Having just reviewed the Novus condo project in greater detail, I am jealous of that one for Durham. It looks perfectly thoughtful for that important of a location
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As a matter of fact Iāve been so inactive on here lately because I took a new job out of the region 
Thus perishes Caryās transitā¦
Congratulations though!
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I like Greensboro and want it to do well. It just hasnāt had much growth to funnel into its downtown in recent years. Even if the city has good planners in charge now if they have nothing to work with it wonāt matter.
Elm street is solid but outside of that, downtown is very lackluster. Tate st is an inferior college nightlife st compared to Franklin st, 9th st, or Hillsborough st.
Spring Garden st and Walker st have a couple more nightlife areas similar in scope to Five Points. These are the real hidden gems of Greensboro and Iād love to see an expansion of these.
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These populations numbers are notoriously wonky because they depend on how much suburban -style development is contained within arbritrarily defined city limits. Charlotte is twice the size of Raleigh in land area and most of it is not urban by any stretch of the imagination ā its population advantage would decreased if the cityās boundaries were comparable. Or we should get to claim Cary. Conversely Ashevlle is 1/3 the land area of Raleigh, so the city is mostly the urban core (plus a few random annexes) but most of the suburbs are independent so the cityās population is proportionately deflated.
Greensboro is both larger and faster-growing than Winston-Salem, but both cities have seen downtown development stagnate over the past few years.
By the 2030 census, Durham will probably pass Greensboro, and Cary has an outside shot at catching Fayetteville. Concord stays under the radar but has been booming, and will probably pass High Point by then. Apex might catch Gastonia. Greenville probably catches Asheville, and Huntersville probably passes Jacksonville.
Thereās a huge gap between Fayetteville (209k) and Asheville (94k), and the only cities in between are Cary (180k), Wilmington (120k), High Point (115k), and Concord (110k). Barring Fayetteville annexing another huge swath of land, it will almost certainly be overtaken by Cary, and likely by Wilmington and Concord as well.
I do wonder how much longer Apex, Cary, and Holly Springs can continue to grow their residential populations as rapidly as they have been. Thereās only so much land left, and all are pretty hemmed in by lakes or neighboring municipalities. Cary is the only one of the three that has started to see notable urban development, and I donāt think a 20% growth rate is remotely sustainable for Apex. Once the growth there slows, I think Concord and Gastonia will start to pull away as both of those cities have a lot more room to grow, and have already begun seeing redevelopment in their downtowns (especially Concord).
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Being more of a quality over quantity guy myself, Iāll say it again.
Wilmington has potential to be the best urban area in NC.
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Wilmington has finally started to get some legit residential development in its downtown. Relatively speaking, there arenāt a ton of surface lots in downtown but I think many of them will be redeveloped in the next decade or so.
Project Grace recently started construction on the block bounded by 2nd, Grace, 3rd, and Chestnut Streets, which will bring a museum and new library to downtown (replacing the existing hideous downtown library on the SW corner of that block), and once that is completed the old library is set to be replaced by a new mixed-use development.
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Wilmington would be my second city choice in NC, but Iād need for it to get substantially larger for me to really consider it.
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If there were train connection to Raleigh, its big enough for me now!
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It would have to be a real high speed rail service for me to make that commitment to the city today. If I could get from Wilmington to Raleigh in 45 minutes, Iād do it. Alas, that isnāt gonna happen in my lifetime.
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Or the city of Wilmingtonās lifetime, even.
https://www.greensboro-nc.gov/departments/parks-recreation/parks-gardens/barber-park/george-c-simkins-jr-indoor-sports-pavilion they host a pleasant USTA tounament here that I did about a month ago. in parallel they held a youth fencing tournamentā¦ itās a nice facility.
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@trueurbanist Iāve never seen those moving inclines before, do you know if any exist in the US? I assume they allow you to carry your bike relatively easily vs a traditional step escalator?
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Me either! Iām not sure if there are any in the U.S. but yes it is helpful for people with bikes.
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They have something similar for shopping carts at the IKEA in Charlotte, going from upstairs to the exit downstairs. The wheels lock in place on the surface. I wonder how this would work in a city setting, especially with not just bikes but also strollers and wheelchairs.
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did someone sayā¦
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Donāt know where to put this but Citynerd announced heās coming to Durham in June. For those into urbanist YouTube. Wonder if heād make a side trip to Raleighā¦
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If a few people got in touch, Iām sure he would. Iāve been a fan of his for a while now. Iāll reach out and send him an invite. Iād love to hear his take on Raleigh.
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