on an extreme level, i’d love to see glenwood south take the form of something like the downtown mall in charlottesville, which is totally pedestrianized but lets vehicle traffic through every few blocks so it’s not a massive barrier
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Or… Do this but bring back the streetcar!! Make Glenwood a transit mall up to Peace St!! Then let it run up to Crabtree in the median.
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I would love to see this. Where would parking be located? I am guessing that we’d have to erect an additional, multi-story parking garage nearby? Or do we already have enough parking capacity in the area? Just trying to think how a concept such as this would work for the Glenwood South area since the street parking would be eliminated. Looks wonderful though.
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I let this topic go for a week or more on purpose to see what folks had to say. I have quoted this post because it gets to a point that I’d specifically like to counter.
I argue that having a huge portion of the neighborhood’s RE taken over by bars does exactly what you claim getting rid of them would do. In what is perhaps the most densely populated neighborhood in the city, with the most promise to be an 18 hour walkable neighborhood, many, many parcels sit empty all day, every day, in deference to 2 or 3 late nights of partying per week. Having an overabundance of these types of businesses actually deters investment by others to bring neighborhood resources that would activate it for most of the times for most of the days of the week. Why would someone come to Glenwood South any other day or evening if they knew that there wasn’t going to be anything going on? Raleigh isn’t Nashville or Las Vegas with party party every night. Aren’t 18 hour walkable neighborhoods our goal? Why would we toss away our best opportunity for one?
That said, most of these bars operate on borrowed time as their often cheap fit-ups in existing spaces clearly signal that their owners are in it for a quick buck and they know that the land will eventually be sold/redeveloped like is happening to The Creamery block and what has been “in-the-works” for the parcels that currently houses Cornerstone.
That said, and if the city is serious about what they say are the rules about OUTDOOR noise, why is it too much to ask of these businesses that residents of this densely populated urban neighborhood deserve to not hear thumping music inside their homes when they are sleeping at 1:30 AM, and while they wait for the city to fulfill its vision of creating effective 18 hour walkable urban communities?
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Do like I did years ago. Move to the suburbs. Noise is a factor of every urban city on earth. The privileged sound silly. This shouldn’t be an argument.
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Come on man, every first-world city has some variation on noise ordinances, and for good reason. Just saying “deal with it” isn’t a great argument.
There need to be calmer, quieter urban neighborhoods - but not every urban neighborhood needs to be quiet.
Nobody should move to places like Bourbon Street in New Orleans, or Lower Broad in Nashville, and expect much in the way of peace and quiet for an early bedtime.
For a district like Glenwood, there probably are some reasonable restrictions that could be put in place. Don’t want bars blasting music at all hours that can be heard for blocks and blocks - but TBH the current cutoff (11pm, right?) for all outdoor noise seems a bit early for Friday and Saturday nights. Cutting loose a bit later than that is probably a reasonable expectation on weekends.
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If any of you have ever been to The Daily in Durham, it’s a chill cafe/bar that opened a couple years ago. Last month, a night club opened on the floor above them. I walked into the usually chill environment of The Daily around 6pm to find skull-rattling bass so loud I could not hear the person I was placing my order with. Multiple items fell off their shelves and shattered overnight from the vibrations. It was an outright uncomfortable environment to be in to the extent that I knew they would not survive if their new neighbor was unwilling to compromise.
If I’d heard a vague story about a business located in the center of downtown complaining that their neighbor is too noisy, I would’ve probably rolled my eyes. But actually experiencing and understanding the specific impact is different. I think many people are too far removed from this to really engage with an issue that usually comes down to specifics. If we all agree that some limit to reasonable noise levels exists somewhere, what is that specific limit? Dismissing any and all complaints with “move to the suburbs” doesn’t do residents or businesses any favors.
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i don’t know the actual number but a quick look at google earth gives me a liberal estimate of 150 parallel parking spots on glenwood between jones and morgan. that seems like a manageable number to say goodbye to and find new spaces for. obviously that doesn’t account for the parking lots that would lose car access, but the overall goal of something like this would be to reduce the reliance on cars anyway, so i would not miss them.*
*not an urban planner
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years back when hillsborough st had its thing was it noise or a combination of noise and crime for, I guess clark residents, to get the city make changes. this is just from vague memory. every college town I have been to had/has? a loud portion.
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Glenwood South improvement project survey is live: https://publicinput.com/p26643
Pedestrianization mentioned!! LFG
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Fencing around Cornerstone. Is this project kicking off?
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Sorry I couldn’t make the reaction so I had to make a whole reply.
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Interesting. They were open last night according to Instagram
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“The Madison” (603 Glenwood)? There’s not even an ASR for that yet.
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The fencing is only around 2 of the 3 houses 
Maybe they’re gonna repaint them for those “elevated vibes” the kids can’t get enough of.
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Or maybe they are going to literally elevate those houses?
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It’s amazing how quickly this transitioned from Plates, to that Italian spot that lasted 4-5 weeks, to this concept. I could see this place doing well.
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