raleightransplant
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Posts posted by raleightransplant
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Has anyone had the chance to drop by Crema yet? The name seems to indicate they would have some decent lattes, cappucinos, etc. I'll try and check that out this week.
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I was out of state this weekend, but got home in time to watch it. VERY nice representation of Raleigh and Durham. Very accurate portrayal of the cities culture-wise as well as real estate, etc.
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I'll be interested to see how the area is shown. Usually when these national media types do a story, there is something way off.
When Rachel Ray came to the Triangle for "$40 a day" she said something like..."little Durham more than doubles in population when Duke students are in town." I'm thinking...could that be more wrong? Duke's undergrad population is somewhere around 6000 right? Durham's city population is around 250K or something. Maybe she was thinking of UNC's affect on CH's population? The publicity is good anyway I guess.
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I'm not sure if any of you ever watch Fine Living. It's a generally obnoxious channel, but sometimes they have decent travel shows. I was watching a show last night, and I saw a neat commercial showing Raleigh's skyline twice, Glenwood South (Red Room), and Durham Mayor Bill Bell. It's the rundown of Forbes best cities---which the Triangle fared well obviously.
It's on Sunday at 8pm if anyone's interested in checking it out.
http://www.fineliving.com/fine/our_special...6_46260,00.html
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The Arena District is a chain-ish area of bars, clubs, theatre, etc. It opened in a formerly dead area of town (nortwest edge of DT), and has brought a considerable amount of life to that area. I think these areas can become "dead spots" when there aren't events going on, but it's rather impressive nonetheless. There is plenty of activity there more times than not. I once lived in Columbus, but wasn't around when this area came to fruition around 2000.
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I went to Morning Times on Saturday morning with my wife. I really like the place...great for Raleigh. They were just getting established, so I didn't see a menu or anything yet. I was kind of hoping for some breakfast items like sweet potato pancakes, french toast, etc. It doesn't appear to be that way. Nonetheless---great addition to downtown. Ashley was up front and they had pastries from Hereghty. Very good and coffee drinks were excellent.
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This is an area near my alma mater called "South Campus". There used to be a slew of bars down there, but the area got rough in the 90's. Many of the better areas were further north on High Street, and in DT Columbus.
They've done this revamp on South Campus with a Boston development firm (threw in an art house cinema, some shops, and a B&N). I know I may catch some for this...but these kind of restaurants scattered with more local places could make for a nice mix. I think you need some hip, local places and also some approachable places that suburbanites might want to check out.
http://www.southcampusgateway.com/director...ants.php?page=0
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The Morning Times is open starting tomorrow (9/1). Everyone make a point to make it down there for breakfast on Saturday or as soon as you can (if there's a monsoon w/ Ernesto)--and support 'em. Their upstairs gallery and Bickett at Hudson are opening for First Friday tomorrow night.
To enliven the Fayetteville Street area, I would love to see them do these chef demonstrations down by the Hudson or on Moore Square on Saturday mornings. I work in the park, and can't get down there during the weekday. Other morning events would be great as well. If you get people down there, it increases the foot traffic which would encourage Sosta and others to keep longer weekend hours.
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I agree on the "affordable destination" place. A fun burrito place with outdoor seating and cheap beer would be a good start. Pizza by the slice would be great too---these kind of places give a street life.
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Has Sosta expanded their hours? I'd love to check that place out.
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Agreed. We need some decent German food around here. This place will serve German food.
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I'm sorry but we have no business being on this list. It's hard meeting people here, period. Forget the dating scene. Not that I'm complaining...Raleigh is viewed by outsiders as a cool area---and it really is. Just not the best for dating--at least I wouldn't think. Perhaps I'm wrong on that. Oh, and don't sleep on Columbus--very cool place actually. Lots of young people, open-minded growing city, affluent population, friendly, accepting of all types. OSU's there too, which I'm sure helps matters.
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I feel like I'm one of the rare tranplants that didn't come here for weather....geography was a plus and I liked the people here. I like mountains and ocean---but I love seasons so California was out. I actually do like snow, so moving for weather was never a thought in my mind. That said, the weather here is wonderful with the exception of summer heat/humidity. I moved in to my first house about 4 months ago. With the exception of a few days--it's sunny here about every day. Over the 6 years I've lived in NC---it's just overwhelmingly sunny here. About 85-90 percent of the time it seems. I can't explain that to my midwestern family without it drawing some jealousy. Up there---it gets cloudy in November, and you're just not going to see much sun until May. I still can get my occasional snow here too
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I agree about the above comments about Denver. It reminded me a LOT of Raleigh: it's the obligatory presentation of a state capital, almost. It has to be "pleasant" but not necessarily outstanding in any way. I love Boulder. It's quirky, independent and has character in every one of its nooks and crannies.
Denver reminded me most of Raleigh because of the things that are around it, like Boulder, and beautiful scenery within close distances. Ask any person what they like about Raleigh and most of the time they'll say, "it's 2 hours from the beach and 3 hours from the mountains, and there's an airport you can get to any major hub from really conveniently."
But what about Raleigh itself do you like?
What specifically are the measures of "livability"?
That's such a good point. Geography definitely helps Raleigh and the Triangle. NC is a darn fine state to live in, and the beauty and weather are huge selling points. If Raleigh were in say...Kansas or something there's no way we would be on the map like we are. However, things are getting bigger and better to the point where we can stand out for our own merits. To be honest, Raleigh's best days are coming because until this point I think many of the things that make us unique (open-minded and diverse population, youth, innovation, music scene) have been aided greatly by Chapel Hill and Durham. As Raleigh continues to emerge in it's own right--the sky is the limit.
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The point about making DT Raleigh the center of all that is RDU...I certainly agree with
Additionally, and to me most importantly, Raleigh needs to be marketed as the fun place to be for the region. The fact that Chapel Hill still kind of holds this distinction is borderline ridiculous to me. Downtown Raleigh already has a ton of fun places to listen to a band, catch an art crawl, go to a performance at the theater, etc. It needs to capitalize on that I think. RTP is great and all, but let's face it....The place is damn boring to much of the outside world. Yes, it does contribute to this place in ways words can't describe. Bottom line though, is that a strong and FUN downtown Raleigh is what needs to be marketed. You want people leaving (or better yet..not leaving at all)and telling their friends about the great time they had shopping, dining, etc. And for locals, Raleigh can be that place where your worries melt away from the day at work after a wild night on the town. Just my thoughts.
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There was an article in this week's Business Journal about that project; they apparently scored a major commitment from Duke University that will allow them to jumpstart the next phase. Blue Devil Ventures did a great job with West Village, phase I. We went through those apartments a couple of years ago on the downtown historic tour and were impressed with how Big City they feel. Phse II should provide thatcritical link between downtown "proper" (inside the Urban Loop-- the worst idea ever-- don't get me started) and Brightleaf.
These high profile projects are great, and I've posted before about how incredible it is to see the Am. Tob'o courtyard filled with people and music on a summer evening. There are other, smaller projects, too that have gotten less attention, but which have filled in the spaces in dowtown and taken together, I think, have added substance to the street, and boosted downtown's sustainability significantly.
Go, Durham!
Thanks for update. That is great news! The realization of these plans is going to make that area incredible!
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I would like to see many restaurants in a row with outdoor dining like the old warehouse district in Vancouver, where you have people on the sidewalk and full inside. I would like to see these restaurants with windows that open up like doors to blur the line between indoors and outdoors.
I want a theater and a library. I want more high end shopping or at least boutique shopping, mostly high end women's shops. I would like to see hidden simple bars right off Fay St. like Lizzies, under the Martin St Music Hall. I would like to see a live R&R music hall open along with the Lincoln. (Open back up MSMH). I want to see a boutique hotel like the one Greg Hatem is planning along with the Marriott and The Sheraton. (keep the Sir Walter as an old persons home since I don
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i would love to see raleigh learn from charlottes mistakes. i think that raleigh's growth is similar to charlotte. raleigh still has plenty of older buildings that it should retain and work in with new development. with the boom in growth that your experiencing it is easy to neglect these relics...but when there gone, it just leaves an emptiness that usually takes a generation to get through. it's almost like you dust out all the old ghosts when you tear something that old down...charlotte only has a couple of ghosts left.
i hear people saying that raleigh doesn't have a DT nightlife and this is true...but, i don't see why it should. raleigh is our capital city that houses a lot of government property DT. seperation of entertainment and state can be harmonius. look @ washington d.c. when i want to hear some music and enjoy a cocktail i don't go down by the mall....i go to georgetown or dupont. raleigh DOES have plenty of nightlife, its just in areas other than DT.
one thing i really liked about living in raleigh was the N.C. art museum. i would go there frequently. i know the museum sits on a nice chunk of land, but imagine if the museum were DT. i think this would be the type of movement that would benefit raleigh tremendously. also, 10 - 15 story residential towers DT would work.....hmmm, where are all of our elected officials sleeping?
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Good point. Moore Square is offically in the CBD, but Glenwood/Five Pts areas are basically downtown areas to people in the suburbs. Most legit urban neighborhoods aren't in the business district in ANY city.
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This is one question where everyone has a different answer, but I'm curious.
What do you think will be the future of Raleigh? Are we bound for great things downtown? Will Raleigh reach out and claim the distinction as the heart of the Triangle (more than it currently is)? After spending some time downtown this weekend, I do believe the area is going to truly bust out. I think people are starving for this, and I can see Glenwood South getting more vertical and merging with the existing CBD (which will grow as well in the coming years).
Here's how I see it:
Working against it, I see a reluctance of the city to dream big and really realize it's enormous potential. I do think the idea of Raleigh growing up is catching on however.
Going for it, I see existing historical neighborhoods that already give the city a certain fabric (Boylan Heights and Oakwood among them). With a champion for downtown, and some vision...amazing things ARE going to happen here. There is also a great push with the residential component, which is so essential.
Things I'd love to see:
-A greater mix of entertainment near Glenwood (a Vietnamese restaurant, a bookstore, record store, etc.) to avoid it becoming a yuppie-only area
-More of these free events downtown (giving people a chance to experience the city center who rarely go down there)
-Street level retail downtown (would be great to see near the Hudson area, which would merge nicely with City Market). Maybe some shops similar to what you see around Cameron Village for starters.
-Gentrification on Hillsborough St. This street could electrify as it is located near State, and could work as a gateway into downtown
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This redevelopment is something else! I can't wait to hit some Bulls games after work this summer, and check this area out. Any word yet on the Liggett & Myers redevelopment? I understand that when this is coupled w/ West Village, it will be a larger redevelopment than even ATHD. Very exciting to see this, and Durham just has more of these cool buildings available for this kind of thing than Raleigh.
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If you haven't seen this site yet, it's worth a look at one of the state's greatest achievements in urban preservation. The more recent pictures show the transformation of an old tobacco complex into loft-style spaces for office, retail, living space, etc. I have followed this over time, and it really is quite impressive.
Downtown Raleigh retail updates
in Triangle Coffee House
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Oooh..Fins. Forgot about that one. That will be the best restaurant in DT when it opens (excluding Glenwood South).