Damien

What exactly does all that money go to? $2500 to join the "Dix Visionaries"?!?!? I better get a diamond ring and matching bracelet and earrings for that price.

The Dix 306 people are out in full force today in Boylan Heights. I was just solicited by some guy wanting to put up those tacky little signs in my yard. Its good to see people involved..even if I don't think sacrificing 90 acres will do any harm.

I get mailings on a regular basis in Boylan Heights. We have gotten 2 since we moved, so say one a month. We got them when we lived in Oakwood too. I also signed up for the email newsletter and get one almost every week, maybe more.

I am all for parks and greenways and all that fun stuff, but lets just be real here for a minute. The comparison to Central Park is absurd. Raleigh will probably never have as many people living in the entire city as there are living in walking distance from Central Park. Central Park should not even be used in the same sentence with Dorthea Dix campus because no matter how much preservation and park like ammenities are put there it will never be comparable to Central park. I do believe that most of the land should be set aside for a park. 200 acres is plenty of land to make an incredible urban park. With the connection to Pullen Park I dont see what the big deal is over it being 200 acres vs. 300+. It's not like someones going to walk into the park, look at it and say "Hmm, this park is only 200 acres and not worthy of my patronage because it isn't what I wanted it to be." People are going to complain and argue about whatever is done with that land. The ULI plan looks like a happy medium. Hell, the City of Raleigh's plan looked like a happy medium to me, but I guess I'm not the chest beating, I'm gonna get exactly what I want if I have to die trying type. There are much more important things to "battle" over nowadays. I'll just be happy when whatever is going to be done with it is finally done and over with.

25% sales gains from week to week seems pretty good to me. Maybe it would have helped if instead of the new Peace College sign beside Sunflowers they had put in a sign for Seaboard Station.

I got an advertisement in the mail today for Cap. City Grocery with some coupons. Maybe that will help out a little in picking up foot traffic. I live just around the corner, but haven't been there yet. I don't really have the need to go grocery shopping since me and the bf eat out a lot, but I do plan on going there when I do need to pick up some things.

Amen!!! I worked for that dingleberry for a couple days and the entire time I got to stand around and listen to gay jokes. Since I am one of the gay guys that doesn't "act or look gay" I guess he thought it would be safe to tell these kinds of jokes around me. Not only did he seem like a total homophobe, he also talked crap about the employees at Whole Foods and how people with piercings and off the wall hair have no place in society. It's a damn good thing he is no longer on the city council!

So does this mean that site 1 will not be constructed until this deck is finished in 2009? I thought that site 1 was going to be completed by 2008-09.

I don't think banning development in any area downtown should happen. Height restrictions and architectural guidelines should be in place in certain areas like the historic neighborhoods. Banning development downtown will only further drive the suburban mentality and development patterns in the area. The city didn't renovate F. St. to just let it sit there as is. There are lots on F. St. that could be developed or redeveloped like the First Citizens bldg. and the Alexander Place parking deck. Banning development wouldn't get us, as a city, anywhere. More adaptive re-use should occur, but there need to be new developments to go along with that. Old can mix with new quite well and create a truly unique and beautiful area. Sure F. St. is a historic street, but that doesn't mean that all the buildings lining the street have to be historic. For that matter there are plenty of other streets that one could call historic in downtown. If we ban new things on all of those streets downtown will never fulfill the abundant potential that is there.

I seem to recall a mall of sorts in a high rise building in Indianapolis. It even had a movie theater. When I was there it seemed pretty busy. Maybe one of the city owned sites could incorporate a kind of urban shopping center into a high rise with offices and condos.

Bill Peebles who runs (owns?) the Rialto and Colony was approached to be the person to operate the possible theater and from what I understand they were talking about it being like the Rialto in the sense that it would be more of an art house style theater with indy films. I think that kind of theater would work great.

I seem to recall there being a Starbucks in one of the renderings for the street level retail in the CC Mariott. I've looked around a bit but can't seem to find the pic. Does anyone else remember this?

That is true. Maybe there are a few too many pizza places on that one road. There's Two Guys, Pizzamerica, Pizza Hut, Gumby's, I Love NY Pizza, and another one that I can never remember the name of. I thought the cereal joint was a kinda cool concept though.

Not sure if any of you have noticed lately that quite a bit of new stuff has opened up on Hillsborough. There is a new rest. where Q Shack used to be called Raleigh Joes or something like that. Where Kinkos used to be is split into two spaces and one is Baskin Robbins/Dunkin Donuts and the other is Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches. It also looks like something is going in beside Fraziers not sure what though. The building with Sir Speedy now has a lighted red sign that says The Electric Co. and there is a new bar called Pi Lounge on the third floor, which has been through several name changes. First it was Cloud 9, then changed to Maanjri Lounge. Maybe Pi lounge is the final name. There is also a new tattoo parlor in the second floor of that building. There is a new cereal shop opening beside two guys called The Bowl if i remember correctly. Looks like Hillsborough St. is getting quite a few new tenants without the street makeover. I hope the construction, whenever it begins, doesn't hurt these places. It was nice to see so many new places open.

^ Allow me to rephrase. A poll of 700 people done by a group associated with Friends of Dix doesn't seem very credible to me.