One of the issues is that I am near the middle of a big old residential area. It is still ITB but over on the east side. It seems like the things I would like to walk to would need some kind of “commercial zoning” aka a change in zoning to be added near me. The Brookeside Market is the best example I have seen of something that increases walk-ability being added to a neighborhood area. Everything else you would want to go to end up on New Bern or Raleigh Blvd, which are kind of less walk-able to by nature.
What are peoples thoughts on increasing walk-ablility and what in my mind falls into “Mixed Use”?
Brookside Market, and other places like it, exist because it has basically always been a commercial spot. I look at that place and am slightly jealous that there isn’t just the space for something like that near me.
To increase walkability, we need to have places like that added to neighborhoods instead of just working with what we had from another Raleigh era.
The UDO made possible nodes of active development for commercial uses but I feel they are still too far apart and encourage too little walking. Maybe biking but the bike infra has a way to go.
We need to just zone them into neighborhoods. Straight up for this to happen.
I recently bought a townhouse in a N Raleigh (suburban, I know) neighborhood. HOWEVER, a big deciding factor was that we were smack right between two shopping centers with groceries and places to eat. Even the ABC store is within walking distance. According to this website, our area scored a 57. But again, it was a conscious decision to live somewhere we can walk to places rather than driving. Since we moved we have averaged two trips a week walking up to the shops. Lots of coworkers/family have chastised me for buying a townhouse rather than a single family house… but the root of that decision was being in a walkable area. I think as a society we really have to start thinking “outside of the car” I spend enough time in the damn car on my commute to MorrisHell, I am glad to walk to run my daily errands.
The hope is for that side of town that the BRT will calm traffic and encourage pedestrian-oriented development along the corridor. A lot of that area of town seems to lack basic infrastructure like proper sidewalks and most of the businesses seem to have ample parking. The nice thing is there’s a kind of critical mass, once the ball starts rolling with new development, the developers will start copying them. Charlotte’s South End is probably a good example, but it’s going to take a long time.
There is a church near me which is in what I consider a similar location for my neighborhood as the Brookside Market is for its neighborhood. It is about to be torn down and I saw that the building permit plans are for 9 houses. I am all about the infill, but there goes a perfect spot for a little little place. I am talking supper small sandwich and coffee place. Would be so nice to have that to walk to. I have a couple neighbors who are all about the idea as well. http://www.raleighnc.gov/content/PlanDev/Documents/DevServ/DevPlans/Reviews/2018/Subdivision/S-011-18.pdf
You definitely have the right idea. There’s no reason why suburbs can’t be dense or walkable, especially inside the Raleigh city limits. I’ve been to many places (Somerville, Mass is a great example, walk score 86) where nothing is more than 2-3 stories and almost everything is single family homes and yet it’s a great place for pedestrians. I won’t afford a house for a few years (grad student…) but I’ll almost certainly end up aiming for something similar to what you have.
Not quite, but close. The neighborhood actually has a nice mix of shopping, apartments, townhouses, and single family homes as you move away from the major road. It was well planned, and not your typical “cookie cutter” neighborhood that we see too often today.
Haha… No other direction. We live between Creedmoore and Lead Mine. The Creedmoore Rd shopping center has more chain stores and establishments and is pretty suburban… the shopping center on the Lead Mine side has a lot of local businesses and is ALWAYS packed on the weekends.
I live near Evan and am rocking a walkability score of 5, which means, “almost all errands require a car”, but the internet doesn’t know everything. I’ve taken matters into my own hands and made trails to connect to utility right of ways. I can walk to the grocery store and walk my dog to the vet. I routinely walk to Carolina Pines Park.
I like what Gil Penalosa says about needing to dignify walking and biking by providing better facilities to do so. See this video at around the 23’ mark:
People don’t necessarily walk/bike to do errands just because they have no other choice. Like Nickster I spend enough time in the car and am not looking for other reasons to have to drive somewhere.
Interesting article here. In general, as we all know too well, NC cities are terrible for walking. Most interesting, is the part about walkability being a big factor for gen Z and younger millennials and where they will want to live/move to. I guess the only redeeming factor for Raleigh (our score is awful) is that we are better positioned than our peer NC cities.
This app is glitchy. It is a 7 minute walk from my front door to Harris Teeter, and a 20(ish) minute walk to a Food Lion the other direction, but the app shows nothing. There is literally a hole where the Harris Teeter is. Use this with some skepticism…
This thread was resurrected and apparently I hadn’t caught up with all the posts so your post about “recently” purchasing a townhome in N Raleigh back in 2018 was the first unread post.
What I thought was strange about your post was that coworkers/family chastised you for purchasing a townhome vs single family home. I guess I’m just not understanding what business it is of theirs and why they’d feel so passionate about where you’re living to chastise you about something that seems silly and subjective to personal desires. Anyway, just posting out loud here. I think through the last 4 years since that post you’ve enjoyed your decision based on my recollection of your posts so that’s great!