The $100-200 million is just for the practice facility correct? The stadium overhaul will have a different price tag. As my mema would say, sometimes Charlotte seems to have more dollars than sense.
Didnāt they hit up S.C. for the practice facility? Since itās across the border?
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That was the Panthers practice facility. This is the MLS practice facility.
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In ācharlotte USAā they have insecure egomaniacs, but here in raleigh USA our egomaniacs are very secure, thank you very much, because nothing conveys security like adamantly refusing to simply refer to a city by its actual name. Definitely not any insecurity being flaunted here at all.
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Haha, Charlotte burns cash like they are the unsinkable Molly Brown, and David manages to ding Raleigh somehow.
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Just in case it was not immediately clear from the post, Raleigh is most definitely not the entity getting dinged here.
He used a Charlotte marketing campaign built on insecurity to gently mock said insecurity. It was humor well-used.
The larger point is Charlotte will likely shell out hundreds of millions for a practice facility while Raleigh will get Nimbyed to death for even discussing stadium funding. Charlotte boosterism is effective even while laughable.
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And Iām fine with it - MLS is essentially Single A soccer.
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Seven times on this thread and counting, eight times on the Penmarc thread, and also on three other different threads. Haha, very funny, well-used gentle mocking, definitely not any green-eyed jealousy here. After all, a good rule of comedy is that the joke is always funnier the 18th consecutive time you use it.
But seriously, earlier you said that Charlotte was āburning cashā and āseems to have more dollars than senseā. (Oh, okay, I get it now, āsenseā/ācents.ā See, now thatās funny! Iām going to use that sometime.)
I would take the position that burning cash is a bad thing, and that Raleigh shouldnāt strive to also burn cash just because Charlotte is doing it. (My mema had a saying, too, and it involved friends, bridges, and the wisdom of jumping off them.) And if Charlotte is the city with more dollars than sense, perhaps it would be good if Raleigh could be the city with lots of dollars and also lots of sense.
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And what is the city supposed to do with those hoarded dollars? Put it in its 401K?
Or maybe something more exciting, equally uninspiring, and guaranteed to generate little to no ROI for the City? Maybe pave some potholes?
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You know, I have always wondered about a city endowment, build it up over the years of surplus, and then use the interest to start paying for things. It would take a while, but could be worth it long term.
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Oxford & Lafayette County Mississippi did this. They sold the old high school, or some public land, and split it between the town and county for an education endowment that supplements their budgets. Particularly in low tax states, its a nice cushion for them to have.
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Did you ā¦ wait, did you ā¦ seriously just ask what could the city do if it had more money? 
I mean, I feel like that should probably constitute a separate thread, but suffice to say, I could think of lots and lots and lots of very worthwhile things that a city could do if it suddenly found itself in possession of a few extra million dollars a year. Hereās one thing idea that springs immediately to mind, as if from a leaking water main, as a way that Raleigh could generate some excellent ROI:
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article221701220.html (Title: āDonāt like sewage in your local creek? Get used to it: Raleighās pipes are failing.ā)
By the way, doing a better job paving potholes would actually be super popular. People hate potholes, and actually one of the most common complaints local governments receive is that they are not doing a good enough job paving potholes.
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From my Raleigh perspective (bias), it has always seemed to me that Charlotte is singularly obsessed with its position on the top of the totem pole state-wide, and climbing up the national one. It also seems to me that, despite which side of an issue you are on (e.g., development vs. neighborhood protectionism), the more consistent narrative in Raleigh is about making it a better place. For me, I am singularly focused on making the experiences in Raleighās core more robust, expansive and diverse.
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Traffic wise I have found Charlotte much worst than Raleigh. I Have spent hours in creeping stop and go traffic there. Itās been around 4 years but use to pass through Raleigh East to West around 5:30pm and never ran into stop and go Traffic. Maybe slow but always moving. Tied a number of routes from 64 east to west of Durham. Through city center, 440 north and south and 540.
I see your ideas would place Raleigh on the world stage with the likes of Paris, New York, London, Sydney,& Hong Kong.
I can see it now . āRALEIGH USAāthey have the opera houseā¦we have ZERO potholes!!!ā Fodorās would move us to the top travel destination on the planet the minute you become mayor!
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Thatās the reverse peak direction. The PM peak is eastbound between RTP and Raleigh. Try west to east at that same time of day and you will probably see worse traffic.
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Yes could tell there was more traffic inbound from RTP and outbound in 64 East but it was moving.
Why do we care where Fodorās ranks Raleigh as a tourist destination? And is putting Raleigh on a world stage with the likes of Paris and London a particularly realistic goal?
OTOH, having zero potholes seems like it would be nice. Certainly it would be nice for the people who actually live here. Keeping sewage out of the creeks and rivers and preventing water mains from bursting also seems like a worthwhile and achievable goal.
I know this sounds like weāre getting off topic here, but I think that this is actually the most on-topic this thread has ever been. Itās okay if Fodorās never lists Raleigh as a top travel destination. Itās okay if people you meet in other cities donāt swoon and fawn and say, āOh, youāre from Raleigh? Iāve heard so much about how hip and cool Raleigh is! Iām so jealous of you!ā Itās okay if people sometimes say nice things about Charlotte, which is actually a perfectly nice place.
Itās okay if Raleigh is just a really, really great place to live. Thatās enough.
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I donāt think anyone wants Raleigh to aspire to be a top travel destination.
But I also donāt believe we should settle for okay or perfectly nice.
The broader context of this discussion is, should Raleigh be willing to invest in a sports and entertainment venue in proximity to downtown? We missed a chance with the ESA and we now have another opportunity, 25 years later. Judging by past history the opportunity doesnāt pass this way very often.
It shouldnāt really matter what sport it is. Do people think there is value in a downtown-centric sports venue, and do you think public funds should be used for one? Is this something that will add to the experience of living in Raleigh, and is it worth the cost?
We canāt control what Charlotte does. If an MLS franchise goes to them at our expense itās probably a good indication that weāre not in a good position to compete for additional pro sports franchises. Iām fine with that. I would however prefer to have the decision be based on our best effort rather than getting passed over because of a lack of initiative.
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