^The N&Blow article mentioned 2.7 billion for mass transit over the next 20 years in Raleigh.

4/24/2008 3:47:18 PM

where do you think most of that funding is going to go?

continual buses so they dont have to move but just fill the street and you just walk from one to another till you get to your destination???

the majority of that money will end up in light rail and its ensuing infrastructure

4/24/2008 3:48:12 PM

I still don't get the part about drawing in tourist with the boardwalk? We have no tourist attractions. If our town needs anything it is a theme park to draw tourist here, so they can go to the boardwalk.

4/24/2008 3:54:08 PM

yeah

raleigh is not what you call a "travel" destination

not when everyone really just comes to see pinehurst or the beach or whatever

4/24/2008 3:55:46 PM

^If we could get a theme park like one of the proposed mini-Disney Worlds then a train from their to the airport might be worth while along with a boardwalk in, or just outside the theme park. The mountains and beach are where all of our famous land marks are.

4/24/2008 3:57:46 PM

Great idea, let's turn Raleigh into a tourist trap. This is why we can't have nice things.

4/24/2008 4:03:15 PM

Look I'll be quite frank.

I don't care what you think or how uncomfortable you are with brown people being so close to your body (which, lets be serious, is really why you all hate public transport).

All I care is that I save a ton on fuel consumption and keep miles off my car.

Reason enough.

4/24/2008 4:05:11 PM

^^I doubt a boardwalk will turn us into a tourist trap.

[Edited on April 24, 2008 at 4:06 PM. Reason : .]

4/24/2008 4:05:48 PM

Quote :

"If we could get a theme park like one of the proposed mini-Disney Worlds then"

4/24/2008 4:06:18 PM

^I don't think our boardwalk area should be quite like this, but mini-Disney World is an interesting idea.

http://www.allbusiness.com/north-america/united-states-new-york/974123-1.html

4/24/2008 4:08:13 PM

Quote :

"All I care is that I save a ton on fuel consumption and keep miles off my car."

you say that

but you and all the other lazy fat fucks that live in raleigh wont walk fucking anywhere

so it will be useless

we're talking about people who wont even walk across a parking lot

be realistic

4/24/2008 4:09:13 PM

Another interesting idea for a theme park.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,980871-1,00.html

4/24/2008 4:13:14 PM

Building a theme park is a fucking retarded idea.

4/24/2008 4:14:35 PM

^Well the town of Raleigh is into attracting tourist with the boardwalk and train. How else are you going to get them here?

4/24/2008 4:16:27 PM

I'm not going to debate the rail, as it is a very smart way for charlotte to grow--in a more urban manner.

The valley of land in this stretch of capitol could very lucrative, is very important to downtown, is very underutilized, and has huge potential. It could be a very very beautiful and unique place/experience, but I wonder what making this a centerpeice for the city of raliegh says

The bigger issue is how capitol blvd is handled in that area, and the form of developement/streetlayout/building design..

[Edited on April 24, 2008 at 4:20 PM. Reason : ]

4/24/2008 4:18:38 PM

sounds like a good idea, except for the fucking location. really, the old sanitation yard at peace and capital. so many people would go there.

4/24/2008 4:19:24 PM

Quote :

"http://www.allbusiness.com/north-america/united-states-new-york/974123-1.html"

Why the hell are they calling it a "mini Disney World". It's just some shitty entertainment complex that has no affiliation with Disney whatsoever.

lol at Disney's America.

There are 4 major amusement parks within 3.5 hours of Raleigh. There will never be one here.

4/24/2008 4:19:49 PM

^So what will be the center piece attraction for the riverwalk Tourist then?

[Edited on April 24, 2008 at 4:22 PM. Reason : .]

4/24/2008 4:21:55 PM

The location is actually really really underutilzed. It's bordered by old established nice nieghborhoods (5 points/new brooklyn, mordicei park, and downtown. True the area is a derilick wasteland, but the idea proposed is to rezone and rebuild that whole stretch. The sanitation parking center is only a small part, but it's current use as no bearing on it's future. The creek/aqueduct there is actually pretty neat.

The draw for people would be the ne developement in that area.

[Edited on April 24, 2008 at 4:24 PM. Reason : ]

4/24/2008 4:23:42 PM

^^The river is the centerpiece. Take a look at the ATC in Durham and the San Antonio Riverwalk, which were referenced by that article. The idea is a place with restaurants, bars, shops, hotels, and whatnot in one location with atmosphere, and also as a place to hold events. It's not a tourist attraction; it's for the people who are already here and within a certain radius of here. Or for visitors who are here for other reasons (RBC events, conventions at the new building downtown, etc).

^Like he said, that's the entire point of choosing that location. You take the shittiest area, and make it over.

[Edited on April 24, 2008 at 4:26 PM. Reason : .]

4/24/2008 4:25:20 PM

AMERICAN TOBACCO HISTORIC DISTRICT









http://www.americantobaccohistoricdistrict.com/about-us.html

4/24/2008 4:49:13 PM

Quote :

"^Like he said, that's the entire point of choosing that location. You take the shittiest area, and make it over."

See: Gaslamp District in San Diego (Petco Park area). That place was scary as hell 10 years ago.

4/24/2008 4:52:35 PM

I haven't been to the DBAP in about 5 years, but that looks cool. It reminds me of the area near the NCAA Hall of Fame and RCA Dome. They have a fake river running through there where you can take boat rides.

[Edited on April 24, 2008 at 4:57 PM. Reason : .]

4/24/2008 4:57:10 PM

Quote :

"There are 4 major amusement parks within 3.5 hours of Raleigh. There will never be one here."

This might be true but just over an hour from here Six Flags owns land in Asheboro next to the NC Zoo. Things haven't been worked out between them and the Zoo on getting an access road to where the park would be.

4/25/2008 2:26:35 AM

That simply isn't true.

4/25/2008 11:00:46 AM

I don't know if there is a Triangle Regional Rail thread on here or not, but this seems like an appropriate place to post.

The 2035 TTA Regional Transit Vision Plan was finalized and presented on May 21st. http://www.transitblueprint.org/stac.shtml

$8.2 billion

* an enhanced region-wide local and express bus network (beginning in 2010)
* bus and/or future fixed guideway circulators connecting RDU, RTP and in the downtowns of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill/Carrboro, and Cary
* building 56 miles of rapid rail transit corridors connecting Chapel Hill with Durham via LRT & Durham to Northeast Raleigh via DMU regional rail by ~2024
* a new ½-cent sales tax and $10 vehicle fee increase that would fund a large portion of the region-wide system (supplemented by state and federal funds)
* a stronger regional governing authority to implement the plan, made up of local elected--not appointed--officials

Assuming all the local governing boards adopt the 2035 plan, and pending legislative action from the NC General Assembly to allow the counties the authority to levy a new tax, citizens of the three counties (Durham, Wake, Orange) could vote in the fall of 2009 on a new ½-cent sales tax increase.


There will be a forum at the McKimmon Center on June 26 from 7-9:30 about transit in Wake County http://wakeupwakecounty.com/cms/node/83

5/30/2008 9:29:45 PM

my financial professor said something to the class about them putting in some mass transit train or something and he said if it happens you will be able to hear money going down the drain

5/30/2008 9:32:07 PM

I can already hear it going down when I drop $50 to fill up my gas tank

5/30/2008 9:34:27 PM

cool

5/30/2008 9:37:22 PM

Great! Another Tax Increase! Don't worry that 1/2 cent and $10 fee won't stay where it is at. It will only continute to go up through the years. I don't see this working well. People are too spread out. L-Trains work when you are in a place like Chicago, or NY where people live in town and can take the train to the front door of their job. People who live in Clayton won't be able to walk one block to the station and ride to the front door of their job in RTP.

5/31/2008 12:20:24 PM

I live beside the light rail in southend in Charlotte and can say with pretty good certainty that it's a huge fucking success. Not only is ridership higher than expected, but more importantly new shit is going up like fucking rabbits all over the place now.

Ride down South boulevard from uptown and count the BIG shit under construction, mostly housing...

Light Rails are the next big step for any small shit-town....it's an investment for the future, and so far it looks to make the South side of Charlotte much more urban.

5/31/2008 7:15:07 PM

A nicer downtown would be very beneficial for Raleigh. If you have any doubts, look at Greenville, SC. they began fixing their downtown up a few years ago and it has done wonders for the area in general. They now have one of the nicest downtowns in the country, far and above Raleigh in every way. Tourism has increased, the city itself is booming....

6/1/2008 9:07:26 PM

Greenville, SC?
one of the nicest downtowns in the country?
you have got to be shitting me.

6/1/2008 9:52:16 PM

there used to be a streetcars running to and from downtown raleigh for years until Judge Doom sold them all to the oil companies so he could get dat urban sprawl

late 1800s-1930s i think

[Edited on June 2, 2008 at 9:08 AM. Reason : +]

6/2/2008 9:05:42 AM

6/2/2008 10:29:35 AM

re: Charlotte's LR system - I agree stopping at 1 is ridiculous, but people are correct that it's usually crowded - or at least it has been every time I've ridden (not deserted by any means).

It needs to run until 2:30 at least, if not 3. That'd make my life a heck of a lot easier, at least

6/2/2008 1:25:59 PM

Quote :

"there used to be a streetcars running to and from downtown raleigh for years until Judge Doom sold them all to the oil companies so he could get dat urban sprawl late 1800s-1930s i think"

I wrote my senior thesis on the Raleigh streetcars. Interesting stuff.

6/2/2008 1:44:08 PM

Quote :

"Greenville, SC? one of the nicest downtowns in the country?"

i grew up in charlotte, spent 5 years in raleigh, and now have lived in greenville, sc for about the past year. main street is great. its not as big as charlotte or raleigh but has anything id want within walking distance of huge *free* parking decks that are always easy to find a spot in even though downtown is very busy weekend nights. Its very very clean (nearly spotless compared to raleigh and charlotte) and has a free trolly that takes people through a large stretch of downtown. IE once you park you never have to drive to get anywhere you would want to down there the entire night. There are about 7 good bars right off main street that I always enjoy along with others that I never go to but other people like.

The minor league baseball team has a very nice stadium (one of the nicest minor league parks imo) right off of the main street basically in wedged in the middle of downtown (with balconies of bars overlooking it). Its nice because the only part of it you see from the street is a small entrance, then you walk through and all of a sudden there is a nice little recreation of fenway park's field.

There is a natural river running directly through the heart of downtown with a natural waterfall and very nice park right off of main street. across the bottom of the small waterfalls is a sweet bridge that looks awesome at night:



That whole park is really nice. It is maintained very well and has some nice walks along that river with an outdoor stage that they hold plays on during the summer. On the other side of the waterfall are a bunch of shops and restaurants along the edge of the river where there is live outdoor entertainment more often than not. Every friday night is live jazz music downtown and every "thursday" is downtown live with different live music outside. there is also a very nice art center that gets some good plays and sypmhonies and other music events.

So, while it is certainly different than something like raleigh or charlotte, it is by far one of the nicest that I have spent time in. I even enjoy going downtown by myself some nights and just talking my Ipod and walking around, its that pretty at night to me. Besides the memories I have of charlotte and raleigh, the downtown itself it pretty darn nice.

[Edited on June 2, 2008 at 1:57 PM. Reason : better pic]

6/2/2008 1:50:27 PM

Well, you are certainly right in that Greenville did a great job with a downtown redevelopment plan that they started in the 80's. I've never actually been there, but from what I've read, it does seem like a great success model for other small to mid size cities that are looking to revitalize downtown.

6/2/2008 6:34:59 PM

Quote :

"There will be a forum at the McKimmon Center on June 26 from 7-9:30 about transit in Wake County http://wakeupwakecounty.com/cms/node/83"

BTTT in case anyone is curious enough to go to this tonight

6/26/2008 1:34:31 PM

Quote :

"the issue is is 2.7 billion worth it for 12,000 + even 33% more or whatever, that's still less than 50k its not cost effective "

That's a very close minded way to look at it. In terms of public transportation you can't just look at the direct effects, you have to look at everything. The light rail is bringing so much residential/commercial development all the way up and down south blvd, plus it's getting people into the idea of taking public transit rather than commuting one person per car. The success of the Lynx has caused planning to expand the system out to the university and other locations.

Quote :

"I live beside the light rail in southend in Charlotte and can say with pretty good certainty that it's a huge fucking success. Not only is ridership higher than expected, but more importantly new shit is going up like fucking rabbits all over the place now. Ride down South boulevard from uptown and count the BIG shit under construction, mostly housing... Light Rails are the next big step for any small shit-town....it's an investment for the future, and so far it looks to make the South side of Charlotte much more urban."

Exactly. Developers have jumped on the light rail and are building all the way up and down South Blvd. They know how attractive it is to be able to walk out your door, jump on the light rail, and take it downtown straight to work w/o having to pay for gas or parking.

Quote :

"It needs to run until 2:30 at least, if not 3."

Yeah hopefully they'll change that soon. Just think how much it will bring to the downtown area is everyone who lives on South Blvd can take the Lynx out on the weekend, then back after the bars close. Once the UNCC Lynx is complete it will be INSANE.

^^Greenville downtown is very nice for a small town.

6/26/2008 3:31:21 PM

Forum streaming live http://www.wral.com/traffic/video/3112837/

6/26/2008 7:02:34 PM

^ what went down last night? I couldn't attend b/c of prior commitments.

6/27/2008 10:12:03 AM

after you build a river maybe you can build some mountains as well

6/27/2008 10:18:55 AM

Raleigh sucks

6/27/2008 10:20:31 AM

I didn't end up going once I saw that WRAL was streaming it. Just watched it online. The WRAL feed was pretty shitty, and I suspect that they may have cut it off early. I'm pretty sure they were taking a break at 8:45 and coming back but WRAL just cut it off like it was over.

Looks like they posted the video http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/3113921/

The lady from CEOs for Cities had a fairly interesting presentation, but it was really more of a pep talk than specifics about what we can do here. She did mention that Raleigh was ranked 3rd worst in the nation in terms of sprawl. I found the study she was referencing; it's from 2002 so it's slightly dated http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1204/p15s01-lihc.html

1. Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.
2. Greensboro-Winston-Salem- High Point, N.C.
3. Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
4. Atlanta
5. Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.
6. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-
Delray Beach, Fla.
7. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk Danbury, Conn.
8. Knoxville, Tenn.
9. Oxnard-Ventura, Calif.
10. Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas

The Charlotte CATS guy came up next and gave a presentation on their improved busing system and the LYNX blue line. It was pretty much a veiled advertisement for Charlotte, but some of the numbers he showed were interesting regarding how successful transit has become there.

I suspect that there was a more Wake county specific panel discussion after the break where WRAL cut the feed. That is what I was mainly interested in, so I'm kind of pissed if that was indeed the case.

Overall, what I saw was a bit disappointing; it was interesting, but more of a preaching to the choir thing rather than a serious discussion of what needs to be done right now to get the ball rolling.

[Edited on June 27, 2008 at 10:29 AM. Reason : .]

6/27/2008 10:24:52 AM

as someone who has lived in charlotte since 03 and seen the light rail go from bid to built, i must admit i'm surprised by the ridership...higher than i expected...i think gas prices have definitely influenced the higher ridership though

and as far as comparing the light rail in charlotte or a light rail in raleigh to heavy rail subway systems in cities like NY and Chicago, dont even go there...apples and oranges...Charlotte light rail goes from downtown/uptown, and goes south towards Pineville, basically hugging South Blvd...its one line...and its only a light rail...a heavy rail system has multiple lines, and is just a different setup in general

i'm still confused as to the riverwalk thing...i dont really think adding a fake river is going to somehow make raleigh feel like a chicago or pittsburgh or city with a river running through it

6/27/2008 11:01:43 AM

I think the original thread creator was being a little tongue in cheek with that. I hope...

6/27/2008 11:05:37 AM

orly?

Quote :

"Raleigh, N.C. — City officials are eyeing a piece of land north of downtown for a possible water feature inspired by the Riverwalk in San Antonio and the American Tobacco complex in Durham. "Our goal is to really establish Raleigh as an emerging, 21st-century city. We want those special landmarks, those special icons that define this city," Raleigh Planning Director Mitchell Silver said. A 16-acre site near Capital Boulevard and Peace Street is the prime candidate to have a river run through it."

6/27/2008 11:13:09 AM

^and^^ The articles are misleading. Its not going to be a "river". Its more like a natural stream that would be cleaned up and turned into a water feature. Look at the American Tobacco pictures I posted on this page.

6/27/2008 12:04:15 PM