Improving downtown will help a lot. Bringing the hockey stadium to downtown would spur private tourism investment. These things will appeal to business folks deciding job locations.
9 Likes
^This is the answer. The thing that dogs Raleigh in nearly every backhanded compliment or āreadā I read is that itās just a giant suburb. Objectively change that narrative, and you have the foundation upon which to build a new brand for the city.
I think that we have to be realistic in our expectations about that shift as the city moves through that process. The brand will lag the work; perceptions donāt change overnight.
As I see it, this particular council is doing its part to make that happen with clearing the way for infill development by accelerating rezoning cases in favor of dense urban development around the core of the city.
IMO, the next thing to do (if not do it simultaneously) is stop selling the city as a great place to raise a family. Everyone knows that already and we donāt have to spend our energy and time on it. Let that continue to live in the data. It doesnāt need to be pushed. Sell the experiences, creativity, innovation, and opportunity that the city has to offer. Celebrate the things and people in the city that are on the edge, not the comfortable middle. The comfortable middle doesnāt need to be sold because, once again, everyone knows that already.
9 Likes
Yeah but what do we do in the meantime, that a few years from now.
I did hear something recently about Charlotte giving Raleigh a run for its money on the tech jobs front but not sure how true that is, notwithstanding this article.
Addressing another comment here - I donāt think a hockey stadium or pretty gateway to the city mean anything. Do people move somewhere because of a hockey stadium or a nicely decorated bridge? Why did people on this board move here? I did for a job and because I could afford to live here in a way I couldnāt in Boston or southwest Connecticut. I also was attracted to the climate and the fact that it was growing with good jobs that paid good salaries - so I would be surrounded by other people with a certain income and education level which usually leads to things those people want like nice restaurants, access to parks and activities, increase in home values, etc.
A hockey stadium in downtown Hartford didnāt do anything to keep the hockey team there, let alone anything else. You need things that appeal to people every day, not once in a while, in my opinion.
6 Likes
I think that there have been stories about the tech scene growing at a faster rate in Charlotte, but that growth rate is on a lower employment base number. I think thatās how it goes.
As for a stock trading firm, that seems to align well with Charlotteās finance industry.
3 Likes
Not sure about making someone decide to move to a place. But having a distinct bridge(s) over I-40 through the main part of the city would leave a lasting impact on folks travelling through. Just think about how many folks from the midwest (IL, IN, KY, OH, wPA, WV, etc) drive right through town on I-40 enroute to the NC beaches? Those distinct bridges may do nothing for the actual city of Raleigh, but those folks making that long boring drive down and back every year would remember those bridges and say āHey weāre in Raleigh, weāre almost to the beach!!ā giving them something (a landmark?) to look forward to every year on their annual pilgrimages to the coast. Right now the drive through Raleigh (hell, everything from WS to the beach) is pretty vanilla with our lovely NCDOT standard concrete bridges. At least back home, our local landmark for all the passerby tourists was Pilot Mountain (aka The Boob). Silly as it is, folks remember that kind of stuff. Also, just think how much out of state money flows into NC b/c of the tourism industry on an annual basis. Would be nice if our state capital could kinda stand out in our visitorsā minds, donātchthink?
4 Likes
Took the words right out my mouth here! lol
And I guess Iāll share my story of what made me move here too from Atlanta -
It was the amount of green space / parks. All the development (Iām an engineer so big development nerd), the forward thinking in how development (from suburbs to downtown) is done here that really drew me in. Again Iām a nerd but gateways and a nice shiny new urban core really draw me in and I think could do wonders.
We need something that really grabs passthroughs attention instead of just āoh thereās little downtown Raleigh off in the distanceā while passing on 40. Make them want to get off and actually check it out!
12 Likes
Really? I feel like infrastructure planning and development around here is an afterthought to the unmitigated sprawl. Reactionary/status quo are the words that comes to mind. 
Iām assuming they mean Kaneās developments(?).
How familiar are you with planning and developments in other cities (especially other places we like to compare ourselves with for business recruitment? Because Atlantaās Gulch, Tysons and National Landing near DC, and Redmond, WA easily come to mind as other cities with major projects that led to big arguments about public housing, zoning rules, transit access, and walkabilityā¦
If thatās any indication, in the grand scheme of things, I think Raleigh is actually doing pretty well; at least our City Council is solidly pro-development (and has actually kinda been a great example in terms of pro-density policy-making, as of late).
4 Likes
Not quite sure where to put this. This is report from BBC on how working from home is not going to mean all the time (or even most of time) or not having an office building to go to. Seems that tech companies are changing the narrative about working from home now that covid-19 is not becoming an excuse.
Guess this could be good news to developers of office buildings in Raleigh.
3 Likes
Without getting into politics as to the reason of these bills, just wanted to note that it looks like GA is facing some corporate blowback from rushing through the āVoting Billā. Reminds me of what we through after midnight passage of the bathroom bill a few years back.
Could we benefit from companies keeping away from GA? Not that Coca-Cola or Delta will relocate anytime soon, but perhaps some smaller fish looking to expand.
3 Likes
I suspect that thereās more at play than is being communicated. For one, companies accept incentives from states to bring jobs to their communities. If companies allow their employees to work from anywhere, they might not be fulfilling the terms of those incentives.
That said, donāt let that pendulum swing in the opposite direction so quickly. Things have fundamentally changed, and the dynamics of how people are going to work going forward will look vastly different for many people. I know more than a handful of people whose workplaces have already been dismantled and folks were sent home permanently. Yet others I know are working for companies who are shifting to the new āHybrid modelā of working thatās nothing more than a hyper expansion of mobile work programs that companies have been implementing for the last 2 decades.
Workplace will not go away, but itās also not coming back for many in a pre-pandemic form.
5 Likes
Thank you for the good read! 
While I am all about in-person social engagement, I am of the believe that more and more jobs will (should?) provide the work from home option. It can be an enticement for employment from one company over another. And lets be real, you know that Google, Apple, Amazon and others just spent multi-millions at least in building these HUGE office buildings across the country. Quite a loss or potential concern for loss?
3 Likes
as long as our republican led legislature doesnāt do something equally as stupid(ā¦which is 50/50. They have tried to push some āanti-transā legislation recently that creates an issue where there isnāt oneā¦just like HB2. Fortunately the GOP leadership seems to recognize the idiocy of getting trapped in social issues now and hopefully will focus on real challenges like job creation/economic recruitment. Helps they donāt have a super majority any longer and Cooper will veto any dumb legislationā¦unlike Georgia.
5 Likes
If thereās no super majority, the general assembly isnāt going spend political capital on anything that they know the governor will veto. It will make them look weak.
1 Like
I read this a couple of days ago (I forget the specific āthingā they were losing) and thought the same thing. Perhaps we can take advantage somehow.
MLB all star game so far.
Delta has threatened to leave over various things in the past but theyāre too deeply rooted. Same with coke id assume
1 Like
Take this with a grain of salt, as it is from the TBJā¦
" āWe think this will be the biggest year weāve had in 10 years,ā said Johnny Griffin, head of the Wilmington Regional Film Commission.
And it could get even bigger, as one of North Carolinaās biggest competitors ā Georgia ā when it comes to film sites has a public relations problem. Reports show that Georgiaās new voting law is getting staunch criticism from Hollywood ā potentially the kind of outcry that causes production companies to ship their projects elsewhere."
7 Likes
Oh yea - lots of films have been pushing back against GA since Kemp was elected but they again have such a base and footing there that itās hard to leave.