Demolition equipment is on site at the former Raleigh Police Department Headquarters building. The building at the corner of McDowell and Hargett Streets has been empty for years and is finally coming down. The future should see a new office tower for city employees, one that brings them together across multiple properties.
Continue reading →2024 Will Be a Pivotal Year For Raleigh’s Transit Future. We Must Support Transit-Oriented Development.
In November 2023, the first of four bus-rapid transit (BRT) routes, years in the making, broke ground. The first route out the gate will be the eastern route. This one services the New Bern Avenue corridor between downtown, WakeMed, and parts around New Hope Road. We just might be riding around in articulated buses some time in 2025.
The increase in bus service is finally happening, kickstarted back in 2016, after Wake County voters decided to increase the sales tax in order to fund expanded transit. The second half of the transit journey comes with the accompanying land use and I think 2024 will be the year Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) becomes a household phrase. (or at least to all you readers out there)
Continue reading →Pic of the Week
The apartments at Capital Square are getting dressed up with a pretty nice looking exterior facade. It’s not a typical pattern like you see in some of the recent developments in downtown Raleigh. The new tower has definitely topped out and the crews are working on the parking deck that will sit between the tower and next-door storage facility.
Continue reading →Coloring Outside the Lines: Imagining Fayetteville Street’s Future
Above is a video recording (watch it directly on YouTube) of a virtual meeting hosted by the Downtown Raleigh Alliance and Interface Studio where they take attendees through some of the things coming out of the Downtown Raleigh Economic Development Strategy project currently in progress. We’ve mentioned this project earlier in the year and this video is worth watching as it focuses mainly on Fayetteville Street. The team shares ideas that may lead us to new ways to reinvigorate the street.
Continue reading →The Downtown North-South Greenway Connector Overview
I spent some time this week with a survey from the city about possible plans to reconfigure North West Street between Peace Street and Wade Avenue that could accommodate bike lanes, walking paths, and a different parking layout. If that excites you, jump right on over to that survey here to let them know what you think. If I still got you, I wanted to revisit the plans for more bicycle infrastructure along West Street, how it’s going, and what we might expect in the future.
Continue reading →Put a Plaza On It: North West Street
Raleigh Magazine had a great event earlier this month in downtown Raleigh. While this post is not about the event exactly, you can’t help but spot the urbanism that took place during it. A parking lot was taken over for one night to bring people together to celebrate Raleigh’s hospitality industry. Easily, over 100 people were in this space, covered by a tent, where about a dozen or so cars typically park. I attended the event and couldn’t help but notice that this space works much better for people rather than for cars.
Continue reading →A Walk Around South Saunders Street
Embedded above is a pretty nice looking aerial video circling the site of The Weld which sits between South Saunders Street and Lake Wheeler Road. Currently under construction, and hard to photograph from the streets, are a pair of 20-story buildings facing Hammell Drive.
Continue reading →Reimagining Commerce Place
The city is making plans along Commerce Place and had it closed down for November’s First Friday to give citizens and visitors a light taste of what it could become in the future. They envision a more people-centered place where cars are either allowed as “guests” or restricted all-together.
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