nah not me. moving on. back to the topic?
I think that it’s a rather large jump to presume that people don’t care about housing the low-income people who currently occupy the Sir Walter. I think that many people see the Sir Walter as Raleigh’s ONLY opportunity to have the sort of iconic hotel that speaks to Raleigh’s history in the way that the Sir Walter can. I mean, it was actually named “Sir Walter Hotel” and it was built as a grand hotel in the first place, that has a short but prominent history in the state.
I don’t think that wanting it be a grand hotel again is an either/or type situation. The way you frame it presumes that everyone who wants to see it restored to its glory cares about rich people more than poor people. I think that’s an unfair assumption.
15 Likes
Your rhetorical flourish can be quite exacerbating. Discussing a dream about the Walter Raleigh need not evoke images of Scrooge kicking Tiny Tim’s crutch out from under him.
4 Likes
Here’s the quote with your suggestions for what I “shoulda” said. But anyway, I agree with you that it would be productive for us to move back to the topic, and I should have included in my “dreams” post that I dream of razing the unsightly old warehouse outside my window at 310 Harrington St. and replacing it with 20-story, ADA-compliant transit-oriented development.
@JeepCSC Sure, it definitely is a rhetorical flourish, but in practice, that’s clearly what this would entail. One of the three posts at least acknowledged the loss of affordable housing and that affordable housing is also important, but the other two didn’t even do that much, and none of the three suggested keeping any affordable housing on that site or else coming up with an alternative plan for where to house those folks.
I’d certainly be open-minded to proposals for a win-win that would increase the stock of affordable housing in the city and protect the current residents while also creating the possibility for new uses for that space, but certainly nothing remotely like that came across in the posts.
1 Like
But you are still presuming that the poor are kicked to the curb as part of a restoration project, as if there isn’t any option other than to house them in this formerly grand hotel.
To draw a parallel to a dream of mine, I realize that something has to be done with transportation, and at least in the short term about parking, if we eliminated a lot of street parking. I didn’t mention it, but I know that it has to be addressed and that it’s a serious consideration.
1 Like
It’s a wish list thread. If you had questions on how to make dreams come true, feel free to ask. To go straight for the jugular on, again, a wish list thread, is too much. It doesn’t take the thread as intended. And even if this was a more serious discussion it implies an almost sinister motivation that kind of derails actual conversation.
3 Likes
I wonder if anyone ever asked the people who live in the Sir Walter if they would prefer to move to a new building nearby in a quieter location. My guess would be that they would prefer to move. The street was very loud this weekend with Hopscotch and the residents gathered on the street were having trouble having conversation. The new owners are putting millions of dollars into the refurbishing of that building which, along with some tax incentives, would go a long way toward building a new home for the current residents and allowing the hotel to be refurbished as a hotel.
4 Likes
They might be, but, again, the posts did not seem to be overly concerned with soliciting the opinions of the current residents. And when the building was initially put up for sale, the residents were, in fact, very, very concerned about what would happen to their housing, which is perfectly and totally reasonable from their perspective.
Oh my God, I just started reading the comments on Sir Walter Apartments thread. Okay, I am going to direct all future Sir Walter-related discussion to that thread so it doesn’t clog up this one, but @John @JeepCSC having read that thread, the “images of Scrooge kicking Tiny Tim’s crutch out from under him” actually appear to be spot-on.
1 Like
Lighten up Francis. This is an online thread discussing what one would do if one actually HAD the resources. At no point did anyone suggest kicking people out to the curb or anything like that. The DREAM didn’t address any of the issues that would obviously have to be addressed. There’s no malicious intent. The DREAM didn’t look into such things as long-term financing or asbestos remediation either. Why? Because its a DREAM!
4 Likes
Donovan, quit the trolling regarding a potential restoration of the Sir Walter Hotel.
1 Like
Since Raleigh doesn’t have a water feature I’ve always had the idea of converting two to three blocks of a downtown street into a canal. The cross streets can be rebuilt as ornate bridges? 
11 Likes
I’m going to have to agree with others @daviddonovan. Let’s keep it 
dreamy here. 
Any posts from here on out that aren’t dreamy will be flagged.
10 Likes
I would construct a big cascade coming off the little bluff into Devereux Meadows, and something akin of Trevi where Capital splits into Dawson/McDowell.
I would erect more monuments, a bunch more. Starting with an obelisk, of some appropriate size, in front of Memorial Aud. That would punctuate the vista nicely.
It would be great to have something at the Hillsboro and Glenwood. Roundabouts are ideal spots.
As the state capitol, I always felt Raleigh had a unique responsibility to celebrate the triumphs and tragedies of people of the old north state.
1 Like
More dreamy stuff from my perspective.
Apple Store
Multiplex Cinema (I would have loved for Alamo to be in the core like it is in Austin.
Significant water feature, even if it’s a man made canal.
A neighborhood park in Glenwood South, including a dog park
An abundance of small format retail spots
Expanded and a greater density of CitrixCycle stations
Feeder trolley routes to RLine from downtown edge communities in all directions. In addition, RLine that ran clockwise as well and counterclockwise
A rowhouse/brownstone district as a transition from the DT core to at least one established neighborhood.
Some sort of new architectural icon for the center of the city that would draw visitors. It could be a tower like the space needle, or an arch, or something else.
A strolling path that connects the districts.
Activated sidewalks under the new Peace Street Bridge. Put some small retail outlets under there.
6 Likes
What about a downtown Bojangles? With the loss of Chick FilA, I’d imagine it’d do quite well. Maybe on Fayetteville st.
5 Likes
@john I too would LOVE to see a district with beautiful historic looking brownstones! (as mentioned in another thread) Where in your option do you think this could actually happen? I know we have mentioned on peace from glenwood to boylan…And maybe continue down boylan to connect with what they are building now? Do you think the brownstones north of the Lincoln apartments SE raleigh could be expanded to another block? I would love to see a larger section of them like you see in boston, ny, etc with beautiful alley ways, etc.
1 Like
Thanks, Leo. And thanks for creating and maintaining this space for discussion. I really appreciate the work you do here. Serious, honest question, though:
If I dream of creating a city where our most vulnerable and disadvantaged residents are treated (and spoken about) with compassion, and their needs are given consideration on par with those of us who already have the benefit of a lot more privilege, is that still considered dreamy?
Can these dreams be about the values we exhibit as a city, and not just about material things?
Sure, but communicate that as your dream, not going after others because of how they’re communicating theirs or suggesting they’re wrong. Back to dreaming!
I dream that most everybody’s dreams here come true!
4 Likes