I guess the “Amen” was tongue-in-cheek? I completely agree. They don’t financially contribute to the coffers of the city on its most valuable land. It’s a sham in my opinion.
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Yes it was 
And I agree. I’m also not a part of any church community so I recognize my bias.
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Nevermind, not worth it
I was always under the impression that parking was fair game on Sundays downtown. In fact most church goers are told this. The city most likely allows it, for the fact that it’s for a few hours a week during a non-busy part of the day, that are we live in the bible belt south. I think it’s fair, the other option would be them to purchase a parking lot that is only used a few hours a week and otherwise would sit empty the rest of the week. Seeing how space is becoming limited. I chose to deal with Sunday church parking.
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Aren’t most municipal decks free on Sunday anyway? Why can’t they use those and the free (legal) parking on streets? I don’t understand this argument - just because we live in the south, folks should be able to park in no parking zones and bike lanes?
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Just thinking, if this were to be done I’d guess you’d need to have handicap parking windows on the legal parking next to the church for Sunday mornings. May not be enough legal parking to cover handicap needs, hence bike lanes and no parking zone parking.
As mentioned before, seems to be a water muddying situation for local leaders. @jmstoneburner brings up a good point that this is a low traffic period anyways.
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Sunday mornings are big for many cyclists. If the lane is theirs, why should it ever be taken away from their priority?
Parking free downtown on Sunday mornings is fine with me as long as it’s parking in actual parking spaces/lots. I’m good with that because those who “brunch” or assemble with their cars to go cycling, etc, instead of going to church have access as well.
It’s insulting enough that churches don’t pay property taxes on their worship properties and then expect special treatment for their congregants on the use of public infrastructure. It’s especially insulting when they want priority use of infrastructure that is already prioritized for other users.
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I work downtown and have been mad at the parking as well. But then a coworker brought up the fact that if they didn’t make that rule then the church goers would take all the free spots early and there wouldn’t be as many spots for people coming DT to eat/business.
That made me less upset about it.
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Clearly there is a difference of opinion here on this forum. I have been biting my tongue for a while now. Can we please stop the church bashing already?
While churches may not contribute financially to the coffers of the City, I assure you that those who attend said churches gain a lot from it in nonmonetary forms.
Seriously, chill out folks, it is really on a few hours a week.
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A church is just like any other establishment. Theres no need to treat them with kid gloves. If thats your approach, then i suggest you rethink your thought process. They already dont pay taxes sooo…
Also no one is bashing ideologies, people were critiquing the churches relationship with the community and city benefits. I know this is a sensitive subject where tradition rears its ugly ahead but again just because its tradition doesnt mean its right.
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But it’s 365 days a year of not paying property taxes on land that requires public infrastructure to access. Essentially, we are all subsidizing those tax exemptions. It’s not okay in my book, especially when these downtown churches are sitting on some of the most valuable land of the city.
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Not really sure where to put these so here goes nothing. I had half a battery left when I drove by so I decided to be a little nosey.
Almost. So close…
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The bones are great, but it feels so unfinished. I hope it ends up like those medieval churches where they keep adding decoration and new facades as the years go by and they find new funding.
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Oh man, since we’re sharing photos of the cathedral…
Here’s some old ones from 2016 at undisclosed location(s).
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$75 Million + to build this during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression…would think Jesus might have preferred some poor out of work folks get fed or housed… instead of a giant edifice…#TONEDEAF
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If you’re interested in what this looked like over 6 years and several drones ago:
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The Wilmington Street Deck is free on Sundays and just one block west, but I would guess that most people parking on Person Street might have some mobility issues, just a guess tho.
I do think that the Person street block right there is some weird black hole of parking laws. It’s marked like it’s a bike lane, but it’s not listed as an official bike lane: https://cityofraleigh0drupal.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/drupal-prod/COR12/TrafficScheduleNo26BicycleLanes.pdf
—So I think the law defaults to it just being a no parking zone, and as such, parking is allowed there Sunday mornings. It could just be a case of, in downtown, bicyclists ignore a bunch of traffic laws, scooter-ists ignore a bunch of traffic laws, cars ignore a bunch of traffic laws, pedestrians ignore a bunch of walking laws, and everyone just kind of gets along, mostly.
2015 - 2017 were the middle of an economic crisis? Could have fooled me.
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Yea, officially opened July of 2017. I’d give my left nut to go back to that economic reality.
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We need a Batman logo emoji immediately.
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