To me if it’s walkable, bikeable, connected, has transit and mixed use sites and buildings its urban no matter where it’s located or even how dense it is. Boston is a string of urban centers from my experience (I spent a lot of time in Newton and Cambridge). Similarly, I often read “urban sprawl” which are conflicting terms…it’s either sprawl aka suburban, or urban. Urban is efficiently used land that results in multiple efficient transportation options. Where I read “urban sprawl” my brain considers that ‘dense suburbia’.
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I thought it interesting the lost ticket discussion from last night. Generally, people don’t ACTUALLY lose their ticket. Instead, they park for days, over a week even, and “lose their ticket” and therefore get long-term parking for $12. Users are doing this and getting lyfts to/from the airport and only paying $12 for parking.
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That’s my big square head attached to the red tee shirt in front (from this perspective) of the guy taking pictures.
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I’ve got square feet, and at least your head has hair! 
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I just assumed cars like these would get towed… if that’s not the case, then that’s kind of infuriating (and I’m glad the proposed fees would discourage that a bit more).
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I’m digging the new Raleigh logo.
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Here’s where you can see the details of the proposed parking changes and weigh in on it.
https://www.downtownraleigh.org/downtown-parking-public-meeting
One of the things that Miami Beach has done is to severely ratchet up the hourly fees of parking on the streets to encourage use of the public garages. Slowly but surely the city is eliminating hourly parking on the streets as more bike infrastructure is created and more bump out plantings of trees are provided. I would support the construction of a few more city garages in key locations if it meant that we could get rid of a lot of street parking and expand both bike infrastructure and sidewalk experience.
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Raleigh is mentioned in the article.
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That’s sort of the city of future model with cars out of sight, neatly tucked away and skyscrapers gleaming above the perfectly manicured street scene. Not horrible. I think I still favor a city of no parking decks and on-street parking only but cars are rarely needed (and the limited parking barely needed) because the city is dense and walkable and buildings and blocks are all diverse in use. Buildings stay in the 3-10 story range. A train connects cities, and you hop off and bike, walk, e-mode to wherever you have to go. All greenspace, mostly unimproved/natural, lies between the cities.
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I like that dream too, but it’s just a dream for now since we don’t have a robust transit system to support it, and we won’t have it in the immediate future.
In Miami Beach, the support of the cars is less about the locals’ needs, and more about supporting visitors coming by car. Many locals don’t have cars, and they don’t have a place to put a car if they had one. One can navigate life by foot, bike, and trolley in Miami Beach if you both live and work in it.
I agree with the dense, diverse, mixed use neighborhoods narrative. I’ve been consistent on the idea that Raleigh’s best immediate hope is to create these sorts of places so that more and more things can be done without a car by those who live and work in them. These are things that we can address now without having to wade through nearly impossible political waters at the local, state, and national level to fund more robust transit.
Lastly, we will never get rid of all of the cars. Not even NYC has achieved that! I just want cars to not be the first and dominant thing that we consider, and while we have to consider them for our immediate future, I want it done so within a strategy that allows for some of their infrastructure to be converted to other uses when the time is right.
As it is unfolding, Glenwood South/Smokey Hollow is our current best hope for Raleigh to create the sort of walkable neighborhood that I crave. After more than a decade of substantial housing and entertainment investment in the area, it is now being augmented by retail, offices, hotels and more housing. We should soon see more foot traffic during the day that’s been missing from the neighborhood, and more diversity of activity and purpose for the neighborhood.
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A couple points. Going all the way back to @Deb 's point about required spaces for buildings - my little town of 12K got a new super Wal-mart, and because of some standard building codes our 1 person planning department adopted Wal-mart ended up building a massive massive parking lot. Even at the busiest time of the year its never been more then 2/3s full. These days there is always a half-dozen tractor trailers using it as a rest stop. But this was “best practices” for the field. The profession and cities need to reconsider how many spaces per sq foot are truly needed.
Someone did mention asking for a variance - but as we’ve discussed with height, its often better just to play within the stupid rules they to try to change them. Indeed, I do believe much of modern bureaucracy is predicated on this - enact a stupid regulation, tell folks they can get an exemption, then make it so arduous that no one every asks. Or gives up. I know I’ve thrown my hands up in frustration and just said “fine, I’ll pay the damn thing!”
Lastly (sorry for the long post!! ) the Nuisance & Disturber reports that Brixx Pizza is closing in Cameron Village because . . . lack of parking!!! Balance, we need balance and the understanding that there is no 1 size fits all rule to parking. 
https://www.newsobserver.com/article230081284.html
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In other news, there’s a Brixx in Cameron Village? I honestly never knew that
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This story is unfortunate because it reinforces the narrative that ease of parking makes a successful business. Easy parking is only a small factor in most things.
In my opinion, Brixx was a fine pizza place. Not great, not bad. It was easy for us to get in almost any time when we had a larger party that tended to be on the picky side. Maybe its because it was never busy because people stayed away due to “parking headaches” or maybe they stayed away because there are better options out there.
You’ll make the effort if you want to get to where you want to go. If it’s not worth it then going somewhere easier tends to look more attractive.
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Exactly @dtraleigh I never in my life thought Cameron didn’t have enough parking.
For many folks easy parking is defined as never having to walk. It is crazy that folks will circle and circle and then walk across a huge suburban lot but will not pull into a deck and walk a block or two. But if you can’t see your destination right in front of you, then you must be to far away. Perception trumps reality all the time.
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Brixx faced outward in Cameron Village, while the core of the business faces inward. @GucciLittlePig may have been tongue in cheek (or perhaps not), but the businesses along Oberlin are out of sight/out of mind when you are in the center of CV’s hustle and bustle. IMO, Brixx just made the wrong location decision. Oh, and I never thought that the pizza was anything special; so there’s that.
I was actually being genuine. I’ve gone to/by CV probably twice a month for 10 years, and somehow missed this. I go to their Brier Creek location for lunch sometimes (close to work), and it’s nothing amazing but I like it. I guess I just wouldn’t think to go to CV or downtown and just get average pizza when there’s so many better options.
FWIW, I think parking at CV sucks. It’s too many people in not enough spaces, and it’s set up for people to drive there and park, so it is an issue.
…and to me, CV is one of the most perfect places just outside of DTR for an alternative means of transportation stop/station…light rail, heavy rail, etc…
Can you imagine the old “Underground” in CV actually being utilized for…wait for it…an underground station/platform?.. . 
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This is a really good point. Why would anyone go to Brixx when there’s better options nearby? Lilly’s seems to do okay, and their parking situation isn’t good at all. Mellow Mushroom doesn’t seem to have enough parking either, but people manage. If it was excellent pizza, or among the best pizza in the area, people would find a way. If Brixx was so good, all of the residents that literally live upstairs from it would keep it busy, and the folks across the street would walk there as well.
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