But you're talking about three parks that offer three different things. One is a historical site with an operational mill. One is a recreational lake. We have no idea what Dix will evolve into yet. It's like saying because we already have a science museum we should just close down the history museum and NCSU shouldn't have bothered building their art museum.

12/6/2012 12:00:00 AM

Yes, they shouldn't have.

http://www.usdebtclock.org/state-debt-clocks/state-of-north-carolina-debt-clock.html
Current state debt is $55,629,105,000

This site calculates the state debt at nearly $100 billion, 13th highest in the nation.
http://lockerroom.johnlocke.org/2011/11/24/latest-state-debt-rankings-out-nc-middle-of-debt-ridden-pack/

I don't think 2012 figures are out yet, but the state's deficits are greater than ever.

The City of Raleigh itself is approaching $2 billion in debt.

So no, I don't particularly care that one very good art museum isn't enough.

[Edited on December 6, 2012 at 12:34 AM. Reason : .]

12/6/2012 12:11:43 AM

Dos Taquitos Xoco opening in two week on Glenwood South at the old Hard Times / Diner:

http://www.newraleigh.com/article/dos-taquitos-xoco-opening-in-two-weeks-on-glenwood-south/

12/6/2012 12:14:07 PM

Quote :

"What are your opinions on Raleigh taking complete control of the whole county? I assume that's how most major metropolitan areas do it. The city limits are already completely blurred with Garner, Morrisville, Knightdale and the "Town" of Cary. Seems like eliminating those local governments would get rid of Cary's many recent peculiarities and controversies, for instance. Once 540 is finished and makes a complete circle, I see no reason why everything contained within shouldn't fall under one, consolidated municipal government. "

I actually don't think it's done that way very often. There are exceptions, of course--Jacksonville, FL is one. The city limits consist of the entire county, which (according to the very reliable wikipedia) makes it the largest municipality by area in the US. I think logistically and econmomically it's a good idea but politically nearly impossible.

Several cities in Virginia do it the opposite way. Richmond, for example, is surrounded by Chesterfield and Henrico counties, but is part of neither. The city as a municipal entity is not in any county and stands on a peer basis with its surrounding counties. Seems like a novel approach to avoiding duplication of services, plus thorny situations like you have on the Wake-Durham county line where part of Raleigh extends into Durham county and part of Durham extends into Wake county.

12/6/2012 2:58:05 PM

Raleigh (and Charlotte too) are already massive in land area due to annexation. In fact, due to this, Raleigh is larger in size than Philadelphia, Seattle, Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Detroit, Boston, Denver, Washington, Miami and Minneapolis.

Some sort of regional governance is important, especially with regard to transportation and other things that simply must be coordinated at a regional scale to be effective. But, the inherent conflict between urban, suburban and rural planning methods becomes problematic when you have one municipality that is so large that it encompasses all three. As the urban core becomes marginally smaller within the whole of the city (downtown Raleigh is only 1% of the land area of Raleigh!), it becomes harder to plan for it. It's also difficult to make policy, because what is appropriate for an urban area may not necessarily be appropriate for a rural one and vice versa.

It was a bit shocking moving to New Jersey because it is the complete opposite of NC in this regard. NC has 552 municipalities over 53,819 sq mi. NJ has 566 over 8,721! There is a lot of inefficiency and waste because of a ton of very tiny places having their own governance. On the flipside, the urban areas are pretty much 100% urban, and it makes planning and developing much more logical.

There's definitely a balance that needs to be struck, but I think Raleigh has expanded its boundaries way too much already. Stronger regional governance would be a good thing, though.

12/6/2012 3:36:22 PM

Going back to the old transit discussion that we've had on here many times, this is what light rail can do: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/12/07/3711178/light-rail-attracting-apartment.html

Quote :

"While commercial development across the region is seeing slow growth at best, the South End neighborhood has seen a spurt of new activity this year with more than $200 million worth of new construction being announced. Apartments near the Lynx line are powering the growth. In fact, of the more than 4,000 new apartment units announced in Charlotte this year, 60 percent are within a 15-minute walk of the light-rail line, according to CoStar, a real estate analytics firm."

12/7/2012 9:30:45 AM

So I emailed the John Locke Foundation with our question about tax money in and out of counties figuring if anybody would know where to find those numbers, it would be them This was the reply I got back:

Quote :

"Interesting question. It's not something I've looked into previously but I suspect that the state doesn't provide data on that as it would be too politically sensitive. I did look into gasoline tax receipts by county some years back and the answer was that state didn't track that (!)."

12/7/2012 9:57:00 AM

Quote :

""What are your opinions on Raleigh taking complete control of the whole county? I assume that's how most major metropolitan areas do it. The city limits are already completely blurred with Garner, Morrisville, Knightdale and the "Town" of Cary. Seems like eliminating those local governments would get rid of Cary's many recent peculiarities and controversies, for instance. Once 540 is finished and makes a complete circle, I see no reason why everything contained within shouldn't fall under one, consolidated municipal government. " I actually don't think it's done that way very often. There are exceptions, of course--Jacksonville, FL is one. The city limits consist of the entire county,"

Actually, it is kinda done this way pretty often at least for some things. A lot of places have a joint city/county planning division and it would probably help Raleigh if Wake County did the same thing (so long as its not dominated by pro-sprawl politically-connected developers). Durham has city/county planning and its one of the reason that they have changed some of their plans recently.

12/7/2012 10:11:40 AM

Wake County is very large geographically. THere are still some very rural areas in the Zebulon, Rolesville, Fuquay areas.

12/7/2012 7:24:21 PM

RIP Sweepstakes
http://instagram.com/p/S9a4VDBzHh/

12/8/2012 1:48:55 AM

Oh well, nothing there worth keeping anyway

12/8/2012 6:54:51 AM

^^whats going in its place? Is there a project planned for that corner?

12/8/2012 7:02:32 AM

Wow surprised to see it being torn down rather than redone. Wonder what the plan is.

12/8/2012 7:57:26 AM

according to posts on the link 23 story apartment building

12/8/2012 9:05:56 AM

It was scheduled to go. For some reason shit started falling of it and it was condemned last Saturday and cordoned off since then.

goodnight, sweet prince.

12/8/2012 10:20:42 AM

Quote :

"Wake County is very large geographically. There are still some very rural areas in the Zebulon, Rolesville, Fuquay areas. "

Durham County is similar with the northern and southern part of the county being very rural (more so in the north). Remember that Durham has part of Jordan Lake, follows Falls lake along the east, includes the eno river, and goes north to include small towns like Bahama and Rougemont. Wake County could use similar joint city/county planning.

12/8/2012 1:22:50 PM

I am pretty sure that person is incorrect about the 23 story apartment complex. I am guessing they are talking about the "skyhouse" project and I don't think this is the corner. (seems like it is on the corner of Martin and Blount across from Batistellas) Sounds like the building was being condemned for caving in and they are just ridding the city of a deathtrap.

12/9/2012 8:43:08 AM

This is on the same block where Skyhouse will go, although not the same corner. The developers of Skyhouse had wanted to put an office building on this corner.

At any rate, this is (was) one of the oldest standing buildings in Raleigh. Sad to see it go, but I guess it couldn't be helped.

12/9/2012 10:38:39 AM

The thing that kills me about it is not just the age. It's that that block was the southern anchor of what was the last row of (mostly) uninterrupted 19th and early 20th century storefronts left in Raleigh. Yes, the building was unsafe, I get that. But I doubt it was too far gone to save. Hell, the next storefront down was a facade with nothing behind it, but when that building went, they at least saw fit to preserve the facade to keep the continuity of the street. This time? Fuck it, down it comes.

I assume all four storefronts (Reliable Loans, Isaac's) down to the parking deck were demolished?

GG Raleigh. Tearing down your history one block at a time. :sad:

12/9/2012 2:11:28 PM

You want the city to pay to preserve a privately owned building? Why is this the citys fault?

12/9/2012 2:52:19 PM

Seriously, if you want to keep a building around then someone should have taken care of the damn thing. Don't let these buildings fall into such disrepair that the city is forced to tear them down.

Or, the city can let these buildings stay around so everyone can get the warm fuzzies as they walk by row after row of vacant condemned buildings all in the name of preserving the history of the city.

[Edited on December 9, 2012 at 4:58 PM. Reason : ]

12/9/2012 4:55:31 PM

^^^It is unclear whether or not they are demolishing the entire building. Reliable Loans and whatever is next door are still open I think. From the outside appearance, only the corner portion of the building is being demolished.

12/9/2012 5:01:46 PM

I'm fairly sure that the *whole* building is just the Sweepstakes place. They're individual building situated right next to each other. I've walked by it every day this week except for today, and it just looks like they're taking down the corner building.

12/9/2012 5:22:18 PM

^ There's a bail bonds office in the back on the basement level. Sad to see it go, but aside from the arched windows on the second floor it doesn't contribute much aesthetically. The first floor storefront had already been destroyed during a previous renovation.

http://www.raleighnc.gov/business/content/PlanCurrent/Articles/NoteworthyProjects2012.html
569 apartments going into that block in two different properties flanking the parking deck.

12/9/2012 10:36:26 PM

Quote :

"You want the city to pay to preserve a privately owned building? Why is this the citys fault?"

No, I'd rather the asshat who owned it not allow it to fall into such a state of disrepair that it had to come down. That, or there's a concept called "demolition by neglect" which asserts that, once a property owner allows a structure within a historic district to deteriorate to a certain point, the city can require the owner to make repairs to the property such that it is no longer a hazard. If the owner does not make said repairs, the city can direct that the repairs be made and place a lien on the structure for the cost of the repairs, and can also fine the owner. If the lien and/or fines are not serviced the city can take possession of the building. It's not an easy process but it's very handy for keeping things like this from happening.
If you disagree with the above on philosophical/property rights grounds, then I don't think we're going to see eye to eye on any of this.

Quote :

"Seriously, if you want to keep a building around then someone should have taken care of the damn thing. Don't let these buildings fall into such disrepair that the city is forced to tear them down. Or, the city can let these buildings stay around so everyone can get the warm fuzzies as they walk by row after row of vacant condemned buildings all in the name of preserving the history of the city."

See above. As you noted, it's not like the city didn't incur a cost to demolish it. Labor, logistics, use of machinery, debris removal.

As to your second point, "row after row" of vacant condemned buildings in this instance is two, one of which hardly counts as it was nothing but a facade. Plus, much of Wilmington Street looked that way until a few years ago. Now, the portion north of the Moore Square Station entrance (plus the Christensen row immediately south of the entrance) is an unqualified success story. We could have had that success extend another block south, but with this building gone and the others evidently coming down sometime next year, nope. Another sterile new building instead. If it has street level retail it won't be a total loss.

12/10/2012 1:30:54 AM

12/10/2012 1:14:23 PM

That gray/blue "building" next to it is a facade with nothing behind it except a framework propping it up. I imagine that will go too as it doesn't seem to make any sense to leave it there completely open on one side (not to mention that would be a pain in the ass to work around during demo).

12/10/2012 3:34:53 PM

richofthen, the facade was already ruined whenever they turned it into the storefront. it was ugly as shit.

12/10/2012 3:37:31 PM

^I realize that the first floor of the Sweepstakes building was your standard badly remodeled storefront. I still think that the building's history and the fact that the second floor windows retained their original decorations made it worth saving--while the first floor could not have been restored to original, it could have been changed to something that was attractive and respected the original style.

The gray building's frontage seems to have survived solely to bridge the Sweepstakes and Reliable buildings without leaving a hole in the streetscape. The building behind it was demolished (or collapsed or burned) years ago. And, as you note, it didn't have anything of interest on the first floor either. So now that much of its support structure is gone as well as its purpose, and with the Reliable building headed for oblivion next year, makes no sense to leave it there.

12/10/2012 4:04:19 PM

[Edited on December 10, 2012 at 4:05 PM. Reason : Doubles]

12/10/2012 4:05:17 PM

Out with the old, in with the new.

12/10/2012 4:55:31 PM

Glenwood South Hampton Inn is now open: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151277221361168.486923.159069881167&type=3

12/11/2012 1:16:40 PM

Fancy.

12/11/2012 1:23:01 PM

looks really nice, I may get a room there for some family to check it out over christmas

12/11/2012 1:27:04 PM

I know it's not downtown, but I wasn't sure where else to put this. Got this in an email today:

Quote :

"DRUMROLL PLEASE...... THE COWFISH HITS RALEIGH IN 2013!!! What a ride it has been thus far! Many have asked, so it's time to deliver! We are humbled by the opportunity that our Junkies have given us to grow a second unit! The Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar will be opening in Raleigh's North Hills Mall in Spring 2013! We've been working on this great location for over a year, and are excited to try our goods out in a new town! Thanks to all who have helped guide us through the do's and don'ts of growing into a new market! We are blessed to have your support! Are you excited about The Cowfish coming to Raleigh's North Hills (@NorthHillsRal)? Then tweet us at @CowfishRaleigh! And while you're at it, tweet us and let us know where you'd like to see our third location!"

Good to see this finally moving along.

12/11/2012 3:11:01 PM

Interesting I wonder what the setback was. When we ate at the one in Charlotte a couple weeks ago the owner was making it sound like they'd be ready for their soft opening by early-December.

12/11/2012 4:03:21 PM

I've been hearing about this for well over a year so IMO it's just about damn time!!!

12/11/2012 8:43:17 PM

So Sushi Gami at Cameron Village is just a shameless ripoff of this, right?

12/11/2012 8:50:23 PM

that's what I thought, but then I looked at their menu, and it's not comparable to Cowfish at all.

12/12/2012 9:08:34 AM

cheaper too, right?

12/12/2012 9:11:48 AM

yes they are cheaper than Cowfish.

12/12/2012 9:59:48 AM

Murder victim sits in Raleigh park trashcan for over a month. Yikes. This should really be reported to SeeClickFix, since the city is obviously not emptying those trash cans frequently enough.
http://www.wral.com/body-found-in-trash-can-on-raleigh-s-capital-area-greenway/11872194/

Here's a great use of valuable land:
http://www.wral.com/supporters-say-urban-farms-can-blossom-in-raleigh/11860156/

Quote :

"The produce is sold to local restaurants. Unfortunately, Cook said, some people think community gardens mean free food for anyone nearby. "You have a broad, open deal here, and I think some people unfortunately take it to the limit of community garden means free," he said. "(That's) not necessarily true.""

If you plant a garden in the ghetto don't be surprised when people steal from it. Plus I'm not sure I want to be eating from land that's been contaminated with human settlement and the rubble of old buildings/outhouses/industrial waste for hundreds of years. I'm all for the grow local movement, but this is too local.

London has their allotments, but that's land that was set aside as far back the victorian period. Maybe some of that $200 Raleigh community garden fee(a fee to grow on your own property?!) should go to mandatory epa testing.

[Edited on December 12, 2012 at 2:08 PM. Reason : .]

12/12/2012 2:04:39 PM

Nowhere in that article does it say his body was in a trashcan for over a month

12/12/2012 2:37:28 PM

Missing since early November.

12/12/2012 2:41:31 PM

I, too, am curious about the point of the $200 fee. There is no charge to maintain a garden for your own use on your own land; why is there a fee/tax involved when the garden becomes for open use, if you're still not producing the items for sale? And, for that matter, does that mean that running an unreported community garden is a crime?

12/12/2012 4:08:45 PM

^ They're selling to restaurants so my guess is it has something to do with that.

12/12/2012 5:10:16 PM

re: Sweepstakes
http://goodnightraleigh.com/2012/12/an-epic-facade-fail-on-s-wilmington-st/

12/13/2012 12:09:22 AM

There's a hearing on the gardens tuesday. At issue is the distinction between amateur community gardens and urban farms that sell produce, especially on-site. City planners don't sound sold on the whole idea either way, and if you look at the photo it's kind of a mess. Of course current rules don't allow any sort of fencing to hide the mess anyway, so what can you do?

http://www.raleighpublicrecord.org/news/2012/12/10/urban-farms-gardens-debated-for-new-zoning-code/

Quote :

"To get a special-use permit, a resident must pay a $200 filing fee and go through a quasi-judicial hearing. At the hearing, a resident must provide expert testimony and research about the impact farms and gardens would have on the surrounding area."

quasi is the best kind of government.

12/13/2012 1:23:28 AM

It makes you scratch your head when Cary has more liberal regulations on "urban farms" than Raleigh

Is it true they're not allowed to build a fence around the property? That seems stupid as hell to me if that is the case.

12/13/2012 8:20:28 AM

Yes, all fences have to be "of an open design". One chicken per 1000 ft, and no animals at all in residential zoning. No nighttime lighting. I came across the full regulations yesterday, but it's obvious they were hastily written last year when they first allowed gardening as a primary use for a property.

12/13/2012 10:19:52 AM