Gard
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Posts posted by Gard
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Great pics! They sure are moving along on this project
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Arggh...
(I've always wondered why, with a great vet school like NCSU has, a terrific zoo couldn't be organized there in the Triangle. It seems like a dream laboratory for vet students to me.)
Having said all of that, in order to start up a first class urban park you will need a well-endowed trust fund. A couple of million won't do. You need a serious income stream that will rollover cash over the years, big enough that the park district can live off the interest. How to do that? Spinoff of peripheral land. There isn't much that you can do with 306 acres that you can't do with 225 or 250. You might be able to generate a nice chunk of income with a zoo and/or other attractions, but your startup capital costs will more than offset your income for the first ten or fifteen years, maybe longer. Develop the perimeter high density. Now here comes the math...
I never thought of a zoo, but that is an EXCELLENT idea! Not only would it be good for the University, it would greatly benefit the city as well and give us what would really be a major tourist attraction. I really think a zoo would do well in Raleigh, attracting people from all over the region to it and even providing a good place for schools to have field trips. I will certainly be bringing this up to my representatives in both the city and state.
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Something I find interesting: The land Centennial Campus sits on (about one square mile) used to be part of the Dix property. Gov Hunt gave it to the university as a land grant in the '80s. I know that's essentially transferring land from one branch of state government to another, but is the division between city and state so large that Raleigh should pay $40M+? If both levels of government are really trying to best serve the public interest, should the financial burden fall on local government, which typically has a very constrained budget? I know a land grant to the City is way too much to hope for, but it's sad to see money as the driving force for Dix's future.
I agree. I think that it should be state policy that other governmental bodies, be it state or local, should have first dibs at a property owned by the state. If this is all about money, then our representatives at the state level are not doing their jobs, which is to promote the growth and prosperity of NC and its citizens. Selling this property to Raleigh is not in any way going to affect the state's bottom line. While they may not get a ton of money for it, a government body isn't supposed to be out to make a profit, all that matters is that they break even. I have written to my representatives and Easley over this issue and basically told them what they do with the Dix property will be an election year issue for me. I encourage everyone here to write to their representatives and Easley to express your opinion on the matter.
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Can't remember for the life of me who it is, but I do remember that it wasn't SAS.
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I think that Crabtree could be considered somewheres between mid and upscale. I also believe this is a only one aspect of the whole equation. The other half would be mall traffic and that certainly goes in Crabtree's favor, having the most foot traffic of any mall in the Triangle.
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Ohhh that would be a HUGE improvement for that area!
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Story today on WRAL.com about merchants on Fayetteville Street struggling to get business:
http://wral.com/news/local/story/1386824/
My guess is the fanfare from the reopening has dropped and people aren't spending money there much.
Well as the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. Like the previous poster said, its all still a work in progress and it certainly won't change overnight.
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Here is a story on Virgin Americas' plans for flights. I was trying to find the link to where you can vote for the next city for Virgin America to fly too. I found it in this article but the voting is over. Day late Dollar Short..
http://www.virginamerica.com/informationde....php?article=34
The best thing will be the In flight Entertainment center...
Virgin America recently unveiled its onboard cabin, including first class seats with 55 inches of seat pitch (legroom) and massage chairs, as well as mood lighting and a digital inflight entertainment system providing on-demand moves and TV, games, music and online chat rooms and even self-service mini-bars for snacks and beverages available throughout the flight.
Sweet... And their fares will compete with Jet Blue and Southwest.
Sounds Great!
If this is the case, I will certainly check with them first for any flight I may take. I hope they blow the competition out of the water enough to where the other airlines are forced to compete with VA's level of service if they are to keep from going under. A shame it actually takes a British billionaire to bring Americans such a great level of service.
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This will be a great addition to RDU!
I agree with the others about the Euro airlines. I've flown a few of them and have always been impressed at how wonderful the flights have been. When flying to Europe, I always choose a Euro airline when I can instead of an American one.
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What if you took that BIG empty lot where they are planning the visitors center... build a bunch of underground parking under the whole block (for the bldg, museum, etc), put the visitors center on the first floor, and built the whole damn building--all 800sf (771 + 28k) sf of it--right there. Yes, it will be expensive, but RBC's bldg is 710k sf or thereabouts for $100M... Site One is ~$125-150M for ~800k sf incl huge underground garage... In his budget, Easley shows the DHHS structure for $173M *and* a visitors center for $28M??!!
I LOVE this idea. That would be a MUCH more effective use of land around downtown vs just building a stand-alone visitor's center, which IMO is a waste of prime property in a stand-alone fashion. I wonder if this has even been considered as an option...
I think we should bring this up to our city and state representatives.
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Will the city have to approve the state's development of the Dix property?
While the Dix property is inside the city limits, it does not fall under Raleigh's jurisdiction. The state has the power to do whatever it feels like with the property regardless of what the city thinks/wants. The state, however, has a history of consulting with city and county govts. to find a solution that is benefitial to all parties involved.
It reminds me of a case where I lived while in college where the USPS bought a closed Service Merchandise and was going to gut it and turn it into post office. The city had a fit over it, mainly because they were going to loose tax revenue from the building and they tried everything in their power to stop it. Needless to say, the USPS just played its trump card, basically telling the city council that they were putting their post office there whether the city council liked it or not. With that, the post office was built and opened.
I wouldn't worry much about there being any fighting amongst the city, county and state over what to do with the land. To my knowledge, the Raleigh, Wake County and the state have a great working relationship and the state also has a vested interest in Raleigh, being the state capital.
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I love Mitch Silver's plan. I was a little wary of the idea of putting in traffic circles and cutting the lanes down to two at first, but this plan seems to make it all work and add to the value of the street.
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Triangle in the national media
in Triangle Coffee House
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^Very interesting. I am surprised that we would get in there over CA or even Seattle. Pretty cool to see us in there among international cities
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