Lol like yeah we were the 29th city to host an outdoor NHL game! (Years behind cities such as Stateline and South Bend which don’t even have teams). BUT OMG CHARLOTTE HOSTING A MINOR LEAGUE HOCKEY GAME OUTDOORS??? BLASPHEMY!!! Let me know when Raleigh finally gets a downtown stadium to host events at…cuz we got two 
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Article @ WRAL on Midwood…aspirational quote from their chef for the flamewars folx…
Sorry, LoLs…it’s a screenshot - go to their site for the vid
So, I was walking by Midwood yesterday on my evening walk and can’t help but hate how they treated their facade at the corner of West and Johnson. It’s bad enough that the main windows are blacked out and the corner lacks any activation whatsoever, but when the Sun goes down and you can see into the space through the transom windows, it’s a complete design disaster! You see into the ceiling of the kitchen/back operations space with its hospital like finishes and lighting. I can’t believe that Kane let them do this. While it’s too late to salvage activation of the corner, I’d at least like to see those transoms covered like the main windows or have some sort of translucent pattern or branding over the transom to mitigate the sheer ugliness of the night view.
What disturbs me the most though is how this urban development turns inward on itself and puts its back to community at this corner. Both the Peace Building and now The Line building offer nothing to the pedestrian on either corner of West and Johnson.
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That’s what all of these multi-block/multi-building fake mini-“downtown” developments are. Fenton, North Hills, soon the Midtown Exchange, Smoky Hollow, Seaboard Station. It’s dumb as hell… why not the best of both worlds and create street interaction on both sides of the development?
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Fenton is well designed. The best of the best. Strong debut. Hope they add more!
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Fenton is a glorified mall. 100% suburban design for car brains that require parking within 20 feet of their final destination. In other words - it sucks. Completely antiseptic/anti-urban environment.
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Much better than a single-use mall, worse than a real neighborhood. It’s Cary, it’s fine, better than whatever else would have gone up there. Still need to eat at Superica, I’ve been excited about that opening.
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Yeah but you can park there for free. 
In our car oriented world, that absolves all sins. #urbanismyoudriveto
Smoky Hollow didn’t need to be this way because the storefront does indeed wrap the corner. It’s the horrible decisions made in fit-up of the parcel that killed the corner.
Show the city this nice activated urban corner in plans and get the project approved, then ignore it altogether in reality. SMDH.
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The masses and business that have signed leases disagree. Downtown Raleigh with all of its disjointed glory and shiny new developments can’t seem to find similar success. Oh by the way, just in downtown Durham for the full tour. Great new architecture mixed with the old. Better connected and more attractive than Raleigh. Even has a baseball stadium, fountains, techies, more interesting hipsters, and cooler bars and restaurants. Bull City as a whole may not compare to Raleigh, but the downtown core I say is superior! Flame 
on !!!
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Show me on the doll where Raleigh hurt you 
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See: Contrarian
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He a little right downtown is a ghost town on most weekend new development is nice. But there aren’t enough bars there in one Street Glenwood they aren’t scattered throughout. No business district vibe, and the designs of most buildings are bland. Even if their 40 stories have been approved the design always comes out the same glass. Where the lighting where the modern architecture?
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The bars and restaurants in Durham have a more curated look to them . Not like some on Glenwood that seem as if they were slapped together with scraps from a DYI project. Cool signage, good outdoor spaces. Lots of reuse of old buildings. Durham just has a better stock of old commercial buildings due to its manufacturing history. For example: Former CCB headquarters now museum hotel. Meanwhile in Raleigh former Sir Walter hotel now chopped up and most interior charm removed . There is a vacant Chick-fil-A and 4 other vacant commercial areas to choose from however………
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#bringbackchickfila
.
Way more discarded dime bags in DT Durham that only your dog will find.
Nah, actually functioning sidewalks with proper maintenance performed.
"Durham has a more cohesive downtown with pretty buildings and better nightlife options…
…and cleaner streets with a more functional city government."
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Durham definitely has a lot more going on in a smaller, cohesive downtown area. They are lucky to have the American Tobacco Campus and the Bull Tobacco Building, along with the baseball stadium and DPAC. I do think they lack numerous good dining choices - I would think there would be more great restaurants within walking distance to DPAC. My favorite (Piedmont) closed before the pandemic and I miss it!
Edit: notwithstanding the above, I would find Durham boring pretty quickly as it is much smaller.
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Durham downtown within and adjacent to the loop is about the size of one of Raleigh’s five downtown districts.
Benefit is everything has to fit in one walkable area. But on the other hand there is only one walkable area.
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Interesting, what do you find that downtown Raleigh offers that Durham doesn’t.