Raleigh

Mayor Meeker’s spending a billion dollars on renovations downtown, building convention centers and parking decks, subsidizing hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, and turning Fayetteville Street…back into a street. What will be the result when he’s done? Well, based on a story in the News and Observer, it looks like the Mayor may be creating a pretty exclusive…

I’m sure Carter will be fulminating here soon about the proposed public art in downtown Raleigh. After all, he got Tom Fetzer elected mayor in 1993 partly by attacking the Time+Light Tower on Capital Boulevard. Think what he could do with this. But I have a different question: Why is City Manager Russell Allen suddenly…

How’s this for a flim-flam? Roads that are paid for with gas taxes are supposed to be free. While roads that are paid for with tolls are, well, paid for at toll booths. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. No tolls are charged on existing roads. But it turns out the N.C. Turnpike Authority…

According to an article in the News and Observer (7/19/06) big retailers – like GAP or Banana Republic – are not likely to rush to open stores downtown. Why? There are not enough people living downtown to make the stores profitable. But the Downtown Raleigh Alliance – which serves as downtown Raleigh’s unofficial booster club…

One of our readers emailed today that Mayor Meeker apparently believes he is Mayor of Downtown Raleigh only. I can feel his pain. I sometimes feel that the only news out of the City Council revolves around downtown. (This week, the two architects on the City Council expressed their dislike for the “vocabulary” of the…

Last spring, when Spanish sculptor Jaume Plensa sold Raleigh on a $2.5 million outdoor art display with a cloud of floating lights and a wall of mist he opined about the beauty of falling water – how it was special, like rain and waterfalls – and better than the water in old fashioned fountains which…

Two members of the Blue Ribbon Commission on the Future of Wake County have weighed in on my comments. First, a businessman I know well who served on the commission says: “The N&O take on the BRC was misleading. I know that’s a surprise to both of you.” He added this from his perspective as…

It’s hard for me to justify the City subsidizing one business at the expense of another. Should the City give the Marriott $20 million and a leg up over its competitor, the Sheraton across the street? Should North Hills get a tax exemption and a leg up over its competitors Crabtree Valley or Triangle Towne…

Downtown Raleigh is a nervous place this week. Especially the Legislative Building. Rumors abound: FBI agents are interviewing legislators. Legislators are secretly testifying before the federal grand jury investigating Speaker Black. Indictments are coming down. Stay tuned. Click to Read & Post Comments

Was my blog about the Blue Ribbon Committee on the Future of Wake County (“A Blue Ribbon Punt”) too harsh? One reader says no: “What a laugh. The “Blue Ribbon” panel was designed to deflect blame from the big spenders. The scandal in this whole charade is the failure of anyone to mention or factor…