PNC Arena hosts more than 150 events a year including all the major concerts in Raleigh. I mean WWE has hosted an event there and will host another event there. The arena will be constantly used.
Image 20,000 more people walking about downtown 150 days a year. That’s 10,000+ more than current.
C’mon now…You think wrasslin’ fans ride their bikes or scooters to the venue?
You can’t put 20,0000 people in DTR. Where would they park!?!?!?
It’s fantasy…
I’d love it, but I don’t run the venue and they defer to the users.
I don’t know what does every single downtown arena in all the major cities in the US do?
I struggle to find one that doesn;t have a freeway through town…
Hammond Rd is the remnants of that failed downtown highway, it’s huge and can be upgraded. 40/440 is only 1 mile from downtown. I’m not really sure what your concern is, 1 mile isn’t that far away that would still be considered downtown in larger cities and downtown isn’t exactly traffic-clogged at the moment. Have you seen any cities out of the Raleigh before?
Yep. Been to shows in Barcelona, Paris and Amsterdam and they’re not central.
Not trolling. Just serious about our reality…
Those cities have protected historic city centers
OK.We’ll squash this. The ‘major concerts’ rarely happen in the core. That’s the rub…
Name your shang-ri-la. Show me the path…
Guys, Madison Square Garden is an hoax. It can’t exist there’s no highway nearby! 
I have a feeling someone is really afraid to lose their tailgating at Cane games.
You’re wrong. I’m asking for a non-NYC pipe-dream reality.
Aka 3 million extra visitors to downtown a year. Think how much extra revenue that would generate for our downtown businesses.
Madison Square Garden literally sits on top of Penn Station, so there’s that little detail to consider.
If an arena were to be built in downtown it won’t be until the 2030’s. By that time we will have BRT and hopefully commuter rail. If the Red Hat amp location is the rumored site it will be a short walk. It will much more mass transit friendly than Nashville’s hockey arena for sure.
My whole point in the string above and as evidenced in every other prior not-pie-in-the-sky reply from users of all sorts on this site to this downtown arena rabbit hole, notwithstanding the fact that I would personally LOVE it, still lands at a reasonable comp…
And friends, it is difficult to find, which is why no one can really do it.
We can just wish. We are not any of the other, but wait, What About???..examples that come up.
And thus…We wait for real ideas that create a spark.
Which maybe comes in time and increased density, eventually.
Hope so, but we must be real.
Agreed. I too would love the arena downtown, but I’m not holding my breath for it, and I don’t expect any realistic chance of it happening this decade. The reality is that there isn’t anything inherently bad about the actual arena today, and its location that leverages the land that was already there for the stadium wasn’t the worst suburban decision ever. For that, I’d suggest taking a look at where the Florida Panthers play. They are literally next to the Everglades.
Maybe a move in the mid to late 2030s for the Canes if the city holds onto its NHL franchise???
If the Internet is still around by then, we can come back to your post to see if you’re right.
Washington Capitals play in the Capital One Arena on F street. No highway in the middle of DC. Nashville Predators play in Bridgestone Arena downtown Nashville and No highway. Look at downtown Baltimore with the Orioles and Ravens stadiums downtown. They do have a highway nearby but could be a mile or so. Still walkable to all of downtown.