To be fair, the first Friday of January is a completely dead day for all nightlife. Everyone is exhausted from the holidays.
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I donât see why Raleigh doesnât just skip Januaryâs âFirst Fridayâ since they already do âFirst Nightâ on NYE which is the true big event at the start of Jan. Make February âFirst First Fridayâ month
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It also doesnât help that Januaryâs first Friday is more likely to be colder than any other first Friday of the year.
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Cold weather should not be an excuse for lower downtown activity. December is one of the busiest times for many cities in Europe because they have massive and interesting Christmas markets that take over entire city centers. The lack of vision for downtown I think stems from the lack of travel, we often look at other US cities for examples but letâs be honest thereâs not many cities in the US that are good examples of good city design nor management.
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I suspect that Raleigh isnât alone in January being a slower month. The Christmas hangover is likely a phenomena thatâs typical across the Northern Hemisphere in the âwesternâ world.
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Christmas markets arenât over until 3 kings day. Is itâs not much into January but way more than whatever weâre doing. February pretty dead though.
Unlike Nashville, Austin, and most major cities we donât have much tourism to make up for it.
Which is pretty typical of many cities, save for those whose âseasonâ is Winter like Miami.
We went out on First Friday in January and not only did the weather kill it, but the fact that the Illuminate art walk was so spread out led to this whole feeling of emptiness. Our group walked over to City Plaza and not only was it completely dead, me suggesting we go over made me feel dumb. The light tunnel was cool, but really thatâs about it. There should have been a higher density of lights.
One thing I do enjoy about NYC is that you do get tunnels from the subway and random ways to get into buildings from underground. It makes for a good way to get around without getting wet in the rain.
DC didnât really have that too much depending on where you were going but I did like the Crystal City shops area. We stayed at the Marriot there. You could take the elevator straight into the shops from the hotel.
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Thatâs also how the rats get in. 
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My office in Manhattan is like this. It sits on top of Penn Station and you donât ever have to go outside on your commute. Itâs terrific.
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This is something that would be very easy to put into downtown. It could be Raleigh branded or have some really cool art thing that could become a must-do photo op for visitors to share on social media. The one in Miami Beach always has a line of folks waiting for their turn.
âŚand yes, it was nearly 80 degrees the other night after sunset.
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Not sure where else to put this but I think we need a full size movie theater (AMC?) near the Convention center, RH and Memorial Auditorium. We need to maximize the amount of entertainment hotspots within downtown, preferably in this area.
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Welcome to the formerly club of one (me) whoâs been calling for this very thing for decades. Now we are club of 2. 
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maybe kinda? i have a regal theatre subscriptionâŚ24 bucks a month for unlimited movie watching. i can barely get through most of the films. if the facility had classic stuffâŚperhaps? i thought the art museum did or still does outdoor films at night in the summer?
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Make that a club of 3 
Iâd love to be able to have a date night with a restaurant, movie theater and possibly bar afterwards 
and all within walking distance 
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