cities dedicate too much of their precious, limited public space – their streets – to motor vehicles rather than people. We are working to redesign our communities around public transportation and walkable, bikeable streets. We are transforming parking lots into public plazas, busy intersections into town squares, and congested highways into bike paths.
What is urban about a surface parking lot a block away from our second tallest building?
The Five in 5 strategy lists:
The Fayetteville Street renaissance will be complete with Raleigh Wide Open 4 on October 24th and the opening of City Plaza. If you read this blog, I should not have to prove to you that point number 2 has been complete for over a year now. The next three tasks, I believe, need to work together in order to achieve true livable streets.
City Plaza is a good start to a better pedestrian experience in downtown. The area will have wide, safe sidewalks and approachable retail spaces for people on foot, bikes, rickshaws, anything other then a car. Cars cannot park in the area and can drive through only. The curbless “road” is flush with the sidewalks which will naturally calm traffic down and force drivers to look out for those walking by. I see it as a major sense of place and possibly the most urban block in Raleigh.
The livable streets mentality must emanate from here and throughout the downtown streets. Roads should be made bike friendly and riding should be encouraged, for example with more bike racks, discussed in a post one year ago here. (coincidence, I sware) There should be well paved sidewalks from all the neighborhoods around downtown that make it easy for people to cross streets.
I honestly could go on for hours on this topic but I’m sure most of you have heard most of this fluff about transit and biking and blah blah blah already. The thing is, I believe it is important to keep bringing it up in order to get more people behind it and to make sure our city leaders continue to stick to these values. If you want that dense, tall tower or that twenty-four hour diner or lots of shopping in downtown, it starts with getting people to live their lives in and around the area, OUTSIDE of their cars.
Lots of life on the sidewalks outside of Raleigh Times.
Lichtin Plaza by dtraleigh, on Flickr
The September poll has now come to a close and Tobacco Road Sports Cafe is the clear favorite amongst readers. Thank you for voting and make sure to go to your favorite place this Friday for the Carolina Hurricanes’ season opening game.
October begins today so a new poll is up for readers to weigh in on. Parking meters will soon be installed throughout some downtown streets. I’m curious to hear your opinions on how it may or may not change the way you visit downtown. The soon to come media frenzy on this topic is introduced with this article from the N&O. According to the article, parking fees will begin to be enforced in December.
This topic was discussed back in January of this year and now that the meters are just around the corner, I will bring up more discussions on this throughout the next two months. Some ideas I’m thinking about:
Is it just me or are there always birds at this Moore Square bus stop on Wilmington Street?
Raleigh also has a grand old hotel. But it’s no longer a hotel. It should be again.
via Raleigh’s next step: Sir Walter Hotel – Triangle Business Journal:.
This week is Try Transit Week. Jump into the event website or read the cliffnotes below:
Try Transit Week is an annual campaign sponsored by Durham Area Transit Authority (DATA), Cary Transit (C-Tran), Capital Area Transit (CAT), NCSU Wolfline and Triangle Transit. The goal of the campaign is to encourage Triangle Commuters to try an alternative mode of transportation in an effort to help save our environment, reduce the stress of traffic congestion and save money on expensive gas prices.
This year, each of the sponsors is hosting events across the Triangle area including a Fare FREE Day, a “Stuff the Bus” food drive and various give-aways to show appreciation to our bus riders and operators.
If you are on Twitter, you should be following these accounts
Go here is you want to participate in the scavenger hunt and win free stuff.
I may turn this post into a yearly thing so that we can follow the retail scene in downtown Raleigh. About a year ago, I posted a list of ten empty spaces that should be filled with retail or office space or something. In my opinion, they were the top ten spaces that get a lot of exposure and should be contributing to the downtown sidewalk culture. Now, we can take a look at the progress and see what else has changed in a years time.
The 2008 top ten list:
Unfortunately, there is not much to report. The current state of this list is very similar to the state it was in about a year ago. The old Music Hall at 14 West Martin street now has Club Fourteen and the City Market building has on-going construction work in the half facing Martin Street while the back half sits empty. Jibarra has opened in The Depot space but the rest of the building still sits empty. The emptiness at 114 Fayetteville has spread next door with the closing of the Fayetteville Street Tavern.
New Additions:
