We have had plenty of posts and sharing about things that we covet from other cities, and things that we wish we had. But, let’s face it, there’s a lot of great things about the city that other cities would kill to have. Similarly, there are things that we don’t have that other cities wish that they didn’t have.
I’ll start with my entry on the topic: No encircling core freeway system. Cities like Charlotte, Kansas City, and others have these tight loop freeways that make for impressive approaches by car but also act as de facto barriers between the core and surrounding districts and neighborhoods. While we hand wring about the overpasses at Peace & Capital and McDowell & Western/MLK, we don’t have a full blown interstate plowing through our core and creating dead zones and barriers. Instead, we have vibrant and growing neighborhoods on downtown’s edges where people can actually walk to downtown. This is not something that every fast growing city has and I cherish it.
I’m glad we don’t have real traffic jams. For now, at least.
Glad our downtown has a diverse employment base and the commercial enterprises are primarily supported by and derived from local residents as opposed to a highly dependent tourism economy with crud like Ripleys and Hard Rock Cafe as prime reasons for downtown to have any life. Glad for the huge production of brain power from the three universities nearby fueling our tech startup scene. Glad you can string together a 100 mile bike ride with no problem on our greenway system. Glad for the strong running and biking scenes here. Glad for the strong music scene (going 30 years strong back to the early punk days).
100% with you on this…but on the flip side of this is that it comes with a lot more NIMBY’s
But at least we have the opportunity to persuade those people, unlike having to work around an actual freeway…
The greenway system in Raleigh has been really iffy in recent years. Go to the greenway closures website and you’ll see a significant portion is closed with either no or inconvenient detours.
I really like that downtown has a local food scene that isn’t overrun by chains.
I think this somewhat a product of our overwhelming desire to support local. It seems to be in our culture and that’s one thing I really love about Raleigh and even more so DTR.
I initially thought this, but then I was surprised at the amount of the restaurants that are owned and run by large restaurant groups. I would love a thread here, that differentiates true local eateries that are 100% run on everyday basis. What I mean by this, are that the owners are present and put their blood, sweat, tears into the operation. Not the corporations that half-ass it and can hide behind bankruptcy if it doesn’t work out.
Ideally you should have an appropriate mix of local with some national. If possible, heavier on the local.
I hear this a lot, and am just curious…why the chains are necessary in any amount in your opinion? I visit a lot of places and the only thing I think when I see chains, is get me to a better part of town. If all I see is chains, I think an area or whole city sucks. Is it some sort of indicator that the economy thrives enough such that the scratch of locals the only thing keeping it going? Is it to bring in the full array of possible open wallets? The arrival of chains, to me, equals the pushing out of local stuff and gradual cycle of encroaching lameness, area overrun with people with no vestment in the area, and then those people move on to the next new fun spot leaving a destitute area where chains last held reign. Then it repeats. I can’t imagine a place really ever holding on to the sweet spot of 90% locally owned stuff and a handful of chains…the chains seem to dominate later, or usually sooner. This is more than classic boom and bust the cycle of cool–>popular–>dead.
It’s true. Combo of hurricane damage and lots of sewer work. The one problem with our greenway systems is it exists almost entirely on the back of sewer easements. Like lots of things in Raleigh, a path of little resistance got us what ended up being a good thing (like bike lanes on streets that just happened to already be wide enough). But if you’d had to get developers to set aside greenway right of way for plat approval, hell or high-water that would never ever have happened. Its hard enough to get them to keep the required tree cover now.
How do we think that we are getting a park again at Devereux Meadows? It’s the same thing! If it were reasonably buildable, then no park!
Chains are only necessary if people like them and will frequent them. If the local options are better, the chains will eventually go away. Why limit people’s choices. Capital Grille is a chain. People like it for nice occasions. Why would you force it from existing?
I get that most people don’t want only chains, that’s why I said ideally you have mostly local, with some chains available to meet market needs.
All of the restaurant tenants in The Dillon are chains, so I think we need to distinguish between cheesy chains and really high quality restaurant groups that are choosing Raleigh for expansion.
Also, I went to a flying saucer in ft. Worth that is exactly like our flying saucer: yep, it’s a chain.
Given Kane’s experience with North Hills, I would expect that most of his tenants in all of his downtown projects is likely to be chains. Those are his contacts. He’s likely to see all of his projects as unified lifestyle centers. The variety will come from what happens or exists around his projects.
Good point, @evan.j.bost and I agree. Cheezy vs quality I think is an important distinction. I didn’t realize Oak and O-Ku were chains initially and I was excited they were there. I’m no less happy they’re there now that I know they’re chains as they aren’t mass deployment cheezy chains. I am less happy Oak is there because it give good quality steak houses a bad name. Poor service and bad food on many accounts but I digress. More of Chuan’s Heirloom Brew Shop and Vita Vite!
Saying a blanket “chains are bad” is using an awfully broad brush. There is a big difference between chains like TGIF, Crapplebee’s, Cheesecake Factory, etc. and more local / regional chains like Capital Grill, Mellow Mushroom, Trophy Brewing.
Yes Ideally everything is non-chain, owner run restaurants. But that is not reality.
I think we established differentiating between McDonald’s and a quality chain. As for locally run “chains”, I personally don’t consider it a chain (obviously by definition it is) but I’ll happily take 10 Trophy locations in the area as that’s a promotion of our local success.
I didn’t suggest limiting anything or forcing anything on anyone. I was asking what the rationale is for thinking a handful of chains is a good thing. Agreed with others that ‘chain’ is a loose word itself. Char Grill is a chain after all. Regionally derived and located, with local flair and flavor is different than say, a Starbucks in Paris. I dislike monotony, and whitewashing and expensive, national chains give me cause for concern
I agree that there’s a spectrum of “chains” and that not all of them are bad. I think the ones that make an effort to be a part of the community are the ones that come across as being better than the ones who don’t.