Many people also have this perception that parking is difficult and expensive when the reality is that its obscenely easy and largely free. I have a hard time taking people’s perceptions seriously because they are unbelievably inept. So many people around here just have no clue how to operate in an urban environment and are hostile towards it. They are scared of harmless bums, can’t parallel park, get confused by one way streets, they have to be mindful of pedestrians, can’t turn on red, have to walk more than 30 steps to their destination, the streets are too narrow…the list goes on. Its infuriating.
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Have you met “people” ? People are f**king stupid. They think all kinds of stupid sh*t that isn’t true. You can give “people” facts, figures, diagrams, graphs, and all kinds of inarguable, verifiable information… and they’ll still “think” the complete opposite of reality. Moving along…
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To follow up on my previous comment, you have definitely met “people” and can attest to my assessment 
Fair enough, but those ‘people’ determine the success of a city with 
.
I don’t think the increase in crime in GWS and MS from 2023 was just made up and a figment of our imagination. It’s great that it seems to be improving and like I said earlier…that’s all that really matters. I hope our downtown business owners are realizing that.
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Doesn’t appear they are…given they appear to be leaving in droves…at least the retail businesses.
The “people” we’re talking about are the same ones constantly b*tching via online comments about downtown Raleigh (parking, crime, parking, homeless, parking, parking, crime, “nothing to do,” parking) whilst never actually coming downtown unless it’s to visit The Pit or some other tired, mediocre Raleigh establishments. Be real LMAO.
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Did you miss this graphic that @JKK posted merely 3 hours ago? I’ll post it once again:
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Maybe the stats will look the same in 2024 but that time period ended last August. Not sure how accurate that still is.
The stats won’t look the same…
…in fact, I imagine the “Opened” and “Coming Soon” portion will even further outweigh the “Closed” 
That would be great. I hope you’re right.
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Just an anecdotal comment. I live downtown so I’m always around somewhere here. The foot traffic has increased tremendously this spring. Yesterday and today I had errands and appointments in downtown and in North Hills. The downtown foot traffic was far more than NH. By far like 10-fold. I know it’s not scientific but there are definitely more people walking around. I think we need patience. And I think we need to speak out how safe and welcoming downtown is and support our favorite local businesses. I hate when people talk about all the store closings but haven’t been to said store in years. If you want the businesses to stay open then support them and tell all your friends to support them!
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Thinking about what closed and opened off the top of my head.
Humble pie closed > Figulina took its place
Capital Club is closing > New restaurant confirmed taking its spot.
Subway closed on Fayetteville st (Wells Fargo location) > renovation underway for new restaurant Birdies.
Green Monkey moved from Hillsborough st into location next to Taz’s.
Stonewall Tavern took over Green Monkey’s old location
Mediterranean spot opening on the Dillon rooftop. Formerly was empty.
Blowfish closed on Glenwood > Burger Village took its spot.
Brooklyn Bagel closed on Glenwood > New cocktail bar opened in that spot.
All the new Smoky Hollow tenants
All the new Seaboard tenants that are about to open.
Pink boot and Rainbow luncheonette closed > new bar and restaurant took over both locations.
Flavor Hills opened on Fayetteville
St.
Umbrella Cocktail bar took over Garlands old location.
Wolfe and Porter opened in the former atomic salon and Drink Drank Drunk bar.
Gussie’s opened off Morgan St. taking over where Remedy Diner was.
Anthony La Piazza opening on Glenwood.
Vic’s opening in One Glenwood.
Incendiary brewing opened in One Glenwood.
Clouds closed - nothing taking its spot that I’m aware of.
3 house restaurant bar concept opening on Morgan St. Currently under construction
I’m sure there’s a lot that I’m forgetting. I think the doom and gloom is way blown out of proportion.
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I can’t disagree more with this. I don’t want those kinds of people. I could speak a lot about it, but this guy says it a lot better than I can, so I’ll let him do the talking (it’s about bike lanes and the kind of people that drive to businesses vs bike to them):
The people looking to park right in front of a business, walk in, walk to their car, and go home are not determining the success of downtown Raleigh. They’re barely a blip.
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Agree to disagree on the fact that people driving into Raleigh / Ubering into downtown are barely a blip.
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I was very specific in the type of person I represented that is barely a blip. You choosing to include people that Uber into downtown was your decision, not mine.
It would do you well to reread what I said and make a real counterpoint.
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Your assertion that people driving into downtown Raleigh, parking in front of businesses, and then leaving have minimal impact on its success lacks depth. No one is arguing that this specific behavior is the sole determinant of downtown success, but it’s dismissive to label it as “barely a blip.” Every customer, regardless of how they arrive, contributes to the vibrancy and economic health of downtown areas. Let’s not undermine the multifaceted nature of urban dynamics with oversimplified statements.
Bringing up bike lanes in this context seems like a diversion from the actual discussion about perceptions and downtown dynamics. It’s important to stay focused on the topic at hand rather than introducing unrelated points to bolster an argument. Let’s keep the conversation relevant and productive.
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It’s important to stay focused on the topic at hand rather than introducing unrelated points to bolster an argument
Like you did when you responded to my post about the type of people that bolster downtown and make it better by introducing Ubers?
And how the hell is it a distraction? The idea is that I don’t care if someone is complaining about crime when there is no crime. I don’t care about the people complaining about the lack of parking when there isn’t a parking spot 5 feet from their intended destination.
Those are not the people spending money downtown. Those are not the type of people that will ever want to come to a downtown. Marketing downtown to those people is an exercise in futility and will make downtown worse for the people that do want to come here and the kind of people that do add to the vibrancy of downtown. Catering to their needs, much like the video I introduced had done before they made changes and added a bike lane, results in a worse experience (case in point, why I introduced the video in the first place)
We should focus on creating a walkable experience that is enjoyable for the kind of people that enjoy downtown. Those focused on things that are patently and obviously untrue won’t come here anyways and absolutely do not add a relevant amount revenue generated in downtown. At least not compared to those that are willing to spend a bit more time here.
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Allow me to second all of this 
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Let’s just cut to the chase. These are the people who want to go North Hills and pretend that they are downtown.
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