One of my favorite Fayetteville St. events, Brewgaloo, is this Friday and Saturday downtown. A month ago USA today’s Readers’ Choice Awards nominated it as Best Beer festival in the Country.
Of course, the Indy finds a way to dispute this, as if the editors decided on the winner, ignoring the fact it was a READERS’ CHOICE AWARD.
" But the best? In the country? Then again, who are we to argue with the tastemakers at USA Today , especially when they’re hyping a local event that does a lot of good."
For tourism purposes, It is definitely the College Basketball tradition. If I were reps from the tourism agency, I’d try to come up with packages or self-guided options with different activities. This could be 3 blocks of tickets to see games at each stadium, scheduled tours of campuses and/or hoops facilities, the making of an IMAX showing of the regions basketball history. But this needs to be a coordinated and organized effort. It won’t be easy, but in the long run I’d think it would be a huge success.
I also particularly love the greenway and parks system as I run a lot. This is more of a quality of life thing and more for residents & future residents, but I think branding Raleigh as a fitness capital would do good for its image.
Our education level (percentage of people with advanced degrees) is pretty unique also for a major metro area. But that is pure marketing/appearance and has little substance.
Like this idea. I’ve always thought Raleigh should embrace its role as the “hub” of the region and offer half-day and full-day bus tours for those staying downtown without cars. Some ideas:
It’s always a lame oak leaf or a boring acorn. Well… I think it should be a badass squirrel with Sir Walter Raleigh’s coat of arms!
-Fits the oak theme.
-Fits the history.
-Colors evoke NCSU and the Hurricanes.
-Simple enough to clearly see on a flag, yet interesting.
-Most importantly… will make Durham jealous. And instantly gives an image of Raleigh that can go on anything marketable.
Edit: cleaned it up a bit. Now the shield doubles as an acorn.
I’m a fan of the oak theme and history/colors, and I agree with @KenAA that the squirrel is a great idea for a city mascot. But I have to disagree on this being “simple enough to clearly see” as a flag.
It’s important to come up with a distinct look and symbol for a Raleigh-like flag. But do we need to sacrifice the utility and best-practices of a flag, in the process? With these principles in mind, I’m wondering if this design would still fall under the trope of “overly complicated and hard-to-see flying paintings made by those Americans and their towns”.
That video was in large part inspiration for the flag design I’m aiming for.
The other inspiration comes from the flag of Wales, often held in high regard by vexillology nerds as one of the best flags of any country ever.
This is a more detailed design than the one I’m aiming for–although I posted a very rough sketch and will improve it over time. Both are still fairly simple though: there is a singular purpose illustrated on the flag. There aren’t too many colors. There is no text. And from 50 feet up, you could still easily tell what it is.
We could give it a nickname and use it as the city’s mascot! There could be squirrel statues across the city! Squirrel-themed celebrations! The possibilities are endless.
I scorn a squirrel! SOBs have chewed my wiring, gnawed nice plants, and made various messes around my houses. You won’t get my vote on that flag! But I digress.
My dog actually caught and killed a squirrel in our backyard this past Thursday. Didn’t think it was possible. I guess you could say he’s the ultimate NIMBY.
A city flag needs to be simple and symbolic. It needs to stay away from being too specific or overly detailed. It should be easy to recognize and something that a kid could replicate easily in art class.
