Learning from Raleigh, NC

[rnc2mbfl]

RTP isn't an edge city because nobody lives there.  It's truly just a giant research park stradling Durham and Wake Counties.   Cities that abut the Park do so with suburban development though.  There is an effort to try and create a new urbanism concept in RTP but you couldn't pay me to live in a fake downtown like that.

I don't think Raleigh is going to follow the path of Charlotte and destroy any historic neighborhoods.  It's actually a good thing that it can learn from others' mistakes.  Plus, as stated previously, there are so few of these neighborhoods and they are highly cherished.   And, the folks in these areas are the MOST politically active in the city.  They are very, very protective....many times to a fault if you ask me.
The biggest challenge right now for the city is to determine what to do with a glorious plot of hilly land south of downtown that now houses an aging state mental hospital.  Develpers covet it while many downtown activists want to save the entire thing as a park for the city.    I personally feel like the answer is somewhere in between the two conflicting ideas.

One huge thing that Jax has that Raleigh doesn't is a waterfront.  How we wish we had a river running through our city! 

[thelakelander]

How many acres is the plot of hilly land south of downtown?

[rnc2mbfl]

306 acres.  It's a huge amount of land adjacent to a city.  On the property, there's a hill that rises about a couple hundred feet from Western Blvd.   Atop that hill is a collection of administrative and hospital buildings with absolutely the best views in Raleigh.  While the grassroots org has some preliminary plans for a park, there are also some challenges to their idea that this could be Raleigh's "Central Park".  First of all, it's separated from downtown by a swath of wide boulevard that runs from the south side of NC State to downtown.  It also has the State's Maximum security prison as its neighbor across the Blvd.  Next to the prison on the west side is a state run school for the blind.   These two huge pieces of property along with the current surrounding infrastructure, make it foolish to expect that this parcel would function like a major city urban (walkable and integrated) park.
To really make the park the urban treasure it truly could be would be much more difficult to achieve because it would require some domino effect planning.  My idea is as follows:
1. Move the Prison to a less desirable location.  Why does the maximum security prison have to be on valuable land near downtown?  This seems foolish to me. (this is going to require negotiating with the State of NC)
2. Possibly move the school for the blind as well so that a new park could connect to an existing Raleigh treasure: Pullen Park to its immediate west.  (my plan would work if the school wasn't moved though)
3. Submerge Western Blvd for a few blocks to connect the old prison property with the old mental hospital  property (sort of like a mini Boston big dig).  If it couldn't be tunneled completely, at least either lower it with several wide pedestrian paths or decorative bridges over it for walkers or bikers like: http://flickr.com/photos/tmartin/2038959234/ or meander/narrow and slow the traffic through the park area like they do in Central Park.
4. Assemble the lower, flatter part of the mental hospital property with the flat prison property to make a functional park like Central Park.
5. Develop the upper property with a mixed use of condos, boutiques and entertainment/restaurants and use the proceeds from the partial land sale to finance the development of the newly assembled lower section.

If all these steps were to occur, then the new park would abut an older urban neighborhood of post war apartments to the North and spawn additional investment in that immediate area.  Right now, the immediate areas to the North of the prison are not living up to their potential in land use because, frankly, there's a prison behind it.  This neighborhood links to two downtown districts: Glenwood South and the Warehouse district and all of this proposal is either walkable or bike-able from these and other nearby areas including NC State Univ. 

Taking these steps would allow the park to truly function as the urban park that the DIX306 folks want.

Here are some more links:
http://www.dix306.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullen_Park
http://flickr.com/photos/tmartin/2038959234/
http://www.nicomachus.net/images/Night%20View.jpg
http://rduwtf.com/images/bridge/pillarth.jpg

[thelakelander]

This place is looking better. A few pictures from downtown Raleigh tonight.