A great video of why Raleigh needs a fountain!
10 Likes
moore square used to have a small one…though it got to smelling funny.
There’s nothing worse than a small one that smells funny. 
1 Like
Interesting B-Roll footage of Raleigh with Fortnite stuff for the November Fortnite eSport event happening at the Raleigh CC.
6 Likes
I’m curious, what kind of tourism do you think we could attract in big numbers?
We don’t have the year-round weather of the big theme park meccas (Orlando, San Antonio, San Diego/Anaheim).
We don’t have much in the way of beautiful architecture and history (Charleston, Savannah, Asheville)
And we don’t have the size of most cities that have a high density of really strong cultural attractions (keeping it in the Sun Belt - Atlanta, Phoenix, Houston)
I like Raleigh, it’s a really nice place to live, but for tourist dollars it’s hard to see any one area outside of college sports where it really stands out. It’d take a LOT of investment to make it happen.
1 Like
The dinosaur exhibit could be a big regional draw.
3 Likes
Actually I’ll go a step further than that. Based on that article, growth in the luxury market is driven by specific segments of tourists, specifically Russian, Middle Eastern and Chinese tourists. It’s probably a good assumption that targeting Russian tourists is probably not the best business plan today…it leaves the other two. What exactly does Raleigh have that’d draw tourists from the Middle East or China, which in turn may drive the attention of the luxury brands?
2 Likes
That’s just it, Raleigh needs to think more creatively - our music scene has always been a bright spot, so more small-scale music venues, festivals; and more city-funding for said scene would be amazing.
We’ve long wanted to be called the “Arts Capital of the South” but I’ve yet to see any major public investment in that. Again, more small-scale galleries and art installations- bonus points for interactive exhibits like the Meow Wolf interactive/living art galleries around the US would be great.
And I’ve been saying this; the soon-to-open (dates TBA) COMPLETE T-REX SKELELTON exhibit at the Science Museum - which will be the ONLY one in the WORD- is sure to be a major tourist destination in itself, but even more activities at both the science and history museums would be welcome. I’ve always said some sort of large-scale indoor botanical gardens with animals would be sweet, i.e. the upper floors of the National Aquarium in Baltimore. These are just my ideas.
4 Likes
I’m kind of okay with Raleigh not being a draw for tons of tourists from the Middle East, China, and Russia seeking luxury goods. That’s not really our thing here, and I have no desire for it to be. I also doubt this would ever happen. In fact, I don’t really want Raleigh to be a big tourist town. No one who lives in touristy places really likes that aspect, except if they are making money off of it.
I’d definitely like downtown to have more apparent things to do for actual visitors, whether it’s a conference, Comic Con, a concert/performance, family, friends, or whatever. Raleigh is great to live in, but it’s not that immediately fun to visit, unless you actually do some research. I do that for every city I visit, and I always find plenty of fun things to do, but most people seem not to.
14 Likes
I feel Dix Park has huge potential to be a draw or something the city is known for. I know we’re talking 20-30 years out but most cities of Raleigh’s size or greater don’t have an opportunity to develop something like that
5 Likes
I think you’re all missing the biggest opportunity here. Raleigh invested a lot of money in a T-Rex, and we have Dix Park.
Why put a big fence around Dix and let the T-Rex roam around out there. We could call it something like Dinosaur Park or Park of Dinos? Just spitballing here…
5 Likes
Hmm you may be on to something here. Is the name Jurassic Park taken? (even if the T-rex lived in the Cretaceous Period).
I’m not trying to be a dick (it just comes naturally), but I’m kind of laughing that an empty, hilly grass area outside downtown and a dinosaur skeleton are going to suddenly transform Raleigh into Charleston or Orlando. I might check out either of those things if I was visiting, but I wouldn’t exactly fly to here from Boston or Denver just for the chance to see them.
5 Likes
Jurassic Park sounds stupid. Nobody would like that.
Now Cretaceous Park has a nice ring to it.
Sorry, back to making Raleigh famous for something. I do agree with @Jake that I expect the T-Rex skeleton to bring a lot of foot traffic. Think of the educational aspect specifically. From elementary school tours in the area to high-level education research that’s coming from this specimen. It’s actually a pretty big deal (pun intended). And it’s not just the T-Rex, it’s a Triceratops as well as they were apparently in a duel and both lost. Now Raleigh wins!
2 Likes
Jurassic Dix Park? Dino-Dix Park? Any better??
1 Like
Damn, totally forgot there was a Triceratops skeleton included!!! Yeah, this is going to be HUGE when it opens, and I can bet good money that people will be flying here from all over the country, if not world, to see it. To reiterate; this will be the only complete T-Rex skeleton on display in the world.
5 Likes
Ok, so I love dinosaurs, and the Triceratops battle makes it a truly kickass exhibit. I’m very stoked about this.
I will say for visitors there’s not much difference between a 100% complete skeleton and a 90% complete one with the missing pieces filled in with plaster copies like Sue in Chicago:
5 Likes
Wake County hired JLL to do a whole study on this a few years ago. I think there really isn’t a magic bullet to suddenly make this a prime tourist destination, but they had several suggestions, such as increasing the size of the convention center and hosting more conferences, making the area a regional sports cluster (with things like the indoor sports facility planned for Cary), supporting the four big draws we already have (NC Museum of Art, NC Museum of Natural Sciences, NC Museum of History, and Marbles Kids Museum), plus support Dix becoming a fifth.
None of those things is going to make Raleigh on par with the major tourist destinations in the US, but they can all incrementally increase tourism.
https://www.townofcary.org/home/showpublisheddocument/23456/637166879297500000
9 Likes
Sorry everyone, but Durham already owns this for NC…
That museum was easily my favorite local one as a kid. It wasn’t until I started taking Latin in 7th grade that I started appreciating the art museum’s Roman collection.
2 Likes