I think that both of these companies’ leaders are savvy enough to understand that their presence in NC would only help move the state away from that recent past. NC is the most purple of purple states, and demographics tells us that a growing Triangle would likely make the purple bluer over time.
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I hope so… gerrymandering in state and federal congressional districts means that more people in cities turning blue won’t matter unless districts that tend to vote Republican also vote for democrats. If Amazon/Apple workers do end up being a positive lobbying force like @GucciLittlePig suggests, though (I personally oppose HB2 and voter ID as well, though I’m unaffiliated), then maybe there’s a glimpse of hope there.
The best-case scenario is for Amazon and Apple to announce their results before budget veto override and other controversial bills get through committee. Fingers crossed that’ll happen…
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Just illustrations… but just to show that Raleigh can grow upward in order to accommodate companies and retail. why not build a underground parking deck, under a tall high rise ?
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@maverick333 that’s exactly the situation with Charter Square, the parking is under ground.
I am visiting Austin and San Antonio getting a reality check on what our fair City does and does not have to offer. How about this plan for increasing residential density in downtown Austin?
Seriously, there is a lot to do out here but there are also a lot of people who want to do it. The congestion can be absolutely stifling. When it comes to HQ2 and potential growth of our city I’ll say it again. Be careful what you ask for.
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@Stew, i was in Austin twice last Summer and will be again in two weeks. While its downtown is bigger than Raleigh’s, its suburbia is also a huge sprawling, out of control, mess of giant freeways, feeder roads, and strip development. IMO, it’s way less desirable than it was 20+ years ago.
It’s not all about towers.
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Couldn’t agree more @John. The street level experience is where it’s at. A local told me Austin officials drug their feet when it came to implementing public transit in the hopes it would discourage people from moving there. Didn’t work, now that’ve got a transit quagmire on their hands.
Raleigh needs to be smarter in so many respects. We’re already dealing with bad sprawl though which isn’t great. I think building high density around transit stops is a good way to go.
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In my gut, Amazon alone can flip enough districts, to undo all of this.
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What about the demolished Cargill site, how many acres it that I wonder, Would be nice if Amazon picked that site, Just saying. 
Eyeballing it, perhaps 20 acres. Toss in the Ace Towing acres and you’re still way short. I’d love to see all those hodgepodge of streets connected up better between Saunders and Hammond, knowing there are greenways and things that cannot be mowed over…but rolling this whole area up into proper urban format and soldering it onto downtown, would be a solid outcome. With connected streets, maybe a somewhat continuous campus could be created down that way.
It’s going to be on the SAS campus, SAS will be baught by Amazon and the new AHQ2 is going in that location.
@Tyler
Now that would totally suck!
As much as SAS has been amazing for Cary, and it has, could you imagine if SAS stayed in Raleigh? 
That’s the word on the street, we shall see.
So from what the “word on the street” group says, Amazon (which has actually publicly stated that there preference is for an “urban area”) would build in a very suburban location?
Are you sure that you’re not thinking of Apple and it’s “possible” move to a “temporary” Cary location until it builds its RTP location?
I’d say the location cited in the recent WRAL piece is as subruban as the SAS campus.
…except, if you believe the Research Triangle Foundation’s hype about Park Center (the urban redevelopment they want to do along NC-54 between Davis Dr. and 540), the area is intended to become far less suburban in the near future.
The RTF parted ways with the developer of that master plan since it got published, and it hasn’t really been publicly clear about how that’s been going lately. It sounds like they’re waiting for Amazon/Apple to make a decision before they keep pushing on with that, though
what cul-de-sac did this rumor start on? Where would SAS go?
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SAS will be gobbled up by Bezos. Amazon is a big user of SAS products.
Tyler, your scoop is as valid as the Kane canyon, Spring Hill etc. info. No one knows but Bezos. I heard last night Bezos would locate HQ2 in Toronto to spite Trump.
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