Nice! Dilworth is a beautiful neighborhood.
Oakwood and Boylan Heights can take notes about how all the South End construction hasn’t changed that.
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I don’t think I would consider Empire to be a “development firm”. Decent at preservation and restoration though.
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I would consider Empire a developer because they develop new spaces inside old buildings for offices, retail and residential. They might not built from scratch like Kane but I would consider them a developer. Their buildings in their portfolio could have easily been torn down but all their buildings in and near downtown add to the character of Raleigh.
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I came across this project in Summerville, SC - Bonaire Park. It’s intriguing how they are mingling retail and residential: https://bonaire-park.com/
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Dooooooo Thiiiiis…Let’s see the math on this development type.
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So, I just got back from a pilgrimage/vacation to my home state (Oregon): a place I haven’t stepped foot in since I was 3 years old. Obviously, I didn’t have any recollection of it at all. In addition to some really cool nature stuff, I visited Portland, Bend, Corvallis, Newport, Monmouth, and Salem. I am not going to have the energy to talk about all of them in one post, so I’ll split up the trip in more digestible chunks. That said there are some things that seem to be pretty consistent among the places that I visited. First of all, Oregon is just stunningly beautiful and has some dramatic variation in landscape when driving just a few hours. Secondly, the people were incredibly chill and NICE. I was blown away by how nice people were everywhere I went.
I’ll start with Portland because it was the first place I went. To be fair to the city, I arrived in a heatwave that was exacerbated by the fact that there were fires in eastern Oregon that were funneling smoky air down the Columbia River and into Portland. Nonetheless, I loved the city. We all know about the troubles that Portland has been having with its homeless and public addiction issues, and the crime associated with it. I definitely saw the tent cities tucked in all sorts of places like the freeway side of sound walls behind neighborhoods, tucked into ravines at overpass intersections, etc., though most of the negative impacts seem to be centralized in the Old Town part of the city.
I loved how the city was organized around small blocks and generally narrow one way streets. FWIW, this seemed to be true in the other Oregon cities that I visit. It was very easy to navigate by foot, and crossing the one way streets only took me about 5 seconds. Portland also has a very good light rail system that is very dense downtown on the streets, and it takes you to the airport for a standard fare of $2.80. For that fare, you can actually use the system for 2.5 hours. So, essentially, you can explore a good amount of the city for just one fare.
The Pearl District was really nice, despite it being just a few blocks west of the worst of the worst. It’s filled with independent businesses, lively neighborhoods, and things to do. It’s a good model for what the west side of DTR could be if we could shake the Spring Break model that seems to currently dominate Glenwood.
Immediately west of the Pearl District is I-405. It separates the Pearl District from some lovely historic mixed density housing neighborhoods that feel most like Five Points, Boylan Heights, etc. They do a really good job of tucking small retail into these neighborhoods, and there are lessons to be learned. This TJ was smack dab in the middle of a residential neighbohood in a strip that is akin to the small strips of retail at 5Points here. It didn’t feel overwhelming to the neighborhood and was clearly an asset. I’d live in this hood if I lived in Portland.
405 runs under the connecting streets between these neighborhoods and the Pearl District. While the freeway isn’t ideal, the two sides felt more connected because the freeway wasn’t running overhead. It sort of reminded me of Boston.
Speaking of Boston, downtown Portland has a mini Boston Common that runs from the center through Portland State University until it meets its end at 405.
While downtown is on the west side of the Willamette River, its east side feels like their version of our warehouse district, but much larger. Unfortunately, I-5 kills the entire east side of the river waterfront. The photos below are mainly of the Pearl District.
The produce in Portland was STUNNING. It was actually pretty. I tasted the best peaches of my life there and that was a complete shock to me that peaches in the NW would be better than peaches in the South.
Also, stores were way more environmentally conscious than in Raleigh with plastic use being much more limited. For instance, grocers used the old school pressboard berry boxes instead of the plastic ones, and many of the disposable utensils were wooden.
Portland wasn’t without their NIMBYs. I grabbed this shot of a yard sign in a well-to-do neighborhood in the hills to the west of downtown.
Lastly, here are a couple of quirky shots that represent the vibe of the city.
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No, Durham. You’ve already got DPAC. Next they’ll be wanting an amphitheatre…
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Winston-Salem and Greensboro both have much larger convention centers that do not intrude on each other.
Durham really needs to step up.
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Yes, and Raleigh should improve their performing arts center to one-up Durham. I say tit for tat is the game to play.
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A quick drop of photos from my trip to Oregon, though this time it’s Salem.
I was disappointed that the Capitol was under renovation and there really weren’t any good angles that could avoid it.
That said, Salem was a pleasant surprise to me. Like Raleigh, it has a compact core, but it’s quite active and has several active blocks of positive foot traffic among independent retailers, restauranteurs, services, etc. What makes it most impressive to me is that they have this within a city that’s slightly less populated than Cary.
The city blocks felt more similar to the ones in Raleigh and there are lots of one way streets like Portland. There’s also a shopping mall downtown that follows the grid and includes a downtown Macy’s. It’s like a cross between a traditional mall and The Village District, while only a few blocks from the Capitol Building. I can’t help but think that it’s a game changer for their downtown retail scene. Come downtown for the Macy’s and then peruse the surrounding blocks for fun independent shopping and dining.
When I go back to Oregon, I may make Salem my jumping off point for day trips within the Willamette Valley, the Cascades and the coast. Nothing seems too far from there.
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May I join you for these trips? 
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Saw this on FB today and thought it was cool!
“The Capitol building of Kansas in Topeka is the only Capitol where visitors can take a tour all the way to the top of the dome and weather permitting, walk outside on a catwalk around the dome. To get there, though, is a series of 296 steps between a lower interior dome and the outer dome.”
A link to the official site with facts and visitor info can be found here.
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It will be interesting to see what Durham decides to do with a potential new convention center. I would be a little surprised if it directly competes with Raleigh’s, which will be 800,000 square feet.
The article said the current Durham one is 31,000 square feet.
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31,000 SF? That’s not a convention center; that’s a wedding hall. 
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I really enjoyed Salem, and my capitol pictures are on film so not sure I can share them. Very cool art deco capitol, cool state office area, and great, walkable downtown. Didn’t hurt that while I was there the weather was perfect, warm and low humidity.
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I’ll let you finance my next wedding, when my penguin half gets sick of me.
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My day there was the only day of my trip that wasn’t sunny. It was cloudy with intermittent drizzle. Supposedly there are lots of days in Oregon like that! I am glad that I’m not the only one who likes their capitol building. I dig the militaristic art deco design language, even if it has a Mormonesque type statue on top.
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Great pics. I love the capitols that aren’t just carbon copies of the US Capitol. My favorite is Nebraska’s, which is also Art Deco. The interior is beautiful too.
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On my trip to Oregon, I woke up in my hometown of Corvallis for the first time since I was 2 years old.
Corvallis, a college town that hosts Oregon’s largest university (Oregon State) was cute in a way that only college towns can typically pull off. Unfortunately OSU is on the quarters system and students weren’t yet in town. That made it really quiet. One thing that was really nice to see is how the town used flowers to bring warmth to their downtown. Baskets of living flowers hang from the town’s light posts. FWIW, it wasn’t the only place in Oregon where I saw this. The university itself has a very similar enrollment to NC State, but it somehow didn’t feel as large to me.
I’d love to see this town in action with its student body there. I guess that I’ll have to go back?
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