Raleigh Downtown Living Advocates

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DLA launches new web-based tool for reporting streetscape issues!

December 8, 2010 /

The DLA has just launched a new web-based and smart phone compatible tool specifically designed for Downtown residents called SeeClickFix.  Our unique pedestrian lifestyle makes using this tool a huge benefit for residents and also the City of Raleigh. 

Walking down the sidewalk in your neighborhood and find you have to dodge overhanging branches or shrubbery that has taken over the sidewalk?  SeeClickFix!  Maybe a street light is out, or vandals have graffitied a wall you pass by.  Or, you have an idea for increasing pedestrian safety, such as a new stop sign or cross walk.  Now you can take action on the spot, reporting it to city authorities  in less time than it takes you to gripe about it!  I’ve been testing out this system for the past month, and the city is 4-4 in responding immediately to my “clicks” and soon after the issues were fixed!

Report your issue on the spot in less time than it takes you to gripe about it!

Take a photo –> geo tag it –> report it.

SeeClickFix, and is now embedded on the DLA website.  Click the Report Issues tab on our homepage to see the tool and learn about some of the key features.  And be sure to download the free Smart Phone App and try it for yourself!  Want to really make sure your issue gets the attention it deserves?  Tell your friends in the neighborhood about it via a built in link to Facebook and Twitter, and have them “vote” to get it fixed.  

Our thanks to City Councilman, Bonner Gaylord, who brought us this cool smart phone App, making it easier than ever for us to have a voice in shaping our neighborhoods.

Click here to view the Downtown Raleigh reported issues.

Got a question or comment about the tool?  Contact us.




Faces of Downtown Raleigh: Owner of “Sushi O” Bistro and Sushi Bar, John Tang

November 22, 2010 /

John Tang, Owner of Sushi OIt’s often said that Durham and Raleigh don’t mix.  And for that matter, you don’t often see Thai, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese on the same menu. But John Tang, who recently opened Sushi O in Glenwood South is a bridge builder.  Having started with Mt. Fuji restaurant in Downtown Durham, Mr. Tang has now set his sights on the daytime, evening and late night crowds of Glenwood South in Downtown Raleigh.

 

 

 

Having walked by his store front on the street level of 222 Glenwood, my wife and I expected to find an informal lunch spot, where we might be tempted by the Take-Out menu.  We were wrong.  The restaurant is inviting, with an urban chic flare that makes you want to linger.  The menu with suggested wine selections would certainly encourage this in the evening.

 

Sushi O just opened last month at 222 Glenwood next to Tobacco Road, in the spot vacated early this year by Dunkin’ Donuts.  They offer a full bar, and outside seating is available.

 

Tracy Barnes interviewed owner John Tang, and asked him a few questions.

Tracy: “What makes your restaurant stand out from others in Glenwood South? 

John: “We have an amazing selection of Specialty Sushi rolls, and greater and fresher selection of sashimi.  “We also offer a Blend or Collection of Asia Food, the best flavors of Asian cuisine, including Thai, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese.”

Tracy: How did you come up with the name Sushi O come from?

John:  “I wanted the name to be sushi something, so people could remember it easily and also for people to know that we are serious about sushi.  So when I got the letter “O”, I thought it sounded very catchy and trendy, and “O” can stand for original.”

 

Downtown residents will love the daily food and wine specials.  Sushi rolls are offered at half price from 5:00-6:30pm daily, and it applies to their entire sushi menu!   The special half price is offered again for the late night. crowd, from 11:00pm till… Thursday-Saturdays.  They also have half price bottles of wine Tuesday through Sunday, 1/2 off hot sake on Wednesdays and $3.00 pints on Mondays.

Tracy says. “the portions and presentation of dishes are amazing, the staff is super friendly”, and goes on to say that “many other 222 condo residents visit several times a week if not daily”.  

Downtown residents are drawn to bridge builders. We are often crossing from life in the suburbs to Downtown, or maybe like my wife and me, crossing from work life to retirement.  We appreciate variety and surprise. Whether youʼre walking or taking the R Line, with a stop across the street from Sushi O, this is a destination youʼll appreciate.


DHIC: Developing Affordable Housing in Downtown Raleigh

November 16, 2010 /

You may have noticed a common theme among many of the interviews the DLA has included in its “Faces of Downtown Raleigh” blog posts.  Small business owners are happy to set up shop in the Downtown and support the ongoing revitalization efforts, but are concerned that many of their employees cannot afford to live Downtown.  It’s agreed that affordable housing is at the core of creating a vibrant, diverse and livable city environment.

The DLA shares this concern, and sees the diversity of residents as a defining element to Downtown (in contrast to suburban pattern living), providing an important liveliness and character to our environment.  Wanting to find out more about the key issues in maintaining and supporting a diverse Downtown population, I met with Gregg Warren, the President of DHIC (formerly known as the Downtown Housing Improvement Corporation).  The DHIC is a non-profit developer of affordable housing and a promoter of home ownership.

Gregg Warren, DHIC PresidentHaving just celebrated his 25th year with the DHIC, Gregg understands the need for “workforce housing” better than just about anyone.  “I believe strongly in the importance of people having the opportunity for choice and options in their housing,“ he says.  Gregg got his Masters in City and Regional Planning from UNC and says he’s always been an advocate for social change and believed strongly in an equitable distribution of wealth.  His driving force has always been diversity and opportunity within neighborhoods, with a healthy mix of income levels.   

Among DHIC’s goals is providing quality affordable rental housing for individuals with modest incomes, and increasing home ownership among first-time home buyers through education and counseling.  Two well-known properties developed and managed by DHIC in Downtown Raleigh are the Praire Building Apartments, and Carlton Place.  Gregg is also very proud of the new Brookridge Apartments.  Located just 2 miles south of Downtown, the building just opened with 40 studio apartments available to lease for single men and women, many of whom are formerly homeless.

When I asked Gregg to share a story that exemplified the work done by the DHIC, he told me about the Murphey School Project that was seeded about twenty years ago.  Raleigh’s oldest school, built in 1917 and located on North Person Street, the Murphey School had become fodder for the Joni Mitchell song: the state had decided to demolish the building and “put up a parking lot”.  The DHIC enlisted the support from neighboring Oakwood residents and joined forces to save it with Smedes York, City Councilors Charles Meeker and Ralph Campbell Jr., and Dan Blue, who was Speaker of the House at the time.  The building was saved, and now serves as affordable housing for seniors – Murphey School Apartments.

Contacting the DHIC

Most of DHIC’s apartments are reserved for households earning 60% or below Area Median Income (AMI).  To find out whether you qualify for a specific DHIC property, contact the apartment manager listed on the DHIC property page.

The DHIC offices are located in the Prairie Building, 113 South Wilmington Street in the Moore Square District of Downtown Raleigh.  The Prairie Building, one of Raleigh’s oldest and most architecturally significant buildings, was designed in the 1870s by prominent local architect, Joseph P. Prairie.  Visit them on the web at www.dhic.org

Praire BuildingCarlton Place CourtyardBrookridge Apartments

 

 


Getting Around Downtown: This holiday season, enjoy the many different rides offered in Downtown Raleigh.

November 9, 2010 /

If you live in downtown Raleigh, you’re already sold on the ease and excitement of urban dwelling.  If you’re living in the ‘burbs, chances are you venture in to take advantage of the delicious dining, entertainment, shopping and family activities that fill the downtown scene.  

This article featured in Midtown MagazineAnd if you’re a daily commuter, you’ve probably figured out your favorite place to get coffee or pick up flowers for your lovely wife before you head for home. 

Regardless of where you rest your head, this holiday season you’ll find it easier than ever to get around downtown.  The old reliables continue to make navigating the city a breeze and a new addition makes heading out of town as simple as swiping a card.  And an added benefit?  All the transportation options we’ve highlighted are green, helping to make downtown Raleigh a more environmentally friendly city.

Here’s what you need to know:

 

 

 

WeCar

WeCar, a division of Enterprise, is the newest method of transportation to hit downtown. This not-your-traditional-rental-car service provides downtown Raleigh residents with access to fuel-efficient rental cars that are available for a minimum of one hour or a maximum of 24 hours for a low hourly rate.  This car-sharing community is especially enticing to those who need a car to scoot around town for some holiday errands or take an afternoon outing to visit friends.

Getting your car couldn’t be simpler.  Just visit the WeCar website and request to join the downtown Raleigh car-sharing community. After your request is processed, stop by the local Enterprise office, where they’ll take a peek at your valid driver’s license and in exchange, give you your membership card.  You’re ready to rent. 

When the need for the car arises, log on and reserve your vehicle.  You’ll be directed to the location of your car, currently either West at North Condos on Harrington Street (conveniently, an R-Line stop) or at the Enterprise office on McDowell, where the swipe of your card will grant access to your vehicle.  Once your rental period is over, return the car to its original spot. 

“WeCar is ideally structured for city living, offering accessibility without commitment. This in turn helps the city, by reducing the amount of cars on the road, fuel consumption, air quality and the number of parking spaces required,” says Adam Schneider, Regional Vice President for Enterprise.

Triangle Segway

Experience Raleigh from a slightly different angle by taking advantage of a tour offered by Triangle Segway. Whether it’s your holiday houseguests, an event for your business, or you and your family wanting to get out and explore Raleigh, a Triangle Segway tour is the ideal way to spend a couple of hours.  After a brief training session, where you’ll be provided with helmets and a wireless audio pack so you can hear your guide’s narration, you’ll be ready to glide across the city.  Tour options include an Experience Tour, with sights such as the NC State Capital, Governor’s Mansion and City Market, a Raleigh’s Great Romance Tour, including Oakwood Cemetery, and NC State. 

Raleigh Rickshaw

Since 2007, Raleigh Rickshaw has provided a unique and eco friendly form of free transportation for diners, bar hoppers, newlyweds, families and tourists across downtown Raleigh through the use of pedal cabs.  “As a matter of fact, last year Raleigh Rickshaw had over 80,500 riders and drivers peddled over 15,000 hours,” says owner Donald Mertrud.  An amazing achievement, but one that will be bypassed by the time you’ve read this sentence. 

With over 20 Raleigh Rickshaws traveling between the five downtown districts, getting from point A to point B is both fast and smooth.  While you always have the option of flagging down an empty rickshaw to take you from the restaurant to the show or from the museum to the art gallery, Raleigh Rickshaw does have a dispatch service available by telephone or easily accessible on-line, so it’s easy to make a reservation.  And who doesn’t love the invigorating, fresh air of a cool night under city lights as you take in the downtown landscape?  It’s the ideal mode for getting around when it’s too close to hop in the car and just little too far for a walk. 

If Mertrud has his way, soon, Raleigh Rickshaw drivers won’t be the only ones pedaling around downtown Raleigh.  Raleigh Rickshaw is working in conjunction with the City of Raleigh to launch a public use bicycle program.  Stayed tune for more information.

R- Line

Yet another environmentally friendly approach to urban transportation, the R-Line is about to celebrate its second anniversary.  This free circulator service, which means that it “circulates” around a defined community instead of traveling far distances, features hybrid electric buses that will connect you to restaurants, retail, entertainment venues, museums, hotels and parking facilities in downtown Raleigh. 

Two green and blue buses run every 10-15 minutes, with a route that circles from the Convention Center to Seaboard Station and Glenwood South during the day, then expands to include the Warehouse District and City Market in the evening, making the R-Line an uncomplicated, convenient and enjoyable way to run errands during lunch, be transported to your favorite shop, connect with friends for drinks or just get a ride home.     You’ll know you’ve found an R-Line stop, for the signs sport the big “R” logo.

J&L Carriage

For over ten years, J&L Carriage has been offering rides to downtown residents and visitors.  You’ll find the carriages in the mall between the museums the first Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the month, where you can just walk up and hop on, enjoying a family ride or a narrated tour of the city.  Rides are also available for your more romantic occasions, weddings, festivals, parties and even funerals by appointment.  And for those of you with younger children, be sure and ask about Marbles, J&L’s miniature horse, who pulls a miniature carriage.

 

This article was written by Ilyse Lane for the Midtown Magazine, and was featured in their November / December edition.  The Midtown Magazine is now online!  Visit them at www.midtownmag.com.


Re-Imagining Capital Boulevard

November 2, 2010 /

Picture this.  It’s a rainy, dark evening and our family has driven two cars all the way from Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Raleigh, our new home.  I advise our son in the front car to stay in the right lane as we drive south on Capital Boulevard into the city, since we don’t know the lay of the land.  It isn’t long before we’re confused.  With every mile, our lane disappears and we’re forced to the left.  This is the strangest traffic pattern we’ve encountered in a long time, and we ask ourselves, This is where we’re going to be living now?

Capital Boulevard has presented an array of problems that have challenged planners over time, and last week, another – hopefully final study was initiated to brainstorm about possible alternatives to recreate the entry into Raleigh from the north.

The Capital Boulevard Corridor Study’s Public Design Workshop was held this past Saturday and I attended the morning session, where the 75 or so in attendance broke into small groups, each focusing on one of four topics:

  1. Land uses and economic development
  2. Urban design
  3. Transportation
  4. Ecology

Click to enlarge

Here is a map of the area included in the study.  It includes the north-south section of the road from the Belt Line to Peace Street, as well as the area that runs east-west between the rail corridors. 

Anyone who has ever driven down Capital Boulevard understands the need for major improvements.  And the city recognizes the need to improve safety along the corridor, replace the worn-out bridges and interchanges, and to do something about the ongoing flooding and water quality concerns.  

 

 

Key themes arise in any discussion of this heavily traveled area.

One goal is to create new vehicle connections into and across the corridor. 

The rail lines that form the east-west boundaries of the study area are clearly major obstacles to vehicle connectivity.  Though trains were an important part of the corridor when it was mainly industrial, today heavy industry has all but disappeared, and the rail lines effectively block the adjacent neighbors from getting into and across the corridor.

Solutions discussed

  • Redesign the boulevard into one-way paired streets with separate frontage roads that would handle new intersecting streets to / from surrounding neighborhoods.
  • The rail corridor on the east side of Capital Boulevard has been designated to support passenger (light) rail.  Find a way to consolidate or reconfigure this corridor for continued freight operations, such that the existing freight rail corridor on the west side of Capital Boulevard could be relocated to a less densely populated area.

Another goal: slow down the traffic!

Given that there are presently few other options for vehicles traveling from the north to Wade Avenue / I-40, and into Downtown, Capital Boulevard handles an unavoidably large volume of traffic.  The high volume of traffic and lack of east-west connectivity has stunted significant mixed use development despite general proximity to North Raleigh’s office parks and the Downtown government and commercial area.  Traffic congestion is already a problem, and the projections are for traffic to increase by 40-70% over the next 25 years.  

Solutions discussed

  • Plan for handling an increasing volume of traffic with new options for vehicles to get into the Downtown other than on Capital Boulevard.  Examples include new connections to Blount Street on the east side, and on the opposite side, extending West Street to meet Wade Avenue (at grade), and then onto Fairview Road.
  • Slow the traffic and narrow the street at the southern end of the corridor, between Wade Avenue and Peace Street – the boulevard becomes a parkway.
  • Create new “roundabouts” at the corridor’s intersections with and along Peace Street.

Next: bring back Devereaux Meadows

The scale of this project offers a unique opportunity for the city to create needed green space while addressing the water pollution of Pigeon House Branch.  Devereaux Meadows, site of a former minor league ballpark was once an important entertainment area for Raleigh residents, though today it’s covered up by under-used industrial and distribution buildings that sit along the corridor.

Solutions discussed

  • Open up Pigeon House Creek and create a stream with associated green space for residents.
  • Turn Devereaux Meadows into a park, and create new access points for pedestrians via a bridge from Seaboard Station / Peace College.

And also: Create a multi-modal corridor (cars / trains / buses / bicycles)

The South Eastern High Speed Rail (SEHSR) corridor will route through either the east or west side of Capital Boulevard, and the rail corridor on the east side of Capital Boulevard has been designated to also support passenger (light) rail.  By next year the specific routes will be determined, along with station locations and associated bus connections.  The corridor also includes an east-west greenway along Crabtree Creek that offers the opportunity for new pedestrian and bicycle connections.

Solutions discussed

  • Design the vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle connections to fit with the new train and bus stations once they are defined next year.
  • Connect the Crabtree Creek Greenway and the Downtown with a new 3-mile greenway that would also cross the corridor over a new pedestrian bridge between Devereaux Meadows and Seaboard Station.  See map for a possible route.

This is an especially opportune time to finally address the concerns raised by past studies and echoed again in this latest public design meeting.  Raleigh is positioned well for significant growth and it’s critical that we all support plans that re-vitalize the northern gateway into Downtown Raleigh by integrating Capital Boulevard with the coming passenger rail and opening up new development opportunities, while promoting sustainable land use practices.  

 

I invite others, especially those who attended the workshop to add their comments.


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