@Street_Grid Let me address a few things. I was just using an expression, I didnât mean you live in a bubble. I just meant itâs a nice idea, but I donât think itâs realistic. Sorry if my post seemed condescending or glib. My point was that I like the trees downtown, especially on Hillsborough. And as you mentioned, thereâs 2 kind of big trees downtown: The ones by the street, and the ones inside lots. Unfortunately, a lot of the interior ones are overlooking parking lots and small buildings. If dense urban projects taking up a block or half block are getting built, thereâs no way to save the trees in there. And I for one would rather seeing a 20 story building downtown than a parking lot with some nice old trees. As for the trees by the sidewalk, most of the sidewalks are narrow and being redone with new construction, and the buildings are going to be close to those new sidewalks. Even if big trees could somehow survive the digging up of the soil where their roots are, and the lack of light from the new building, theyâd be smashed up against the side of the building, blocking windows and scraping against the glass. I just doubt many projects are going to keep the old trees; instead theyâll plant little trees that are useless except to break up the streetscape scenery. As far as Taverna Agora, I love what they did with that place, and the upstairs seating is great with the trees all around. But itâs still basically just adding rooftop seating to a small building. Itâs not on the same scale as 301 Hillsborough. Again, Iâm not anti-tree. I like what they add downtown. I just wouldnât be hopeful regarding them in any project where theyâre clearing out a large parcel of land.
My comments are often brief because I donât expect people want to read an essay from me and because Iâm usually posting from a phone. To show you that I didnât mean to be dismissive, I actually got on my computer to type this reply back to you.
@GucciLittlePig Thank you for the reply. I was hoping that you werenât being intentionally condescending (I think that phrase is a bit condescending by nature).
Anyway, I agree that a new 20-story building is definitely going to be a huge improvement on that lot. Would be nice if they save some of the trees on the street side of the sidewalk, but even if not it should be a great project.
I donât think itâs necessarily a foregone conclusion that all of the curb-strip trees will be removed, or can even be removed. I donât know all of the details, but Iâd suspect that the actual property does include the land on which those oaks stand. The crepe myrtles are most likely history, but I can see the oaks being preserved if the city cared enough to do something about it. If they did, it would be an effort that Iâd support.
According to the construction plan, there will likely be very few trees saved along Hillsborough Street (every X is a demolished tree or light pole). The document does state a âtree preservation plan will be provided prior to constructionâ so there is hope that a few large trees along the historic corridor will be preserved in some fashion.
They are actually keeping more than I had anticipated. I counted 5 trees total they are planning on keeping on Hillsborough St. Especially the main large ones on each corner of Hillsborough St. are staying
Damn, am I the only one that hates this? The glass looks nice but my god the absolutely MASSIVE parking pedestal just sticks out like a sore thumb- and in some parts even resembles the Wake County jailhouse next to our Justice Center (notably the Morgan x Harrington corner). The almost-matching height of the â3â âtowersâ essentially make it look like one GIANT box (a bigger box than Raleigh has ever seen). And speaking of height- I think theyâre being extremely generous and exaggerating how tall these will look by a huge margin, here. Theyâll be a few feet taller than the Hilton (the rendering makes them appear almost 100 ft taller). Man, that exposed parking pedestal is just a huge downer. The street experience will just be looking up at a wall of concrete down the entire block. I cannot be the only one that thinks the cons outweigh the pros by A LOTâŚ?
Regardless of whether or not the trees are saved, the visual approach to the Capitol is going to be forever changed because of this project. Itâs going to narrow the visual field from a broadening horizon, with the distant focal point being the Capitol, to one where thereâs a new focal point upon approaching from the west.
I would absolutely love this and it would make me appreciate this project so much more, but it hasnât happened with ANY parking deck built in Raleigh yet, and this one doesnât seem to indicate it will be the first.
The city should be demanding this as a trade-off for zoning variance requests. Alas, theyâve already sunk all their cards into their unsustainable affordable housing scheme.
I think these trees were planted in the 80âs along with the addition of the faux gas lights. That was back when they were trying to maintain the image of a boulevard lined with mansions but almost no actual mansions to go with that stuff. I guess the current plans have given up on that aspect and are full on trying for the connected office/glass style urban build out from One Glenwood to the Capitol. Its more implicit than explicit it seems. FWIW Blount Streetâs Red Oaks and Fayettevilleâs White Oaks are maturing nicely and make for nice walks too.
