I’d like to see a bit more architectural variation. Parking-lite and small scale infill are good things IMO, but a lot of their previous projects look the same:
I’m not going to bemoan the loss of trees and those old houses on the three lots in question, but it would be nice to see something a little more architecturally compelling take their place.
Heck, I never owned a car when I was at App State, and there was much few walkable places, in addition to bitter cold and SNOW!
You walked 3 miles uphill each way to and from your classes. Oh wait, that was my dad’s story…sorry.
Attention to detail, textures, articulation, etc. is overwhelmingly less important for small buildings like this than it is for large buildings. The variation that automatically comes from fine-grained development does most of that work. Do you think that 1920s builders who were throwing up small two to four story brick storefront buildings left and right throughout that decade gave much thought to variation or the design of each individual building? Heck no. They just threw that stuff up quickly using the most efficient/cost effective construction methods available at the time. But most of the buildings were small, which provided the variation and interest necessary to create a pleasant and interesting environment.
For me, a building that is four stories tall and just 50-100 feet wide (like 2604 or 1301) and has a pleasant street level experience gets nearly a complete pass on any requirement for distinctiveness/originality.
Now, Montgomery to Furches is a full block over 500 feet long. Not exactly a small development. So I guess you are right, I would like to see some variation and interest there.
Ha, that is my story now. It is only about a mile, but it is up hill both ways! (I have to go down to the creek bottom each time). At App I did have to walk home up the mountain. Many that was a trudge.
Shows you how much of the costs go into parking.
Worst name so far IMO. I think its a play on Valentine Commons across the street.
109 Park must be the single worst new building I’ve ever seen. It’s a giant white box with teeny tiny windows.
Yeah I love smaller stuff as an MO for most every occasion. FMW does push their architects to work within a tight budget though (inside source) so I think do tend to feel cheap and I worry about durability.
One potential good thing about all this student housing, especially not near campus, is it turns into affordable housing once the shine has worn off.
This is exactly my concern on Hillsborough St proper. The whole re-do of the street itself was partially aimed at ‘cleaning it up’, which of course in this spot is the code for pushing out student rentals and making it attractive for professionals. Trust me, back when this was conceived, that was the talk. Now, there are like 5 times the number of student living spaces along the street. In time, I think, it’ll one super massive student ghetto (once the properties get sold off a few times and maintenance starts to cut corners and the pool never reopens etc etc).
I really don’t recall anyone advocating the change on the basis of pushing students out. I felt like it was more about pushing thru-traffic to other corridors and making it safer and more attractive to pedestrians, i.e. the students.
Like I said, the key phrase was ‘clean it up’. After going back to review the old stuff it was actually ‘Renewal’. Quite a few people wanted just the same 4 lanes layout but just cleaned up. Anyway, the clear intent was they wanted the student ghetto feel gone. This page doesn’t even mention pedestrian safety as it was secondary to the main thrust.
Guys I have a question for you. It may seem silly. But outside of NCSU area what are the other areas through Raleigh you would consider urban? Outside of the downtown districts as well of course.
North Hills is the first to come to mind, otherwise I think that is it (tell me if I’m forgetting anything).
Or maybe five points for the old small downtown feel.
For me, Five Points is kind of the northernmost outpost of “urban” Raleigh. Hillsborough Street stays urban out to Meredith College. Cameron Village counts. This is all a contiguous region that feels comfortably walkable. If an average person were somewhere in this area, and had to go somewhere that was within walking distance, they might actually choose to walk.
Would I include Centennial Campus and upper Avent Ferry Road? Tough one. It’s close enough to be walkable from main campus, but in spite of that, probably not. Walking across Western Blvd is pretty intimidating.
Likewise, NH is nice, don’t get me wrong, but it’s on a freeway interchange, is bisected by a 6 lane arterial, and has all its activity on internal streets. It feels like too much of a sandbox to be part of the urban city to me.
What about Boylan, New Bern Corridor, Oakwood, Mordecai? Or do you feel those just count as downtown?
Am I the only one disturbed by the “Hillsborough Street” business model depending on students taking out government guaranteed loans - with NO defaulting - to live the “luxury” life?
My dorms, starting in 1978, were a step up from a prison cell with communal baths down the hall.
Do the universities have a responsibility to provide a “dirt cheap” housing option to combat the horrendous amount of loans required to get a degree these days?
Are these housing options a form of “croney” capitalism that depends on a sketchy relationship between the schools, the banks, the developers and the government?
