Project page is now live for the Commerce Pl. redevelopment: https://raleighnc.gov/projects/commerce-place. There will be an in-person booth at the Nov 3 First Friday for the community to discuss the project with staff and give their input.
Apologies if there’s an existing thread that’s more appropriate for this!
How cool is that! I’ve always thought it was a neat street when walking around the Warehouse District.
Asheville redid Wall Street as a woonerf in 1986 and it has stood the test of time exceptionally well. It is the closest thing to a perfect shared street I have seen in the USA.
Raleigh should copy this almost literally brick-for-brick, tree-for-tree, bollard-for-bollard.
Ok I’ll bite. What is a woonerf?
Please take this as the light-hearted jab I am intending:
Lol. I actually did google it. But I figured a bunch of others would want to k ow as well. So I took one for the team.
In 10 years when the City comes up with a plan, it will be too expensive. They’ll cut back the project to a street repaving.
I actually wondered about a similar scenario the other day. I was in a conversation and was about to Google something that someone mentioned, then I stopped myself. I asked the person to define what they were talking about since we were in a conversation. If I Googled everything (which I normally do), then my conversations would be a lot shorter. Googling something and the results returned might not do it justice.
This is an exciting idea. I’m curious of the implementation overall. The streetscape would fall on the city, but for the street itself, it would require some businesses to come in to make it interesting.
Overall I thought the Warehouse District could be a shopping district. Granted they have Boxcar and Crank Arm (which is bar/brewery), but some retail shops would be nice to go in the area to go with Urban Outfitters, Raleigh Denim, The Flourish Market, and the antique store. They wouldn’t make for a nightlife scenery, but I’m sure throwing in an additional restaurant would be fine.
I appreciate that. I assume it’s related to a werewolf but I didn’t want to look it up. Still waiting for a reply so I don’t have to. Lol
The “Let Me Google That” link above is pre-filled out for that topic. Requires no typing.
I laugh at these questions because typing out the question requires more work than finding the answer.
I avoided the thread for awhile thinking someone sneezed while typing the title out. I figured I’d wait until someone edited it until it started picking up replies.
It didn’t provide an answer when I clicked on it. Still waiting. It’s the principle of the thing. If a bunch of city nerds want to make up words like stroad (makes me think of chode btw) and Woolworth-werewolf, I expect a spoonfed explanation for the child that I am.
Its Dutch. And its a place where people gather to shoot nerf guns at each other while yelling “Woo!!” Just what DTR needs, imho.
Here’s a useful life hack for those that have questions but crave spoon feeding.
Press on the word in question until it is highlighted. Second pop-up action option is “Look Up”. Results are dictionary meanings including pronunciation. Also includes relevant links including Wikipedia.
No typing required. More knowledge imparted than anyone might volunteer.
Lmao makes complete sense,and I’m 
% on board too. The only Dutch words I know are stroopwafel and foeder. I’m not telling anyone what they mean though. Gotta Google it.
Or someone could have just post this, and save all of this cofeve….
Also I broke down and looked it up. This sounds neat. I bet it works well in Europe where it’s not America. We’ll see how it goes.
Woonerf (“Street for living”) is a Dutch term for common space created to be shared by pedestrians, bicyclists, and low speed motor vehicles. They are typically streets without curbs and sidewalks, and vehicles are slowed by placing trees, planters, parking areas, and other obstacles in the street.
Because this looks just like Raleigh, I can see it fitting in.
You don’t have to go overseas to see this in action. Wall Street in Asheville is absolutely perfect, and actually looks quite a bit like Commerce Street.
TBH you don’t even have to go that far. Go about 5 or 6 blocks east to City Market and you will find something that is actually pretty close. Basically, just replace the curbs with bollards.
Alley, it’s a dutch word for an alley
I was wondering if someone was going to mention City Market. Blake Street might be more commercially-driven than a woonerf, and has curbs, but the spirit is there.
