Quote :

"was that done the other night?"

It was 7-10 days ago. They might've done another test since the one I saw, though.

7/2/2013 5:52:55 PM

Quote :

"fireworks are for children"

7/2/2013 6:09:01 PM

The fireworks at the amphitheater will be 600' high, same as the fireworks at the fairground

Fayeteville St. will be 300'

7/4/2013 12:38:04 PM

Traffic was at a standstill, because most parking was full, and they blocked S Dawson St and access to Western. If they do a second show, the two need to be at least 2 hours apart so people can clear out, and you don't shoot off fireworks where you need to close off the main N-S and East-West artery out of downtown.Raleigh Cops directing traffic parked in travel lanes on Dawson, further contributing to the congestion. It can work downtown, but Raleigh does a terrible job planning crowd and traffic management.

7/5/2013 6:10:25 AM

They need to just have one show.

I didn't have too much trouble with traffic but I parked on the south side and not in a deck and just took the beltline back around to get home. From what I hear though (and what I can see from pictures) Dorothea Dix is the place to go to watch them.

7/5/2013 9:40:04 AM

Mayor admitted the hiccups, traffic, crowd control, fireworks delay, etc and said it's a learning process since this is only the second year they moved it to downtown. Agreed on just having one big one over the Amphitheater next year.

I'm pretty sure yesterday was just a test run because it sure as hell was funny seeing crowds stampede from one location to another two blocks apart within a span of 30 minutes. I have never seen so many people. LMAO.

[Edited on July 5, 2013 at 4:42 PM. Reason : k]

7/5/2013 4:40:55 PM

I'm sure there are a lot of improvements they can make, but traffic and crowding generally comes with the territory. I was at Philly's downtown concert and fireworks event and it was a total clusterfuck on both transit and the roads after. Granted, they have 500,000 people attend theirs, but the point still stands, these kind of events should always be in the city center.

7/5/2013 4:53:58 PM

DC is the worst I've been to. They don't keep the metro running late so after the fireworks there is a crazy sprint to get to the metro, no women or children are spared. If you're not ne of the first people t the station you might not get a train, and good luck finding a cab.

7/6/2013 1:18:21 AM

I was pretty thankful that my neighborhood was running trolley service. Was dropped off downtown at 630pm and hopped on the last trolley at 11:05, home 10 minutes later.

I only watched the amphitheater fireworks and liked them just fine, but a lot of ppl were saying that the ones on Fayetteville Street lasted longer (dunno if that's true?).

7/8/2013 12:46:23 PM

Yeah, 40 minutes vs about 20 minutes

Let Raleigh DLA know what you think:

Quote :

"Thursday, July 18 1:00pm Listening Session for Downtown Perception When Thu, July 18, 1:00pm – 2:30pm Where Urban Design Center, 220 Fayetteville Street, Suite 200, Raleigh (map) Description Join the Downtown Raleigh Alliance in partnership with the Urban Design Center for an interactive Listening Sessions. This is one of four listening sessions to gather additional information beyond the survey that was conduced over the past month. Light refreshments provided If you haven't yet taken the survey, please do it before June 16th. Survey link - > https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HPPHK7M"

7/8/2013 12:52:55 PM

I'm guessing that survey is old, since it's closed? (June 16th?).

Quote :

"Thu, July 18, 1:00pm – 2:30pm"

I work in RTP, so even if I wanted to go give them feedback face to face I cannot.

7/8/2013 1:49:47 PM

I usually enjoy their happy hour mixers (although I work in RTP too so I have to rush back just to make those)

7/8/2013 2:05:46 PM

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2013/07/08/hibernian-begins-reconstruction-after.html

Good news...article confirms the 2nd floor outdoor patio!

7/8/2013 5:16:42 PM

http://www.brentroad.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=633691&page=2#15860286

7/8/2013 5:28:19 PM

http://raleighpublicrecord.org/news/2013/07/10/in-moore-square-redevelopment-what-happens-to-raleighs-poor/

Quote :

" In Moore Square Redevelopment, What Happens to Raleigh’s Poor? By: Laura Baverman | 2 hours agoView as "Clean Read" ShareEmail Print Editor’s Note: This is part two of a two-part series looking at Moore Square. The first piece looked at development in and around the square. The daily bustle at downtown’s Salvation Army building feels different this month as staff busily pack up offices, bunks, classrooms and the cafeteria; places where thousands of poor and homeless men, women and children received warm coats and help with utility bills, learned job skills and ABCs, dined, showered and slept for more than 50 years on Moore Square. In coming days, the agency will move 2.5 miles north on Capital Boulevard to a state-of-the-art facility with nearly three times the beds for women and children, a much larger cafeteria and more room for the social services residents throughout Wake County desperately need. The new Salvation Army building on Capital Boulevard. In many ways, the move offers hope and opportunity for an even larger population of people in need. But it also symbolizes a changing guard over Moore Square and downtown’s eastern edge, one that’s put fear in the minds of people who’ve spent their days catching up with friends on park benches, lounging in hammocks hung from historic oaks, gathering around a communal piano to sing and dance and waiting in lines for evening meals — sometimes the only sustenance of the day. As the city and state finalize $14.8 million plans for a revitalized park, developers plan new apartment, retail and office complexes along its bounds, and more agencies mull moves out of downtown, the population of working poor and homeless fear what could transpire in months and years to come. Can they spare $2 each evening to take the bus to and from the new soup kitchen? Where will weekend meals (previously delivered to the square) come from? What will happen to the property values and tax rates of residents in East and Southeast Raleigh? Will there be affordable or subsidized housing in downtown? The Salvation Army building sits across from Moore Square and is in constant use. The Salvation Army is moving to a new location on Capitol Boulevard. “I don’t know what the homeless people are supposed to do,” said Joyce Johnson, 70, who spent five recent weeks on and around the square without a home. “It seems like Raleigh wants homeless people to be invisible.” Members of the homeless and working poor, questioned one recent day on the square, say they’re concerned not just about meals once the Salvation Army goes away, but where they’ll spend time when the park closes for renovations. And, when the square reopens, if they’ll be as free to hang out on its benches and walkways. They welcome any upgrades that are inclusive to all (such as public restrooms and a kids play area), but they’ve already felt an increasing police presence near the park. Several people were arrested for panhandling in the days prior to May’s Artsplosure event. Banning smoking from the Moore Square Bus Station also felt like a direct attack on the men and women who spend time on the Square, they said. “They do a lot of harassing and racial profiling in the [downtown] parks, picking on the homeless,” said Gregory Harsfield of Southeast Raleigh. “We think it’s going to get worse.” Agency and city leaders insist those fears aren’t falling on deaf ears. For example, the Salvation Army will ease its transition to a new facility by initially bussing people from Moore Square for its weeknight meals. The facility will also begin serving at 4:30 p.m. to give men time to get back to the downtown men’s shelter, which opens at 6 p.m. Salvation Army staffers hope to hear the concerns from former Moore Square patrons on those bus rides, and to address them during the months to follow. “We certainly do not want to be an organization that shifts the soup line away with no plan,” said Paige Bagwell, the Salvation Army’s director of operations and communications. The Raleigh Rescue Mission, which is also considering a move outside of downtown to make more room for its services, has been busy organizing a new group to coordinate the many churches and volunteer groups that deliver food to Moore Square on weekends. Called Wake Area Missions Ministries, or WAMM, its role is to coordinate meals and other services in new locations outside of downtown. The hope, says the rescue mission’s Director of Development Bruce Storer, is that meals can be served closer to existing homeless camps and poor communities, and at various times throughout the week and weekend — rather than back to back or overlapping, like they do now. “The vast majority will be no further walk than what they’re doing already, and in many cases, it’ll be shorter,” Storer said. “And we eliminate chaos on one of the busiest downtown blocks.” The city and Raleigh police have worked closely with the agencies to be sure all of its residents are being served during the transition on downtown’s east edge. “There is no question that we see this as an area that can serve all residents and all people,” said Mitchell Silver, the city’s planning director. “That was true from the very beginning when we started the Moore Square planning exercise.” But that doesn’t mean the poorest population of the city will be a target for new residences, restaurants and retail stores. Most of the new development will be market-rate in order for developers to get the returns they need to justify the projects, Silver said. Higher-end development could mean that property values increase near the square, and tax rates climb. But that’s only if longstanding residents begin to sell their land and homes. “We’re trying to explain to the public that the biggest threat to gentrification is their neighbor — they have a legal right to sell their property,” Silver said. So far, the speculation that happened in Oakwood and other parts of downtown hasn’t hit East or Southeast Raleigh. Besides the few properties in the two blocks around the Square, values have stayed constant. “It’s still a neighborhood in transition,” Silver said. In any case, city and agency leaders are adamant that the plight of the homeless and poor will not be forgotten as downtown Raleigh continues to evolve. “What we want is what’s best for the city of Raleigh,” Storer said. “But also what’s best for the homeless people and working poor that need assistance. And we’re working toward a collaborative effort to serve both.” "

[Edited on July 10, 2013 at 1:38 PM. Reason : .]

7/10/2013 1:36:39 PM

To me, moving the homeless and the poor to somewhere off of Capital blvd sound like a great idea to me.

7/10/2013 1:53:28 PM

As a resident of Southeast Raleigh (SERA, I believe people are calling it), I am ok with this.

7/10/2013 3:21:35 PM

Quote :

"“I don’t know what the homeless people are supposed to do,” said Joyce Johnson, 70, who spent five recent weeks on and around the square without a home. “It seems like Raleigh wants homeless people to be invisible.” "

News flash: every city wants homeless people to be invisible. Second only to wanting them to leave altogether.

7/10/2013 4:43:49 PM

I wouldn't mind then so much if they didn't ask me for money all the damn time.

7/10/2013 4:48:35 PM

Quote :

"Can they spare $2 each evening to take the bus to and from the new soup kitchen? Where will weekend meals (previously delivered to the square) "

They are homeless, why would they need to commute to the new soup kitchen?

Where will weekend meals come from? How about the new larger soup kitchen.

7/10/2013 6:49:34 PM

Taking the bus to the soup kitchen from where... Their home? What's wrong with hanging around where the new location is?

7/10/2013 7:15:25 PM

Where are they going to "hang around" on Capital Boulevard, one of the most unfriendly roads for pedestrians in the state of North Carolina? Also, the homeless shelter is downtown.

7/10/2013 7:30:18 PM

Quote :

"Taking the bus to the soup kitchen from where... Their home? What's wrong with hanging around where the new location is?"

How are you supposed to make a living panhandling in an area where there are virtually no affluent white people and out-of-towners?

7/10/2013 7:37:43 PM

Quote :

"News flash: every city wants homeless people to be invisible. Second only to wanting them to leave altogether. "

Never been to SF have you?

7/10/2013 7:49:52 PM

^^^was not aware where the shelter was. Makes more sense.

^^people panhandle in all sorts of weird ass places around here.

I didn't make my comment to sound crass, I'm admittedly ignorant why relocation of a soup kitchen with more beds is a problem. I'm still not convinced it is, but I really don't have any experience to see this from the eyes of homeless people.

I'd argue the soup kitchen being relocated to a lower income district can serve more people than the handful that live in moore square.

7/10/2013 8:12:27 PM

They could also just walk the 2.5 miles. That's not that far.

7/10/2013 8:13:39 PM

and it's not like they have anything else to do

7/10/2013 8:14:36 PM

reminds me of South Park episode where they were trying to convince the homeless folks to take a bus to another town

7/10/2013 8:29:14 PM

^

It was real...

http://www.sacbee.com/2013/04/14/5340078/nevada-buses-hundreds-of-mentally.html

7/10/2013 8:35:27 PM

Quote :

"Never been to SF have you?"

Fun fact: More homeless in LACO than anywhere else in America. By a looooonnnnnng shot

7/10/2013 9:15:59 PM

yesterday I saw a girl getting busted panhandling in the Knightdale Target parking lot

KPD standing there with an impeccable [NO] face

i loled

7/11/2013 10:08:40 AM

Quote :

"That's not that far."

It is when you've got a busted leg that hasn't seen medical care in thirty years.

7/12/2013 12:56:41 AM

Quote :

" We got a little bit more information on the new juice bar called Cold Off The Press that is coming to downtown Raleigh next Monday. It will be in the space next to Bolt Bistro on Fayetteville Street. It will be operated by Amir Sadeghi, son of Bolt's David Sadeghi, who has spent the last year researching healthy juices and cold press juices. The location will open July 15 at 7:45 a.m. Check it out here (and place orders as well). Pogo, a vibrant new downtown eatery, opens July 18 on the campus of Marbles Kids Museum. Pogo will serve both lunch and dinner, featuring seasonal fare prepared with local, farm-fresh ingredients. The restaurant will open in a newly renovated and expanded space and will offer ample patio seating. Tom Meyer, owner of Farmer's Table Restaurant Group, will operate Pogo. Tom also owns The Q-Shack in Raleigh's North Hills, Sprout Café at the NC Museum of Life and Science in Durham and Green's restaurant at UNC Hospital. Get a sneak peak at them here. The VIP ribbon cutting event for Jimmy V's Osteria + Bar is on July 23rd and will feature Master of Ceremonies Derrick Whittenburg and hopefully Mayor McFarlane. So look for the regular opening very soon after that. Check them out here. Pop-Up Ice Cream Parlour, the "temporary" ice cream shop on Wilmington Street in downtown Raleigh announced this week that they will open a second, more permanent location on Person Street next to PieBird. Look for it to open sometime in the next month. The original location on Wilmington Street will close on August 31. Check them out on Facebook here. "

7/12/2013 9:24:52 AM

[Edited on July 12, 2013 at 11:03 AM. Reason : .]

7/12/2013 11:02:24 AM

Quote :

"We got a little bit more information on the new juice bar called Cold Off The Press that is coming to downtown Raleigh next Monday. It will be in the space next to Bolt Bistro on Fayetteville Street. It will be operated by Amir Sadeghi, son of Bolt's David Sadeghi, who has spent the last year researching healthy juices and cold press juices."

This guy spent a year researching juice?!

7/12/2013 11:06:33 AM

APPLE JUICE COMES FROM APPLES!!!

7/12/2013 11:07:38 AM

Well, in the past 8 months, I have discovered that if you cut an orange in half and squeeze it, juice will come out. If you don't cut it in half first, you won't get any juice out of it.

7/12/2013 11:09:12 AM

"A bushel of apples packed in each bar, plus a secret ingredient that unleashes the awesome power of apples."

7/12/2013 11:15:56 AM

Quote :

"Pop-Up Ice Cream Parlour, the "temporary" ice cream shop on Wilmington Street in downtown Raleigh announced this week that they will open a second, more permanent location on Person Street next to PieBird."

Hopefully they'll run PieBird out of a business. WORST. SERVICE. EVER.

7/12/2013 11:36:33 AM

They consistently have the worst service ever? That's a shame, I've been meaning to try that place for a while.

[Edited on July 12, 2013 at 12:24 PM. Reason : ^^that was supposed to be a picture of PowerSauce!]

7/12/2013 12:23:46 PM

I've never had an issue with PieBird, what's wrong with their service? The only time I had a problem was once I had planned on eating a slice of a certain pie but by the time I was finished with dinner someone bought the entire pie (which isn't really the fault of the servers)

7/12/2013 12:27:46 PM

^same for me, never had a specific issue with the servers/staff....but they do run out of stuff, which is inherent in a business where everything needs to be cooked hours in advance.

7/12/2013 1:55:55 PM

I understand places run out of things; that's not a problem. It is a problem when you never tell anyone that you've run out of things.

To be fair, I've only been twice. Once was about a month after opening, and issues are to be expected. Went back six months later, same issues.

No thanks.

7/12/2013 8:55:17 PM

that SECU building looks sweet.... they need more modern architecture like that in downtown

7/13/2013 8:56:19 AM

it is physically attached to the museum, right? (as in the same building?)

7/13/2013 9:00:57 AM

Crane lift on davie today. Big, 350ton crane. Didn't see what they were picking, but I think they were pulling stuff off the roof at redhat

7/13/2013 12:35:39 PM

^^ Dunno if it's actually attached, but they're directly adjacent.

7/13/2013 1:46:25 PM

its attached, yes

7/13/2013 1:51:24 PM

Quote :

"Crane lift on davie today. Big, 350ton crane. Didn't see what they were picking, but I think they were pulling stuff off the roof at redhat"

They were putting the rest of the sign up today. I think the design is gaudy as shit, but some people seem to like it, and they were even given a variance by the city to put the signage up.

7/13/2013 11:16:58 PM

They covered the ugly bright screen at the real estate agency on Peace and Glenwood

7/13/2013 11:26:22 PM