JHuberman

Not for me that's for sure - I'd rather be sailing. I've had enough meetings already, but I believe in it enough to persevere. The three groups are the central movement. We all support the same plan.

It was until Gov. Hunt gave 1700 acres to the NCSU. Now it is under half the size of Central Park NYC (800acres vs 306acres) Our downtown squares are not bordered by buildings yet, but downtown is growing, note Park Devereau on Nash Square, and that is just the beginning!

When Central Park in NYC was dedicated the population of NYC was about the same as Raleigh has now.

It evolved into these three groups, and the people who are doing the work are happy with this arrangement. Both 306 and Visionaries can work in radically different ways without stepping on each others toes, and everyone can support the same FDDP plan. That is absolutely correct, and that is why we are lobbying the Legislature and getting people from around the state to call their legislators. Remember it is not necessary for the City to buy the property. There are many ways the property could be dedicated as a park for future generations, and income derived from the development around the perimeter. Joseph

The FDDP Park Plan was developed by John Hoal, from H3 studio in St. Louis, who designed Forest Park in St. Louis, and our financial "White Paper" was designed by a team under the guidance of Greg Hummel, a lawyer who specializes in public / private partnerships and funding of public projects. These are two nationally recognized experts in their fields. John Hoal http://news-info.wustl.edu/sb/page/normal/153.html http://h3studio.com/ Greg Hummel http://www.bellboyd.com/professionals.php?...;AttorneyID=150 This plan is for real, and the economics works (or could work if we can work the politics out). The vision is fantastic and it is backed with experience. Check out their bio's and go to the DixPark.org site and get into the details. Joseph

Don't be disturbed by the three groups. Dix306 is the grassroots movement. Notice that if you go to Dix306.org you will be asked to join "Friends of Dorothea Dix Park" at DixPark.org. You will also be asked to pitch in and help if you are so inclined. Dix306 sends people out to meetings to give presentations, puts up signs, and calls people. If you want to roll up your sleeves, meet every Monday and get to work, then you should join us at Dix306. No charge to join Dix306. Friends of Dorothea Dix Park" at DixPark.org is the "Think Tank". FDDP has the complex answers to the questions, the map resources and financial analysis of the TIF plan. Friends of Dix is the group you should join to support the Park Plan. Memberships range from $10 for students to $35 for a family and up to $50 for a group membership. "Dix Visionaries" are are the influential group of philanthropists. We would love it if you would like to join that group, membership starts at $2500. We are all working to support the FDDP plan. We are working in different ways, and there is enough overlap in the membership that we are pulling together toward the same goal. We have been getting good press and having productive meetings at all levels. If you want to help, send an email to [email protected] or [email protected] whichever you prefer. Joseph

I was really pleased to read about the program at Dix Hospital. It is important that the County finish its arrangements with the local hospitals to set up mental health capacity before the Dix hospital closes. The FDDP park plan suggests TIF financing, and under NC law proceeds can be used for medical care, so the park could help finance either State or Local mental health programs. We can't do this until all the parties are working together and decide to create the Destination Park economic engine. The TIF can't cover all the costs, but it can be used as seed money to make other monies available. Joseph

I enjoyed your thoughtful reply, and agree with much of what you say. I would like to correct your understanding of the FDDP plan. Up until two years ago, for at least the last 28 years (since I moved into Boylan Heights) hospital security stopped organized activity, and discouraged people from being on the hospital grounds. They didn't kick pedestrians out, but they asked you to stay out of the built up areas, and explained that patients were using the grounds and people without business at the hospital weren't particularly welcome. This attitude in the public mind continues to today. The FDDP plan calls for major "Destinations" to be included in the park. The plan outline that is posted on our website is by necessity just an outline. After we have a commitment for a great park it will take somewhere between a year and a half to two years to bring all the stakeholders together to develop a master plan. There are many great possibilities and examples of success. Dix Park has many things going for it already. The DHHS offices will be there for years. This will give the first park service tenants, like cafes and restaurants lunch business while the park is developing. DHHS will also renovate and use many of the historic buildings prior to their conversion to park uses. The University has an extensive outreach program that could both take advantage of a great park on its border as well as create another destination for the park visitor. The Farmers' Market is in the same position of both benefiting from the park and giving benefit to the park Soccer fields are already heavily used, and that would continue. The limited plan that we do have calls for re-sculpting the areas around Rocky Branch to create a healthier stream and water contact for the visitor. NCSU has already reconstructed Rocky Branch above Pullen Park, and the creek could benefit from further work downstream. (The landfill issues will be taken into account.) The historic buildings could certainly be used for public park purposes, and with DHHS using and maintaining them for many years it gives time for the great opportunities to arise in conjunction with DHHS eventually moving to a more appropriate location. One opportunity that has been suggested is a Smithsonian stattlite museum. This has already been done in St. Louis It is critical that the master plan includes the areas surrounding the park. The plan should be crafted with the park stakeholders including the people in the neighborhoods. We should include increased residential density around the park with transitions into the lower density residential areas. The land use plan must be well thought out. The Saunders North Redevelopment Area is considered "blighted" and it must be part of the redevelopment plan. In addition it connects up to Glenwood South and the transit station. The community fabric around the park is what will ultimately make it a success. You clearly understand the problems we must solve to create the Great Park we desire. We do not believe it will easy. Many people have a stake in the outcome, and once we begin to share a vision of a great Destination Park, then by working together we can create a better park than any one group could create alone. Joseph Huberman

Take a look at what it already is: How about a slide show tour... Enjoy it now, and if we preserve it as a park generations of people can enjoy it for centuries. Joseph Huberman

There is one other point that we should consider. We are not choosing between a development plan that makes money and a park plan that costs money. We are choosing between a development plan that makes money for a few and a park plan that makes substantially more money for very many people as well the University, City, and County. The FDDP park plan offers a wide range of funding options that can be used in various ways depending on the way the landowners surrounding the park wish to develop their land. In no way is it one size fits all. The best part about the FDDP basket of funding plans is that the State can sell the Dix Property or it can keep it. The University can develop to the level and at the pace that suits them. The Agricultures Department will have opportunities to greatly improve the popularity of the farmer's market, and the many land owners along Lake Wheeler Road will have tremendous opportunity to improve and redevelop their neighborhoods. The FDDP park plan makes dramatically more money than any plan to develop private uses within the Dix property. This is true because it is so diverse and it produces income from many sources, among them are: increased tourism and visitor related economic activity resulting in increased hotel and meal tax revenue, additional city and county tax revenue from the redevelopment of blighted areas; the conversion of some property from non-taxable to taxable; ground leases for the possible use of State land around the Dix property by private development; rental or sale of housing developed around the Dix land; savings to the State by consolidating DHHS employees in the existing hospital buildings for many years; University and corporate recruiting benefits when attracting businesses and talented people to our city. On the other hand it will be more difficult to orchestrate. A comprehensive land use plan will need to be drawn up by all the stakeholders and the City and County and State will need to be part of that agreement. Many people will need to work together with a common vision of a great park anchoring the central focus of our city between the University, Downtown, and the natural watersheds and wetlands. Granted, it would be quicker and much easier (if one could tame the populous outcry) to sell the land to a developer and collect the reduced profit up front, but everyone would be much poorer, both in money and quality of life (except for the developer). Joseph Huberman

This is the same plan that FDDP is promoting. We have been working together for over a year. The plan isn't new, what is new and fantastic is that we seemed to have moved past some tipping point and influential people are all at once seriously examining the plan -- and they like what they see. I believe we are moving forward. Joseph Huberman

I just got back from the Dix Property Commission Meeting which I am on. It was pretty well scripted. I made several pleas to get the commission to listen to the Friends of Dorothea Dix Park plan before they adopted any resolution, but the pleas fell on deaf ears. I then tried to amend our recommendations to first consider a 306 acre park and only accept development if it were financially necessary - that too was stopped by the chairs. So in spite of our lively debate, and with questionable parliamentary procedures we passed the recommendations put forth by the chairs. The good news is that the recommendations the commission adopted are fully compatible with a 306 acre destination park, (as well as a 200 acre development) so we will continue with our quest to explain and convince anyone who is interested that we can have a 306 acre park and raise more money than a development inside the park and satisfy all the stakeholders and create great opportunity for our state and our region. These are the points I made in my statement... (I prepared this as a handout but the chairs wouldn't let me hand it out.) Highlights of the Plan Developed by Friends of Dorothea Dix Park Conservation [*]Respects the

Friends of Dix hired John Hoal, the designer of Forest Park in St. Louis, MO and he came up with the following plan shown in green. In this park plan map that he prepared, I have emphasized with blue dots the portion of Dix Hospital land that he did not include in the park plan because he wanted clean edges to define the park. The red dots surround the current Dix Campus (306 acres) and the yellow dashes show the current Farmers' Market. This would offer up just over 17 acres along the edge of the park for development. This parcel is quite near the Catholic Dioceses property. Note however, that he includes some of the Farmers' Market property in the plan. Keep in mind that to my knowledge neither the Agriculture Department nor the University have weighed in on any of these plans.

Of course you can have a nice 200 acre park, and Raleigh has a track record that supports that, however in this case the connections to other areas and the synergy with its neighbors is lost in the ULI development plan. Take a look at the following map of the ULI development plan with other boundries superimposed over the Google hybrid map of the area. You can clearly see that the mixed use and residential development cuts off the access to the Fuller Heights and Carraleigh Mill areas. It also blocks the connection into Centenial Campus' natural wetlands area along Walnut creek that leads to Raleigh's Walnut Creek Park under development, the Lake Raleigh Woods and the future golf course. Map showing these wetland connections. It is this synergy that makes the 300 acre park into a 500 acre park with natural areas as well as open fields, manacured groves and an historic district. This perceved expansion of the park with space for oportunities that will present themselves over the decades will allow this space to become a "World Class Park". The burden of proof must be on the developers to show why we should turn over 150 acres of unique inner city land for private profit rather than keeping it in the public domain for eveyone's enjoyment.

The travesty is to sell any of this land for private development! If you do some research on great downtown parks you will find that most are about 500 acres or more. Dix, Farmer's market, links into Centenial Campus & Pullen Park just about get us to that number. The 200 acres by itself or with Pullen will be a regional park and great for the people living near by. There is plenty of land around the park that is already privately held, and that is what should be developed. Look at the development on Cox St., the only private land around Pullen Park. That is what you'll get for your Dix regional park. Look at the development a few blocks away -- no different than any other downtown neighborhood. That is what you'll get in Fuller Heights if you put your big ULI development between Fuller Heights and the Dix regional park.

I think our biggest misunderstanding on this topic is the definition of a "Destination Park" I consider Pullen and Chavis to be "Regional" parks as they are defined by the City of Raleigh. And I can certainly see why you don't like to compare them to Central Park. I agree that the 200 acre park in the ULI Dix Development Plan could be on par with these regional parks. But it could be much more if it were given a chance and that chance is what we are all fighting for. In my previous posts I have attempted to communicate the vision of a World Class Destination Park. I am confident that the people of the State of North Carolina, and especially those of us in Wake County can make this vision a reality. We have the talent, the resources, and the framework of the financial plan. A TIF is not a tax hike on anyone. If one's tax goes up because of the increased value of the property then the increase is earmarked for the project. If you are not in the district and your land value goes up you will pay the same amount more whether you are in the TIF district or not. There is one point, however, the TIF money can't be used by the City or County for other things, so in a sense the tax burden is spread across the whole county. The rational is that the development causes the increased property value, so that without the development the County wouldn't get the taxes anyway. NCSU gave up its option to develop the "Raleigh Woods" property south of Lake Raleigh because of environmental pressure. The Dix Park could be their new "Front Yard" for desirable development. Partnering with NCSU would be an important win-win for both. There is another important point to address: This is State Owned Property -- The property of the People of North Carolina There needs to be compelling reasons to use it for private development? The developers need to prove that the highest best use of the property is their private development. The preservation of the land for the People of North Carolina should be the standard by which the other plans are judged. Note: NC Division of Mental Health, Development Disabilities, & Substance Abuse Services Budget 2006-7 authorized budget as of 8/31/06 ~ $1.1 billion (another ~ billion if you include Medicaid) Typical interstate interchange ~ $50 million Original budget overrun in 2006 of the Raleigh Convention Center ~ $35 million Land Design & ULI panel estimation of Dix Land value ~ $40 million

Thanks for the opportunity to state my main point again more clearly. As you have pointed out, Raleigh has many excellent neighborhood parks that serve their local neighbors quite well. And the ULI Development Plan also provides for an excellent passive neighborhood park both for Boylan Heights and the neighborhood it creates (which is over 10 times the size of Boylan Heights). The 200 acre park consisting of flood plain and hillsides that the ULI Development Plan creates will be a great place for these people to walk their dogs throw a Frisbee and have a picnic. Neither this park nor the other parks you have mentioned are, or have the potential to become, major destination parks that can be an economic engine for Raleigh and the region. It won't happen over night, and it won't happen at all if the whole campus including the Historic Core and Great Field isn't included. But if we work together with a grand vision; If NCSU participates, if Downtown Raleigh participates; if the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services participates; if the citizens and the artists and philanthropists, the environmentalists and local developers, the children and the students; If we all work together toward this grand vision we can have a park that will truly be world class. A park with theater, science, culture, art, giant old trees, water features, transportation, open green space and historic courtyards. It is this vision that is possible now, now. Once we rip this land apart, once we build another housing development like all the other housing developments, a shopping center like all the other shopping centers, and an office park like all the other office parks then this vision is gone. Gone forever. Raleigh has lost! Raleigh has lost its once in a century opportunity. Let us not try and find all the ways this Great Park can fail. If you demand that every "i" be dotted and every "t" crossed before we commit ourselves to this great project then it can't be done. There is risk, of course there is risk. There is risk commensurate with the gains. But let me end with this final thought. If we dedicate the land to a park and in five or ten years we decide we have failed we can still build a development, but if we build a development now and later realize we have made a mistake it will be too late... the opportunity for the great park will be lost forever.

3. Why is the FDDP concept plan so utterly minimalistic? I'll answer your last question first: Friends of Dorothea Dix Park (FDDP) doesn't really take a stand on a particular plan for the details within the park. That is well beyond our scope. At this time we are working toward a commitment to preserve the land for public use and developing a financial plan to show the legislators that this great vision is feasable. We expect that the design of a master plan with public input and expert assistance would be the first step and that the park development would take place over many years. That said I can offer my personal vision to address your other questions. 1. How can the goals of preservation, parkland, and office space come together as a cohesive whole? FDDP only recommends preservation of the historically significant buildings. I don't expect that I will be deciding which buildings those are, but I hope the little cinder block and sheet steal buildings aren't included. Since we want no additional square footage of building footprint in the historic core the removal of these "non significant or non conforming" buildings would open up space for new buildings built in an historically appropriate style to be built in the historic core and in such a way as to maintain the campus look and feel. I would like to see the historic core contain some "destination" for park visitors. I don't know what this would be, but I have given examples in previous posts. In addition, the DHHS offices would occupy a large portion of the buildings and could support a couple of restaurants and cafes that could be grouped around a central square with several of the park venues. As there were more park visitors I would expect a transition to meet the needs of the public. The tree lined roads already connect the historic core to the other areas of the park. I see transportation to and through Dix via CAT and possibly Wolfline connecting Centennial Campus, the NCSU main campus, the convention center and the downtown parking areas to the park. 2. What's your position on the issue of vehicular connectivity through the park? I see the existing park road system supporting daily access to the offices and it could be used by park visitors as available, however I would like to see the major transportation routes be around rather than through the park. As the population pressure increased I would expect the inner park roads to be for pedestrians and bicycles after hours and on weekends. (You were incorrect about vehicles in Central Park. The transverse roads do not stop or offer access into the park. There are some roads that run around near the perimeter of the park that are open during rush hour, but open only for pedestrians and bicycles most of the time.)

Sounds nice, I would prefer that some of the property under some crumbling non-significant houses in Fuller heights be used for that purpose. I feel pretty strongly (as you can imagine) that there not be private residences on the Dorothea Dix Campus. This is public land and should be preserved for public uses. Why not invest in Fuller Heights and make that a wonderful village adjacent to Dix Park. I personally envision multi story/multi family residences along Lake Wheeler, and then a mix of single family and town houses in Fuller Heights. You may not be aware, but Fuller Heights is over 80% owned by absentee landlords.

Yes, let's do get real. When central park was proposed the population of NYC was about the same as Raleigh is now, and Raleigh, being in the sun belt is the destination of continuing population shift in the United States. We are currently growing at a rate of about 5,000 people every six months Central park is twice the size of Dix Campus, so with that model in mind we need more land not less, and that additional land is represented by the connections with Centennial Campus, Walnut Creek Wetlands and Pullen Park. When Central Park was conceived the land was surrounded by little villages of immigrants, and almost all the population of NYC was below 37th street. I can guess that those without vision thought it was a waste of effort and would never succeed. There were periods where it appeared those naysayers were correct, but the visionaries finally won out, and Central Park is one of the foremost parks in the world. It is entirely reasonable to expect multi story housing to surround Dix Park in less than 50 years, and certainly within a 150 years the density will be determined by the popularity of the downtown urban core. A density similar to the current NYC housing surrounding Central Park is not unreasonable if we create open space and urban parks to keep pace with our growth. The ULI plan is not a happy medium at all. It is a massive development plan. There are currently 2826 multifamily units either existing or proposed in downtown Raleigh. This ULI Development plan calls for an additional 1650 multi family units as well as another 1000 single family homes to be built on State owned land, land we already own. Central Park Data Units proposed by ULI Development plan p.41-42 Current projects in Raleigh

It takes about 100 years to develop a true "Destination Park". Location is probably the most important thing, and that is why Dix Park is so important because it is right down town only six blocks from the new convention center. To become a "Destination Park" is to present opportunity to the community. Opportunity for the Smithsonian to provide material for a satellite museum on maybe Southern Folk History, or the Art Museum to place major sculptures on the property, or a collection in a building. Opportunity for NCSU to have outreach programs like their "American Homes", or to develop cultural performing venues with wider community participation. Opportunity to use the Great Field for great events. Opportunity for the Agricultural Department to showcase a demonstration project along side the retail Farmers' market. Opportunity... This is why it needs to be preserved for a park. Not for us today, but in 20, 50, 100 years from now when Raleigh is 2, 5, 10 times bigger than it is now. Raleigh has doubled in size since 1980. (1980 pop. 150,255 2006 pop. 353,604) Right now a 100 acre addition to Pullen would be great, and would meet our needs for right now. Pullen park was founded in 1887 as the first public park in North Carolina. Stanhope Pullen had vision that is desperately needed by our political leaders today. It was 28 years before the first carousel was built and 63 years until the little train arrived. We haven't found a philanthropist with both the means and desire to create the Dorothea Dix park, so we, the people, must put pressure on our representatives to make it happen. When Pullen was founded the City of Raleigh population was under 13,000. The ULI plan provides for up to 4,200 3,200 residential units. (corrected 12/6 by JH) That one development (not counting the offices) is the size Raleigh was when Pullen Park was created. Raleigh has wonderful parks, and the citizens pass every park bond proposal. As the population grows more parks are needed, I think we all agree, and we can also agree that parks are needed near where the population is. This is an argument for more parks in the outskirts as the city grows, and the city is purchasing more land as it spreads out. But look at what is happening in downtown. There is nearly a billion dollars worth of development happening in the historic urban core right now. These new people will need new parkland and if we want a walkable city we need a park we can walk to -- from Fayetteville Street, from the new Convention Center and the new hotels being built around it, and from Glenwood South... you get the picture. Let's not shortchange our future, let's preserve all of Dix as a park for the future of our city and our State. Pullen History Raleigh current demographics Raleigh historic demographics Development in downtown

As a member of FDDP I would like to answer ChiefJoJo's questions regarding the FDDP plan in some detail below. For further information on Friends of Dorothea Dix Park (FDDP) you can visit their website DixPark.org 1. ... pay for purchasing the land... The land is purchased using TIF Tax Increment Financing (Which does not raise anyone's taxes) the same way the ULI plan does , except the TIF district is around the park rather than in it. It is also expected that the University residential development would enter the tax rolls under the TIF. 2. ...~3k DHHS employees... The FDDP (Friends) plan calls for all the DHHS employees to remain in the renovated buildings on the Dix Campus and to renovate additional buildings as needed for their offices, and then to remain in those offices for as long as they need them. FDDP expects they will migrate out to better facilities in 20 to 30 years. Their offices in the park will help with the development of the park as it is building out over many years. 3. ...historic preservation... The plan includes the preservation of the significant buildings. Initially DHHS will occupy most of them, and then FDDP expects that appropriate projects will apply to the park authority to renovate and use the buildings for public benefit. As examples: arts venues, museums, technology demonstration. Since the park is in the front yard of NCSU FDDP hopes that the university would choose to renovate and occupy some of the buildings for public outreach purposes. In addition, when considering the preservation, it is important to recognize that the "National Historic Register" stated that the density of the buildings and sense of place, and the space between buildings was an important part of the historical context. A development with additional infill would not be appropriate, but replacing non-conforming buildings with conforming ones certainly would be appropriate. 4. ..memorial ... to Dorthea Dix... HDDP suggests a museum and memorial, however I would hope it would be done with significant public input particularly from the mental health community. 5. ...connected ...with other ...communities... That is an important part of the FDDP plan. Removing the fence and creating good pedestrian access to the adjacent neighborhoods as well as greenway connections in all directions. A bridge to Pullen Park with the cooperation of the adjacent Catholic Diocese property would be helpful. Transit connections through the park and into Centennial Campus and NCSU's main campus as well as the downtown core is also a possibility, and in the long term the rail line that runs through the campus could be incorporated.

Dix Park or Dix Development The key land use difference between the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Friends of Dix Park plan is where the development occurs and how it affects its neighbors. In the Friends plan the development is concentrated around the edges of the park. This benefits the existing residential and commercial neighborhoods adjacent to the park and distributes the development opportunities to many land owners and developers. On the other hand, the ULI plan concentrates all the development to a very few developers on the state owned property. The ULI development separates the park from Lake Wheeler Road and creates a barrier to the redevelopment of these neighborhoods by offering new construction on state owned land that will overwhelm the market in the surrounding neighborhoods stalling their renewal for years. If the "sense" of the park flows through the Farmers' Market, then Dix Park will merge into Centennial Campus, Lake Raleigh and the new Walnut Creek Park adding much more green space to explore. It is this synergy between the 306 acre Dix Park, the University, and the City Park that extends the Dix property so it can become a World Class Destination Park gaining regional significance for the enjoyment of residents and visitors as well as an vital economic engine for the region and the state. If we default to the ULI plan that restricts the park to 200 acres adjacent to a 250 acre development for 9,000 residents and 20,000 employees it will demote the park from a "World Class Destination Park" to a "Very Nice Community Park", which while fine for the people buying into the new neighborhood and working at the new offices, will do little to attract the amenities that make a park