I parked in the lot across from the convention center thinking they would be high up in the air over the parking deck. I saw 2 fireworks at the very beginning and was on my way home after 3 mins of just hearing noise

7/5/2012 8:50:59 AM

Quote :

"yeah, when they did it at the fair grounds, you could see it from a couple miles away no prob. if they had really launched them up there, last nights show would have been better, but it was blocked by too many things in almost every direction, unless you were on fayetteville street. I much prefer the fairgrounds. Not to mention the clusterfuck that was the traffic situation last night."

and to the argument that clusterfucks happen anywhere - i'm sure it was a cluserfuck at the fairgrounds when they had it, but since they actually shot them up in the air, you could find reasonable spaces around it where you could show up 15 minutes before the show started and be alright. I like to grill out and drink my own beer before fireworks, and not have to be forced to go spend an entire evening at a bar just to get a view of the show.

7/5/2012 8:55:19 AM

^Yea fucking CH shoots them up about 5 feet in the air inside Kenan. I don't know why the fuck they don't shoot them up so you can see them from all the different buildings and Franklin St. Would be much more impressive then. As it is, everything on Youtube looks like backyard fireworks. I guess they want to force people to come donate money when you come into the stadium.

7/5/2012 9:09:53 AM

I was feeling cruddy last night so we decided to just watch the fireworks on TV. Why the hell were they shooting the fireworks so low? They would switch to different angles and you couldn't see shit except from the camera they had set up by the Jimmy Johns. I would have been kind of pissed if I had been forced to stand in that crowd on Fayetteville Street to be able to see anything at all. I wonder if they will fix that issue next year or if it was done on purpose to force people onto Fayetteville Street.

7/5/2012 9:10:15 AM

We watched the Brier Creek fireworks from a nearby parking lot, since we live so close. It was a good enough show and really convenient. Was back home in about 7 minutes.

7/5/2012 9:26:05 AM

Even if you were on Fayetteville St they were still setting some shit off at street level that was hard to see.

7/5/2012 9:28:25 AM

About 20'000 people watched buildings in downtown raleigh last night.

Next topic what is up with people thinking they can park anywhere????

7/5/2012 9:28:29 AM

About 20'000 people watched buildings in downtown raleigh last night.

Next topic what is up with people thinking they can park anywhere????!!!!!!!!!!!

[Edited on July 5, 2012 at 9:37 AM. Reason : DOUBLE POASTING KING]

7/5/2012 9:28:29 AM

DOUBLE POAST!

7/5/2012 9:33:51 AM

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/05/us/california-fireworks-bust/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

7/5/2012 10:01:28 AM

See, it could always be worse

7/5/2012 10:04:38 AM

Quote :

"We watched the Brier Creek fireworks from a nearby parking lot, since we live so close. It was a good enough show and really convenient. Was back home in about 7 minutes. "

Yeah we parked in the parking lot by Walmart and had a great view of the fireworks. We backed into a parking space and stayed in the car and was one of the first cars out when it ended. Everybody else was still packing up grills/chairs/babies etc

7/5/2012 10:24:52 AM

hahaa quit your bitching everyone

hopefully the city has learned from all the negative feedback and they'll shoot fireworks off the PNC tower next year or shoot higher fireworks

the turnout for the festivities along Fayetteville was huge......i could barely walk along the street

i don't remember having this much fun before at the State Fairgrounds zzzzz.....

and if you don't want to come out next year, great...better view for me!

7/5/2012 10:27:26 AM

^has pointy elbows

7/5/2012 10:29:15 AM

There's nothing wrong with people voicing a legitimate complaint, especially if what the TV announcers were saying was true (that they shot them that low on purpose). At least with the fireworks in Cary and Brier Creek they shoot them high enough that you're not forced to be in crowds if you don't want to be.

7/5/2012 10:30:22 AM

Raleigh sucks


[Edited on July 5, 2012 at 10:42 AM. Reason : ]

7/5/2012 10:34:52 AM

I may have to let silly klaty off the hook now that we have krazedgirl around derping it up

7/5/2012 10:41:57 AM

My point is lets be productive and voice our opinions on the city's FB 4th of July event page for yesterday as I have and many other have already instead of on WOLFWEB where the city won't give a flip

http://www.facebook.com/#!/TheWorksRaleigh

[Edited on July 5, 2012 at 10:44 AM. Reason : k]

7/5/2012 10:42:33 AM

Seems DivaBaby19 has a habit of trolling me. I'm blushing.

7/5/2012 10:43:38 AM

Could have been San Diego

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2012/07/san-deigo-accidentally-set-all-its-fireworks-same-time/54194/



[Edited on July 5, 2012 at 10:44 AM. Reason : learn the definition of trolling]

7/5/2012 10:44:00 AM

No I hope everyone that was left out last night shows their displeasure by not coming back.

They turned a neighborhood fireworks display into a private event.

7/5/2012 10:47:08 AM

The fireworks sucked ass. One would think the view would be awesome from on top of a parking deck downtown. WRONG. I have seen better displays at the fairgrounds. Hell, the Durham Bulls stadium has put on a better show.

*RAGE* and to the company that runs the Cabarrus street parking garage.. they didn't know how many parking spots were available so by the time I drove ALL the way damn near to the top of the deck, a Raleigh PD officer on a bike told me to turn around (and all the people in front and behind us) that the parking deck because it was full.... every try to do a 3-point turn in a parking deck when everyone else is trying to do a 3-point turn at the same time? Ridiculous. Fuck Raleigh. If they are not at the fairgrounds next year, they can kiss my ass.

I am going to fire off some strongly-worded emails tonight. Un-fucking-believable. Traffic flow was miserable. The city didn't think that thousands were going to show up for this? WTF?

7/5/2012 10:49:35 AM

^ THIS

7/5/2012 10:53:12 AM

Quote :

"No I hope everyone that was left out last night shows their displeasure by not coming back."

1. people already tried this by claiming they'd refuse to go to downtown since it moved away from the fairgrounds but the turnout last night speaks otherwise.....so people will still come out next year regardless

2. i think many people feel IF they improve on the fireworks show next year, downtown is still a better venue than the fairgrounds

zifnab - thanks for firing off the email. that is what we need more of. city wasn't prepared for the type of turnout. hell all my friends didn't even expect the turnout as great as it was yesterday (given the heat, the unstable weather, the change in venue, etc)

[Edited on July 5, 2012 at 10:56 AM. Reason : yeah!]

7/5/2012 10:55:01 AM

Will do. I always thought the fairgrounds was better because you could spread out a blanket and have a cooler and the kids could play and socialize with the other kids and watch a really good display without all the buildings in the way. I always had a good time at the fairgrounds. We were packed in like sardines and eventually escaped to a parking deck roof. *disappoint*

7/5/2012 10:59:33 AM

Derp

7/5/2012 10:59:55 AM

zifnab - what would be cool is if the city decides to keep the fireworks downtown and improve the show with higher altitude fireworks that people can view from afar, the city should open up the amphitheater, the grass lot next to it, and all the public parks in downtown for families to lay out their blankets.......not to mention the best vantage point would be the HUGE open field at Dorothy Dix

BlackJesus - haha is that the only contribution you can come up with

[Edited on July 5, 2012 at 11:13 AM. Reason : haha]

7/5/2012 11:12:53 AM

cool picture:

7/5/2012 11:15:33 AM

Quote :

"I always thought the fairgrounds was better because you could spread out a blanket and have a cooler and the kids could play and socialize with the other kids and watch a really good display without all the buildings in the way."

Yep, this is the biggest drawback to downtown imo. There's no place really to just chill out unless you want to spend money at a restaurant. At least if they shoot them off higher next year it would give people who want to picnic and chill that option. I wonder if they could get them high enough to see from the fields at Dorothea Dix. That would be a pretty sweet place to watch them.

7/5/2012 11:20:03 AM

^ agreed completely, hence my earlier comment

Quote :

".......not to mention the best vantage point would be the HUGE open field at Dorothy Dix "

7/5/2012 11:25:15 AM

sounds like y'all got your money's worth

7/5/2012 11:25:29 AM

Yep. Paid $0

Got $100 laftabucks at the epic fail this is Raleigh

7/5/2012 11:26:21 AM

LOL @ San Diego! Way to stay classy!

7/5/2012 11:29:38 AM

The nice thing about the fairgrounds is that they have the parking/roads to handle massive traffic AND RDP/WCSD/SHP are already experienced with directing traffic there.

7/5/2012 11:34:27 AM

laftabucks lol! Perhaps that what I should have used at the parking deck!

7/5/2012 11:36:01 AM

7/5/2012 11:39:07 AM

i had a decent view on the Boylan Bridge. You could see all the fireworks, but they were low, just barely over the convention center. Traffic leaving was a mess, and I only had to go half a mile down boylan to western. I bet it took 40 minutes to leave downtown.

7/5/2012 11:45:19 AM

The downtown area needs more of these events to bring more business, and there ain't jack shit around the fairgrounds. I wish they would have shot them higher, but at the end of the day, who above the age of 7 gives a fack about fireworks? Any day of the year, I can just youtube the best fireworks show ever performed.

7/5/2012 12:13:20 PM

^ agreed too, i think i've seen enough fireworks in my life to not care THAT much...i care more about the events, food, and festivities surrounding the fireworks celebration

ironically, WRAL noon news just had a segment that showed people's feedback on yesterday's fireworks being MIXED and complaining about the lack of visibility of the fireworks....they interviewed the city commisioner and he basically said

1. due to the fireworks being in the urban center, they have strict fire codes to abide by that does not allow higher fireworks.....they are looking into alternative sites in downtown in the future

2. they moved it from State Fairgrounds b/c it became too expensive to host it there

3. they plan to keep in downtown next year

7/5/2012 12:26:34 PM

why go to a sporting event? why go to a music concert? why travel the world? you can see it on the internet.

7/5/2012 12:30:35 PM

Thank you, Bullet, for the reductio ad absurdum.

7/5/2012 12:32:52 PM

Had a great time. For some reason my drunk ass thought they were coming from the capitol building. We couldn't see them from the parking deck we were on so we just walked closer and had a great view.

7/5/2012 12:40:11 PM

^^I'm just saying, there are plenty of adults who like watching fireworks live, not on the internet.

7/5/2012 1:18:13 PM

Fireworks display in downtown Raleigh gets mixed reviews
Jul 5, 2012 12:39 p.m.


Raleigh, N.C.—The City of Raleigh hoped to start a new downtown holiday tradition with "The Works! July 4th on Fayetteville Street" but instead got a backlash of complaints from many of the almost 50,000 people who attended.

The visibility of the fireworks show and the availability of parking were two of the main themes echoing Thursday morning on social media.

Doug Grissom, assistant director of the Raleigh Convention Center, said Wednesday the decision to move the celebration downtown was an attempt to promote businesses, restaurants and museums while trying to "build a tradition."

But downtown Raleigh's growing skyline and the city's decision to use smaller fireworks because of North Carolina fire regulations, left many without a good view of Wednesday night's fireworks, the culmination of a nine-hour celebration in the urban heart of the city.

Dozens of people who attended the festivities left comments on WRAL's Facebook page about the change of venue.

"Raleigh's fireworks were awful!" Karen Lane Trachtman said. "We parked at Western Boulevard and Martin Luther King. It should have been a prime spot, but the fireworks barely cleared the trees."

Jeffrey Baker, who agreed that the fireworks were disappointing, said organizers should improve the event and keep it downtown.

"If you want to have businesses downtown for your enjoyment then there has to be events like this to bring people downtown," he said. "Raleigh, learn from your mistakes and make it even better next year."

On Thursday, Grissom reiterated the desire to have the event downtown in 2013 and said the city would look at alternative launch sites that would allow bigger fireworks to be used.

Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen said Thursday that several city departments would analyze the event, a common practice after large festivals or celebrations.

7/5/2012 1:25:21 PM

i watched from boylan bridge as well

at least the moon looked cool

7/5/2012 1:26:12 PM

A few weeks ago, I described wdprice as

Quote :

"Never funny, always pedantic, boring and morose."

There could not be a better example of that characterization than the Dwight Schrute picture he posted above. Point, Ernie.

[Edited on July 5, 2012 at 1:27 PM. Reason : I also told him to die, but jk lol]

7/5/2012 1:26:44 PM

krazedgirl herp derp

You are never too old to like fireworks. Who over the age of 21 drinks beer when there are plenty of sophisticated ways to get drunk? Who under the age of 30 still post on a forum when there's facebook and twitter. That argument is weak.

Raleigh fixed something that wasn't broken.

7/5/2012 1:41:12 PM

PEOPLE MAD ABOUT FIREWORKS ITT

7/5/2012 1:48:46 PM

Quote :

"they moved it from State Fairgrounds b/c it became too expensive to host it there"

Interesting. I wonder how much the state was charging the city to use the grounds. Or if they were referring to traffic control costs mostly.

7/5/2012 2:24:16 PM

so glad I missed this bullshit

Quote :

"strongly-worded emails"

lols

7/5/2012 2:27:43 PM