Well from what I've heard a lot of the criticism of a light rail system is that it wouldn't be used enough to be worth it financially. If a stadium existed in downtown with just enough parking to allow tailgating, people from all over the Triangle (Cary, Durham, CH, etc) could park at their local rail stations and ride into Raleigh to attend games. The rail system would have a lot of riders a few times a week which would help it out with operating costs and citizens of the Triangle would gain the benefit of having light rail infrastructure in place. Plus, think about how much economic benefit a downtown stadium would present. Bars would pop up all over the place. Parking decks would make more money on weekends, property values would rise, and a many other things as well. Raleigh already has a population of 700k+ and we're growing at a very fast rate. That's not even counting the population of the surrounding area which is significantly higher. A stadium downtown could be a very nice investment opportunity for a sports team.

Personally, I think an MLS team would do pretty well here. A soccer stadium would also require less space downtown. I think if we could lobby to get the Railhawks into the MLS that would work best. They could use the WakeMed fields as their practice complex and youth facility. I don't know. I just think there's a huge opportunity here and it could produce a ton of benefits for the whole area.

4/22/2012 4:22:42 PM

you want people to go downtown to use the stadium, but want it to be a SOCCER stadium???

4/22/2012 4:46:38 PM

^Ignorant shithead.

4/22/2012 4:50:58 PM

don't blame me that soccer is not a very popular sport round these parts.

4/22/2012 5:21:26 PM

neither was hockey

4/22/2012 5:36:27 PM

you might get dozens upon dozens of people to visit the soccer stadium!

4/22/2012 5:48:27 PM

^^and it's not now either... http://espn.go.com/nhl/attendance
(22nd out of 30 for attendence)

4/22/2012 6:03:10 PM

22nd out of 30 for attendance with a horrible team in one of the smallest markets in the league? Sounds fine to me.

4/22/2012 6:12:32 PM

Quote :

"Raleigh already has a population of 700k+"

I hate to be a stickler, but Raleigh proper is only approx. 405k.....Wake County is approx 900k

4/23/2012 1:48:40 PM

^yeah that sounds more accurate... i was going to say something but i didn't feel like looking up the statistics.

4/23/2012 1:50:17 PM

^yeah but the Metro area is something like 1.7 million. (I think they call this CSA, combined statistical area)

Pro sports in this area need to draw from Raleigh, WF, Cary, Apex, Garner, Chapel Hill, and Durham to be successful. The density just isn't there otherwise.

MLS would be a cool addition to raleigh. The MLS president was here a few weeks ago and they are studying our area. Soccer is tremendously popular here, I think we have a top 5 youth program in the country. UNC, Duke, and somewhat NC State have traditionally good soccer programs. The Women's national team often train here. (This is all coming from a guy who doesn't really like soccer much) It may be 20 years until we can realistically talk about MLB, NBA, or NFL being here, so MLS would probably be our only shot at a downtown stadium.

4/23/2012 1:55:59 PM

Quote :

"don't blame me that soccer is not a very popular sport round these parts."

I don't know. With the number of Mexicans, Guatemalans, Indians, Pakistanis, etc we have in this area a soccer team might actually do well here.

4/23/2012 1:56:15 PM

Nature Research Center gets an A+++++++++++++++++++++

it was amazing (and I went at 3:30 in the morning )

4/23/2012 1:59:26 PM

When are they reopening it? I heard it was going to be closed again for a few months while they finalized things.

4/23/2012 2:13:01 PM

Quote :

"you want people to go downtown to use the stadium, but want it to be a SOCCER stadium???"

LMAO, I know right?

4/23/2012 4:59:16 PM

23 story appartment building in the works across from PE/ RedHat building...
Google skyhouse appartments if you so desire. The developer is building the EXACT same building in Atlanta. Kind of lame...

5/3/2012 1:55:46 AM

http://www.newraleigh.com/article/bida-manda-laotian-restaurant-opening-on-blount-street-the-summer/

I'm excited for this. Laotian food is delicious so I hope the place does well.

5/12/2012 5:17:48 PM

Oro is supposed to be open in the next week or two at Martin and Wilmington.

It seems to be a shameless ripoff of Buku, which has never warranted being ripped off.

5/12/2012 5:44:30 PM

Quote :

"When are they reopening it? I heard it was going to be closed again for a few months while they finalized things."

They were never closing, BTW. I know it was in the paper for some reason, but why the hell would they have a grand opening when they're not going to be open?

In summation, the Nature Research Center is open normal hours.

5/12/2012 9:01:29 PM

^ lol yeah I though that was fucking weird when they said that. Now I know they were full of it.

5/12/2012 9:39:04 PM

Has anybody been to Oro yet? What did you think? Menu looks pretty good and relatively affordable.

5/22/2012 3:31:24 PM

What's all this about Raleigh Times adding a rooftop bar?

5/22/2012 6:22:31 PM

^^ i went to friends and family night. was quite tasty.

5/22/2012 7:17:51 PM

^^ http://www.newraleigh.com/article/raleigh-times-expanding-with-a-little-help-from-the-city-of-raleigh/

5/22/2012 7:23:36 PM

I'm sure that take out window will be packed at lunch time.

5/22/2012 8:52:34 PM

Whoa, that's awesome news. Raleigh Times sorely needs the space, and I admittedly have a huge boner for rooftop patio space. I will definitely be holed up there when it's finished.

I'll be interested to see the takeout window. That's the first one for a restaurant in downtown, right? I know it's common in bigger cities, but bigger we are not.

5/23/2012 3:12:46 AM

Yeah I can't really think of one. Those restaurants in front of the BB&T building are like giant take out windows

[Edited on May 23, 2012 at 9:03 AM. Reason : a]

5/23/2012 9:03:18 AM

There was a pizza place on Glenwood that had one a few years ago, but I think that place closed. Or did it? Haven't lived in Raleigh for a couple years.

5/23/2012 9:08:17 AM

Eventually all of Hargett St will be Raleigh Times.

5/23/2012 3:29:58 PM

http://www.etix.com/ticket/online/performanceSearch.jsp?performance_id=1602957

You soccer haters are right. MLS in a downtown stadium would never work!

5/23/2012 11:41:06 PM

If a Raleigh MLS team has a one-game schedule, you're making a solid case.

5/23/2012 11:49:21 PM

they've sold ~6,500 tickets. the MLS teams with the lowest attendance the last two years have averaged 11.5-12k

5/24/2012 12:43:51 AM

Their stadium only seats 10k and LA isn't even bringing most of their good players. Game is still several days away. I'm pretty sure it will be a sell-out.

[Edited on May 24, 2012 at 6:09 AM. Reason : ]

5/24/2012 6:04:30 AM

Quote :

"Eventually all of Hargett St will be Raleigh Times. "

hahaha

5/24/2012 8:59:38 AM

So yes they sold out in 4 hours for a 10 k stadium with none of the main stars for LA showing. There's not hard evidence to prove it would work, but damn this is a good start.

5/25/2012 11:04:06 PM

Like I said, build like a medium size downtown stadium, like 25k or so. Then develop a light rail system to bring people in from Durham and Chapel Hill quickly and cheaply. There would be tons of fresh money coming into downtown on a weekly basis and the Triangle gets the benefit of a viable mass transit system for general use. If it can come anywhere close to breaking even, it will be a net gain for the area.

5/25/2012 11:48:30 PM

A light rail all the way from chapel hill for a soccer stadium holding 25k people?

I mean, I'm all about rail transit and it will eventually be here in some form, but it's not going to be one continuous stretch of light rail from CH to Raleigh, and the presence of a soccer stadium certainly isn't going to be the driving force behind it.

[Edited on May 26, 2012 at 11:16 PM. Reason : ]

5/26/2012 11:07:47 PM

I never said that. Obviously the light rail would run in a triangular pattern between Raleigh, CH, and Durham. Throw in some RTP trains on the weekdays as well. But if there were soccer games in downtown Raleigh once or twice a week, that would hopefully pack out the trains during those times. On top of that, students could use it on the weekends to get between campuses. I don't know where you got that I think bringing in people from Chapel Hill for soccer games was the extent of the plan. Any large event in downtown Raleigh would benefit from having better mass transit. A soccer stadium would just be the anchor.

5/27/2012 5:17:08 PM

really? a stadium for a sport that isn't all that popular compared to other American sports is going to make a massive 3-city-connecting light-rail system profitable? come the fuck on, dude. I enjoy the Blue Line in charlotte as much as the next guy, and, yes, it gets usage with some big events in the city, but a soccer stadium in downtown charlotte would hardly be a draw for it. Hell, an NBA team doesn't even make the damn thing break even, and that's just a 10 mile stretch. so I don't see how a lesser team in a smaller city with a much longer line is going to do better. And, a triangular line at that? It'd be better to do double track in a straight line

[Edited on May 27, 2012 at 5:34 PM. Reason : ]

5/27/2012 5:33:01 PM

http://www.carolinarailhawks.com/index.php?id=111&newsid=2393

Game was sold out in a few days. Railhawks ended up coming from behind to beat the Galaxy in the last 15 minutes.

5/30/2012 7:05:36 AM

So a sellout for that game was 10,000 people? In a metro area of over a million? Hmmm

5/30/2012 8:21:35 AM

7,939

5/30/2012 8:55:54 AM

OH MAN WE NEED SOCCER IN DOWNTOWN RALEIGH! OMFG

5/30/2012 9:09:04 AM

^^^I don't think a sellout is a relative thing, its more absolute. How many seats/tickets/fire marshal allowed people can you sell tickets for + did you sell 100% of those = sellout.

I could sell out my picnic table in times square with 8 tickets, and it would still be a sellout.

[Edited on May 30, 2012 at 9:22 AM. Reason : ..]

5/30/2012 9:22:01 AM

makes sense. but saying that people will ride the rail to attend soccer games downtown is just hilarious. makes me think that some people have no idea what level of ridership is needed to make those systems break even.

5/30/2012 9:34:07 AM

Quote :

"I never said that. Obviously the light rail would run in a triangular pattern between Raleigh, CH, and Durham. Throw in some RTP trains on the weekdays as well. But if there were soccer games in downtown Raleigh once or twice a week, that would hopefully pack out the trains during those times. On top of that, students could use it on the weekends to get between campuses. I don't know where you got that I think bringing in people from Chapel Hill for soccer games was the extent of the plan. Any large event in downtown Raleigh would benefit from having better mass transit. A soccer stadium would just be the anchor. "

It would make more sense to have a light rail that runs from Chapel Hill to Durham, connecting with Amtrak. Then if Amtrak would get their shit together they could run regular rail between Durham and Raleigh instead of this three times a day bullshit. But then again if I remember correctly I do believe that is phase one of the rail plan anyway.

5/30/2012 9:48:30 AM

I am a light rail fan, but clearly a soccer stadium with 25k fans, even if you sell out every game (assuming 20 game home season?) is not going to have any effect on the success or failure of the light rail. In this area, until hearts and minds change with regard to public transportation in a major way, 20k of those fans will drive their cars and search out a parking deck/tailgate area downtown. You will get a few students/hipsters/young professionals to jump on the train in durham/chapel hill (assuming all are connected) and maybe a few that ride from the airport if they come in from out of town, and that would be about it.

That being said, any new stadium (Houston at 60 million should be our model) to boost downtown raleigh should be applauded in my opinion.

5/30/2012 10:03:30 AM

Amtrak is not in the business of commuter rail (not anymore at least). The proposed commuter rail between Durham and Raleigh will be operated by Triangle Transit. The Orange County light rail plan will run between Durham and Chapel Hill connecting with commuter rail at the Durham Transit Center, then Wake County's proposed light rail plan would run between North Raleigh and Cary linking up with commuter rail in several locations including the proposed Union Station multimodal center in downtown Raleigh.

The whole discussion with building a transit system specifically in response to a soccer stadium is so ludicrous I have to think that it is trolling. Certainly any future new stadium in the Triangle, be it downtown or elsewhere, will need to be closely tied in to existing or future transit infrastructure, but ridership generated by even a large sports facility is miniscule relative to what is needed to make such systems successful on a daily basis.

5/30/2012 10:06:08 AM

I knew it was something like that incorporating heavy rail but couldn't remember who would be operating it. No matter who does operate it I wish they'd just go ahead and do it so I could start taking the train to work

5/30/2012 10:17:29 AM

There will be a public referendum on the November ballot IF the Wake County Commissioners allow it to happen, which is starting to look more and more unlikely.

5/30/2012 10:51:04 AM