Needs some planters or trees or something. City spent a lot of money on that street, going downhill…
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Some greenery would be very welcome here. As of now (and as it has been) it’s a sea of brick and concrete, not very inviting for having the title of “City Plaza”
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It’s not done. There are planters there already.
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Well I want MOOOOORE! 
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You should just head on over to Moore Square, then. 
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Regardless of the “renovation” the plaza has not aged well. The trees along the street that frame the Capitol and the arts center turned out nice, but that street needs help.
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That plaza is just so…stale!
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Just needs some colorful plant beds in those remaining raised (former) fountain boxes, and a buttload of tables and chairs for outdoor dining.
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On paper I get why they created those little kiosks and I do love both Happy and Hale and occasionally Jimmy Johns, but they just really break up the space IMO and work to hide businesses behind them. Overall a bad design when put into practice.
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That’s Raleigh in a nutshell.
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I may be mistaken, but weren’t those kiosks put in along with the city plaza renovation before the building behind was renovated to have those ground floor businesses (crema, former Gigis, N&O)?
I would never argue that it’s avant garde but there is some nice design and a high quality of life here.
We need to hold our civic spaces to a higher standard at times, yes. Moore Square is one of our most recent examples where, yes - I can see where they were going but IMO they just didn’t push all the way to something evocative. Instead, we went wholesome and family friendly which is fine but rarely boundary pushing on any level… 
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Did we go family friendly or car/tax/business friendly?
Maybe so. I do know Z pizza was back there forever and I never even thought to go there bc it was so hidden. But IMO it was shortsighted no matter what the timeline.
As someone that works in one of those buildings I really (selfishly) enjoy having more options, especially since it’s the relative end of Fayetteville Street (for now). When they originally did City Plaza hardly anything was down here and not the level of momentum there is now. Plus, all of the businesses down there that seem to be run well seem to do well whether they’re on the back row or not. Gigi’s Pizza didn’t seem to be one of those (manager’s yelling at servers in front of customers, etc.) Crema seemed to be doing well before Covid even though it’s tucked back in that corner. I imagine if the kiosks weren’t there, then it’s possible the rest of the plaza wouldn’t have developed the way it did, or the offices would be as desired as they are, and people would probably be saying how desolate the plaza was. But certainly willing to concede that’s my opinion and these are all hypotheticals. I’ve only worked down here a year and it’s so much better than working in ‘downtown’ Cary with the choices, proximity and energy. I’ll also add that I think the kiosks help break up the canyon feel that would probably overwhelm more if they weren’t there.
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How about new light fixtures and art??
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I don’t mind the kiosks. Needs some green, more chairs, rain protection something. Hopefully those will come with the pavers now down.
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Rain/sun protection is a high on m list too. Unless its 70 and cloudy, I have a hard time finding it enjoyable sitting outside there.
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