I’ve never felt threatened by the homeless population here and have had much worse experiences in other cities, but I imagine part of that feeling for other people is that there is often less people out and about downtown here. Outside of events, there isn’t always crowds of people on the streets. It is more isolated feeling. I think as downtown has more residents part of that feeling will change.
7 Likes
Just finished watching myself. I’ve been to all of those businesses and it sucks to see them essentially begging the city. Even Hatem was there. They have mentioned that the last two weeks they’ve seen a lot more positive traction, so hopefully the continue.
Absolutely ridiculous comments from that last speaker. $50 says she’s from livable Raleigh. Blaming crime on development…really?
9 Likes
About the last speaker, exactly. No solutions, no sympathy, no class. We’re here trying to figure it out and finger pointing like that is honestly a waste of other’s time.
14 Likes
What’s going on with the teens? My partner and I both have witnessed these groups of teens loitering near the Poyner Y at random times during weekdays when they should be in school, and they often appear to be looking for trouble. I’ve thankfully never interacted with them, but I’ve seen them roving around agitated and bored, which is a recipe for disaster.
I feel a personal knee-jerk reaction to blame fare-free bus service for giving transient teens and criminal opportunists easy access to areas they otherwise may not have. But I don’t think that is wholly to blame. It seems that this is a multifaceted issue without a silver bullet solution.
1 Like
I will share my personal experience, which is entirely anecdotal of course, but I was literally threatened by a homeless man after a show one night. And by “threatened” I mean literally - he pulled a shiv on me and a guy I was giving some cash for playing the show. Dude saw me hand the guy some cash, walks up and asks what we “have for him” - we say “Sorry man, can’t help” (it wasn’t a lot of cash FYI, not that we need to justify our choice to decline) - he immediately gets loud and moves towards us shouting “Don’t lie to me motherf**ker I just saw you with it!!!” - So I got real and said “yeah, I’m paying him money that he just earned for a show he played, sorry.” And that is when he whips out a shiv (it was a sharpened flat-head screwdriver) and starts shouting threats. We just turned around and walked away, while some other dudes (including a buddy who also performed who just happens to be ex-Special Forces) start shouting at him to calm down and “put that shit away!” - Later on when me and the other guy he pulled it on walked back, there were cops out there talking to him and eventually took him in. I saw him back on the streets the following week. The extra special detail?
This was years and years ago, wayyyyyyy before the pandemic and societal shift we’ve seen since the summer of 2020. So- my point? Anything can happen at any time, and it may not even follow any trends (like what is being referenced now with the trend of more homeless folks seemingly getting violent or pushy with passers by). Since that event, I haven’t had an interaction with any homeless people even remotely as extreme. Sometimes you get threatened by a homeless guy in a midsize-large city. It sucks, and yeah it was a bit jarring, but I’m not gonna act like suddenly Raleigh is in the gutter and the homeless people here are overtaking downtown. Same thing with the increase in crime - yeah, we’re a quickly growing city. The population is exploding. Crime will go up. Again, it sucks, but it’s also just … the nature of living in a midsize-growing-larger city. 
2 Likes
I’ve had quite a few panhandling interactions over the past 30 years going out for drinks / shows around town. Oftentimes, we’ll park in the Moore Square vicinity and hub out from there around town on foot.
Much of that time, I’ve felt kinda like your POV on these things - they can happen (and have happened in other cities as well to be honest). I usually just assess / navigate the situation as needed. Most of the time, no big deal and you walk away wondering how it came to this, whether you can actually help and I’ll usually offer food rather than money if the circumstance allows.
One thing that has happened recently in this same area around the transit center is the nature of the interactions is more aggressive / forceful and it does seem you can quickly identify a ‘weapon’ of some sort on folks - almost like more of the unhoused community are getting hassled and have all ‘taken steps’. I had three different situations where someone stepped to me (or the group I was with) in the last 6-8 months in this area that illustrate (to me) the escalated nature of the scene. One night in the breezeway leading up from the station to Wilmington, an older fella got declined and responded with ’ Eff that, you best give me what I need’ and made a move to show the weapon. Another scenario had some VERY aggressive cat calling bordering on rushing us from a mixed group of males ranging from late teens to early twenties for the female friends we were with - also along the Wilmington stretch between Taz’s and Young Hearts and another time a early twenties guy rolled into the hostess stand where we were eating, was acknowledged by the staff (seemed to’ve happened before), said 'ya’ll gon gimme my drank, shoved his bag into the host’s chest and brandished a ‘modified object for personal protection’ - this led to some quick work by the staff and a de-escalation but some uneasy looks from many of the patrons.
These are concentrated events it seems over the range of my experience, yet they are in line with the feeling from many in the community right now and the comments from the ‘vibrant neighborhoods’ meeting the other day…which, is a problem for the city. Poor perception of safety is always a problem notwithstanding some bigger issues boiling over.
1 Like
This is a result of Raleigh not having attractions for teens. I have been advocating on behalf of kids and teens, and this is a result of having nothing to do on weekdays or weekends. Growing up In Raleigh was boring and at times was boring, when I realized Raleigh is boring I’d outgrown Pullen Park. This is why I think there should be a park for teens with some rollercoaster rides not necessarily a theme Park but close to it. The city could find a developer to do something with Dix Park and they could operate it. They have that whole plot of land just to be sitting there for a year until Dreamville. It’s not that difficult, as for skipping school I’ve done that too especially when my grades were up, it’s mostly out of boredom. Now I know Livable Raleigh would have that noise argument and my counterargument would be “Why do you want kids bored to the point there litter just because you hate noise.” Now I know the city wants a whitewater center but that isn’t gonna be enough, Raleigh needs to stop thinking about families with small children and think about middle school and High school-aged children. I hope @anon8787296 reads this.
1 Like
And that would be what we refer to as a park lmaoooo
The Elite and Permanent Skate Park ™ in Smoky Hollow fixes this
There should be greater Wolf Lodge could come here, they’re plots of land the city could develop as a money-making attraction, now that we lost the Bluegrass festival.
What exactly do you want to do as a teenager? Seems like a phone is all you need these days.
4 Likes
Well, you’re not a parent, and I didn’t grow up in your time. As a teen who grew up with cellphones I can tell you phones, weed, and vaping is how we did it. Also hanging out at the mall or at friends houses were fun but there was nothing fun collectively unless the fair came.
Did not answer my question, what is Raleigh missing that teens need.
1 Like
I agree that the United States in general doesn’t have much for teens outside of organized (and often costly) extracurricular activities. But to say we need roller coasters and theme parks to keep kids from getting in trouble seems to sell the kids short imo. Some teens need mentors and people to help them find what drives them and learn how to entertain themselves instead of expecting to “be entertained.” There are a lot of events geared to teens in the arts, programs through the parks system, and even through museums. But if they aren’t aware of these options, that won’t help.
I, for selfish reasons, would love to see an outdoor roller skating rink (covered and with lights) at Dix Park like Anacostia Skate Pavilion in DC, where people can rent roller skates and DJs can spin while people skate a few nights a week. It’s a physical activity that’s also expressive and includes music, and I think this combination is great for both mental and physical health. A facility like this could also be programmed for other things like breakdancing events and even, occasionally (I hate to say it) pickleball.
12 Likes
A form of entertainment, leisure, and fun. For example DriveShack and TopGolf is fun. But we need more leisure activities like an indoor water park. I bet kids in Orlando (where I was a few months ago) have a lot to do on the weekends. Shoot Greensboro has wet n wild. A large arcade or indoor driving place is good Frankie’s is far it’s near the airport.
No one built me a theme park to keep me out of trouble as a teenager, but I still managed to fill my time with school, sports, TV, video games, books, friends, church, movies, malls, hikes, and family. Now there’s the Internet and phones on top of all that, and I don’t see how anyone needs to be handed entertainment to not be in a gang harassing people downtown.
13 Likes
I would add to this list - a job. I had to work. Knock on doors and find out what people needed and go do it, then when you’re of age to be hired by a business, go get a job in a store or at a company.
Weed, vape and phones? Really sad actually.
8 Likes
I’m not convinced that the teens have nothing to do therefore will cause trouble. If that were the case wouldn’t teenagers be causing trouble in every corner of the city?
Sounds like it’s just a gang or group of kids that have made downtown their hang out spot. Great. They’ve discovered the wonders of urban Raleigh. At the same time some class all around is still needed. Just like everywhere else.
This feels like a public realm conversation so I’m glad to see that city Parks, the DRA, police, and Transit are up speaking about it. Seems we have it front and center to the people who can fix it.
19 Likes
Somehow, teens for centuries have been able to entertain themselves enough to stay out of trouble with far less resources than we have now. This isn’t a lack of entertainment options issue…this is a lack of discipline issue.
13 Likes
Teens or not, the city could use some more attractions that aren’t so expensive for families. Pullen is cheap. Driveshack can be expensive. Whitewater Center would be expensive.
3 Likes