They decided to award the project before the price went up more. Raleigh could learn something from Apex.
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What was that? Sorry, I couldnāt hear you over the sound of the $10million study that will take 5 years and result in nothing happening at all, actually.
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Spotted on the innerwebs: We might have a contender for coolest train station ever. This is the Mooka station in Mooka, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. It was built in 1997 and serves the JR east network. It also features an observation deck and probably has good snacks. Every station I used while visiting was average and utilitarian (with adequate snack options.)
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I donāt know what I think about that. To me, it just looks like what Disney would do with a station at Disney World.
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Donāt give them any ideas. The sushi boxes would cost $100. 
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Agreed, itās very kitschy/goofy. Aesthetically speaking, I love Richmondās station. Shame itās more or less decorative at this point and most of the Amtrak traffic is forced to the other station in the burbs. Iām guessing theyāre limited in what they can do after blasting 95 right through the downtown core.
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Iāve always loved Richmondās station, but Iāve also always hated how I95 just plows right next to its roofline. That was a horrible mistake.
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Counterpoint, it is cool to see it when I drive by on I-95ā¦ But yeah thatās some BS pushing the interstate right through like that. I canāt imagine how that got approved.
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I remember when it caught fire in 1983 and then in the early 90s there was a bar/dance club at the top that i took my wife to.
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It was all the rage at the time. Raleigh is lucky to avoid that fate and when downtown fills in a bit more, this will be a big thing it has over most of its competitor cities. Richmond, Orlando, Sacramento, Hartford all have horrific freeway placements.
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Day trip to Philly. I didnāt get a cheesesteak or a drink from a rooftop bar, but Penn U has this cool bubble that keeps you out of the 35 degree rain, and I got parking for $1.25 an hour.
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I get where youāre coming from, however I firmly disagree. Raleigh doesnāt have any urban area that can compete with Shockoe Bottom. I enjoy urban features like that of Chongqing Rail Transit Line 2ā¦ We just need to be a city of ambition, while Richmond has a BRT line. Think about that. Xenophobia and Old money Raleigh romanticism is killing us.
We just have subdivisions, shopping centers, and gas stationsā¦. Thatās all we see, and we can do much better. Corporations could care less our beautiful city.
How about getting rid of the xenophobic building codes downtown first!!!
What happened to our LRT line back in the early 2000ās? The terminology NIMBY makes too light of this matter.
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Can you please explain how our building codes are xenophobic? Iām really interested in understanding that POV.
That said, when we think about places like Richmondās Shockoe Bottom or Durhamās old Tobacco warehouses and infrastructure, thereās a story in each to be told in a new way. Itās in the romanticizing of the history that allows us to tell new stories while feeling connected to a place and its history. The challenge for Raleigh is find that old soul of the city and build upon the story. Raleighās history is largely in its educational institutions, the state government, and its grand old city neighborhoods. Unfortunately some really fine old buildings from that history have been lost for many decades now, and have often been largely forgotten. This is where the Goodnight Raleigh website, even in its dormancy, is a really valuable resource; it helps us not forget.
So, whatās left on which to build our future? IMO, there are some key districts that provide both opportunities and challenges.
- NC State and Hillsborough St.: IMO, what has happened and what continues to happen along NC Stateās old āstripā has been a long continuous story, and its immensely valuable to the identity of the city. It should be cherished, improved, and curated over time to build upon that legacy. I have the least concern for this area because the stateās largest university keeps it constantly filled with residents and workers.
- Fayetteville St.: Along with NC Stateās Hillsborough St., Fayetteville St. has a storied history that is recognized by the city for its importance and it certainly hasnāt been ignored, but it still struggles to find its appropriate footing that will make it its best version. Misses in the past, IMO, include not prioritizing the conversion of the Sir Walter into a grand hotel, rejecting Jaume Plensaās offer for a signature work of art at the city plaza, and not aggressively pushing for more housing along the storied street.
- Warehouse District: It should be the highest of priorities for the city to push for the connection of West. St. under the tracks at Union Station. Itās imperative to make that connection to establish a west side urban corridor that would run from the future Smoky Hollow Park to essentially the relocated site of the Red Hat Amphitheater. Not only would the corridor represent the best opportunity for a west side high street, it would bookend at two dynamic ends that are by the emerging sub-districts near those public amenities, while also providing a shorter gateway to Dix Park just to its southwest terminus.
- Edge Neighborhood urbanization: This one is challenging due to NIMBYism. North Person/Oakwood, Boylan Heights, Glenwood-Brooklyn, 5 Points, and to a lesser extent Forest Park, are neighborhoods that would benefit the most from urbanization on their edges but we also see the resistance to change. All of these neighborhoods tell Raleighās history and collectively they represent a timeline from the late 1800s to the first couple of decades of the 1900s. Paying attention to urbanizing their edges is an opportunity for Raleigh to celebrate these places by making them more walkable, and desirable for visitors from outside of Raleigh and from other parts of the city itself. While Glenwood-Brooklyn continues to whine like a squealing pig, I truly believe that the cityās actions of late (rezoning) will exponentially improve their lived experiences when all is said and done. We need urbanization activity to accelerate around N. Person, the edges of Boylan Heights (which is getting too much soulless ābig-boxā 5/1 housing IMO), 5 Points, etc. while celebrating our history.
- Glenwood South: While a subset of a greater (and future) connected West St. corridor, Glenwood South remains the cityās most viable opportunity for a robust urban neighborhood now. Instead, the city is pissing away that opportunity by not taking control of whatās happening there as it continues to operate as just a weekend party venue. The city center is just too small to sacrifice Glenwood South just for this sort of use, and the city needs to find a way to balance the entertainment while growing its daytime and weeknight credentials. This district is important because it connects downtown to other important districts to its west: Hillsborough & The Village District.
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Development-wise, I would just add to your thoughtful points the importance, at least in my mind, of connecting the West St corridor to Fayetteville St, particularly along Martin St. with solid development all the way to Moore Sq. Weāve got some good blocks and some really dead ones, but this strip needs to be invigorated.
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Agreed. Places between places are very important. We have seen this with the activity between Glenwood South and the Warehouse District over the last decade with the development of 400H as an example.
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They donāt like the French, but honestly who can blame them?
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ā¦best Inigo Montoya voiceā¦
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
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Raleigh doesnāt have a nucleus to its nightlife like 6th Street in Austin, Beale St in Memphis, 16th Street in Denver, and many many others. Nothing is quite on that level yet. There are several smaller clusters as you pointed out. Right now, Glenwood South feels like the most promising one at the moment. It really is a pleasant residential urban neighborhood with a nice mix of old and new. It could ascend to that level but the streetscape needs modernization and there are still quite a few empty lots or underutilized properties that could be filled in.
Other neighborhoods Iād mention -
Oakwood - I really do love this little corner of downtown. Itās an absolutely beautiful neighborhood with a small but high quality chunk of retail anchoring it. Unfortunately itās very isolated from the rest of downtown with little room for infill. Improving the isolation is the big thing.
āTheā Village District - Thereās some major history here. The Village Subway is a cool piece of Raleighās heritage that should be utilized better. Iād like to see it reopened, the main entrance restored, a second entrance to the north added and a section of it set aside as a museum for the Triangleās music scene. As for the rest of the neighborhood - thereās a lot of potential still. I hate the suburban parking moat form factor and hope that eventually it can be refit over time into a more urban format one chunk at a time. Also the name change was dumb. Needs something more distinctive. Oberlin Village? Lightner Village? Whatever just something that doesnāt sound like a retirement center in Florida.
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Iād argue that 6th St. in Austin isnāt an entertainment district either. Itās a party street like Glenwood is becoming. In the last few times I have been to Austin, I made a point of exploring it during the daytime. It was even more of a ghost town than Glenwood South is IMO. It had a few seedy characters hanging out, and I literally saw human 
on the sidewalk, and the entire stretch smelled horrible. It was disgusting (at least the side east of Congress which Iām told is called the Dirty 6th by the locals.). To truly be an entertainment district, it needs to be more than cheaply built-out, money grabbing, late night bars. That all said, I disagree that Glenwood South isnāt the nightlife nucleus for Raleigh.
By talking about urbanizing N. Person, I was talking about Oakwood because thatās Oakwoodās tiny urban strip. I agree that it needs more. Iād like to see it improved from Peace St. to Wake Forest Rd. Thereās so much potential here and it reminds me of pocket neighborhood retail in Portland.
I actually included The Village District in my post but deleted it, though I briefly mentioned Forest Park edges. In any case, I donāt disagree with you. I actually think that the District has been incrementally improving for a long time now and feel good about its direction. While I doubt that weāll see the full elimination of surface parking in our lifetimes, I fantasize about putting parking underground along Clark Ave. with store fronts pulled to the sidewalk on the shopping centerās southern border. I also agree with you about the new name. I dislike it. If itās going to be renamed, then Oberlin Village tops my list, but Iād also be okay with Cardinal Village as a nod to the state bird. Thereās just a lot that you could do with that branding that ties it to Raleigh and the state.
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Absolutely fair. I havenāt been to Austin since 2014 and many cities have faced challenges in the last several years. Sad to hear that this city took such a hard hit. When I was there I was impressed with what I saw.
The Waller Creek section was especially nice. Eventually when Glenwood Towers get decommissioned and replaced, I would like to see that section of Pigeon House Branch Creek daylighted and better utilized up through Forest Park.
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