Cortez is amazing and I often wish it were in a different part of the city due to the GlenSo ‘hangover’…
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Like I’ve said in the past, Glenwood South’s party days are numbered as land gets redeveloped. Will it completely go away? No. Will the neighbhorhood transform and settle down? Yes. It’s just a matter of time.
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The Creamery project will kick that off. Property values are going to rise making it harder to operate some of these businesses. The project itself isn’t really displacing any bars except the old XoCo space that seems to have now become a straight up bar/club. 
EDIT: I don’t mind the establishments existing by any means. I love going to a good bar and anything from a dive to a stupidly priced craft cocktail establishment. What I don’t like is the resulting idiots that fall out of these places because they can’t control their drinking. That’ll never go away especially in a college town, but perhaps not such the concentrated cluster of them.
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The block on Glenwood between Johnson and Peace is an excellent example of how it will transform over time. With the redevelopment of the west side imminent, Cornerstone goes away, or radically transforms into a different thing. Across the street, it’s very easy to imagine Alchemy being redeveloped alongside the old house next door. That land is just too expensive for just a party venue.
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I wouldn’t hold my breathe on that just yet… the “Village” seems to have taken the baton. The last two weekends I have driven by there are hundreds of people standing in line to get in.
I believe its the combination of three bars Black Flower, Flash House and Harry’s Guitar shop. I’m not exactly sure what their capacity limits are but considering a good majority of the property is outside, they are extremely popular during Corovid.
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I haven’t been here yet but I’m not sure I mind it as much as the bar/clubs facing Glenwood S. This is tucked away, seems to have a cool vibe to it, mix of indoor/outdoor. It stands to last a bit longer than the others I think just based on location and theme. I’d also expect Raleigh Beer Garden to be a staple of GS for a couple of decades.
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Iris Coffee lab is a great place! Reminds me of a cafe I visited in Tallinn, Estonia. Same vibes. Coffee is great too.
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I wouldn’t hold my breath on Glenwood South’s nightlife scene going anywhere anytime soon.
The Village is the Cornerstone owner’s answer to development on that property and my understanding is they still have the right of first refusal to whatever base level retail space is available when it’s completed–you can bet it’ll be more nightlife.
The bar owners on Glenwood are not at all hurting for money so I don’t think increased property taxes is going to impact them much. It’ll impact other small businesses (small wine shop, any retail store, etc.).
I was surprised Sunday was as active as it was after seeing some of those videos. I definitely think there’s an element of people letting off steam after a year of lockdown. The bouncers have my respect for dealing with the folks that go too far while also having to impose the covid-specific rules.
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I get trying to improve the area but isn’t the “crazy young party spot” a big part of any major city? We don’t want to seem like this old snobby sleepy town.
Part of growing into a major city is appealing to all walks of life and for young people having that buzzing district is a huge part of living for them.
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I don’t think that there has to be an intention to kill; I just think that market forces will change it as time goes by. Parts of the scene will migrate somewhere else. It’s going to change. It’s happened before; Glenwood South has only been the scene for the last 2 decades.
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Keep in mind this past weekend was a partial St. Paddy’s Day celebration as it falls on Wednesday this week. I suspect we’ll see more green this coming weekend.
This is by no way me complaining about celebrating St. Paddy’s Day, btw. I may turn up my celebration this coming weekend, actually. I believe we have a day drinking date, @pBeez/@R-Dub/@GucciLittlePig/@GucciLittlePenguin/@others. Don’t forget your green!
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What day are we planning?
Raleigh is often accused of being boring. Hoping rising rents kill the nightlife on Glenwood South is a strange set of priorities.
You guys know you can just move to Holly Springs any time if a bedroom community is what you want. 
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If quality is the concern… believe me higher rents will not bring in missing retail or nightlife establishments with better groove. Quite the opposite.
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Yes, what day? I am having family dinner on Saturday night when I arrive, so I can do Sunday for sure. But I am also open to Monday or Tuesday. I figure most of y’all won’t be on spring break, so have real jobs to do Monday & Tuesday. Just got my J&J covid shot so I am good to go!!
In other wonky news, the Downtown Raleigh Alliance is launching a first-come/first-serve grant program where they could reimburse people up to $2,500 to launch pop-up stores in currently-vacant storefronts!
If anyone’s in the mood to test out restaurant or retail concepts (yo @Deekay93 what’s up), this could be your perfect shot -especially if you’re planning to have a majority-women- or -minority-owned business, in which case you’d be eligible for an additional $2.5k!
And for the rest of us, this could help bring some interesting concepts to DTR that’ll hopefully stick around.
Read more about it from the TBJ or straight from the source.
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I agree. While Buckhead in Atlanta is a business district to some, I knew it more as a “crazy young party spot”. The west side of Peachtree has resisted huge development pressure because of how simple and lucrative the nightlife business has been.
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Where in downtown can I post up for an hour for a beverage and wifi between appointments? What’s open, working these days for that kind of setup? Anyone know?
Sir Walter coffee …
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