Decemberists Coming to The Walt
On Saturday, June 11,
The Decemberists
will return to Raleigh. This time the show is at The Walt, in downtown Raleigh. Best Coast opens. Ticket presale is already over. Public tickets go on sale soon. Check the
Decemberists’ website
for more info.
Def Leppard, Heart Coming to TWC
Def Leppard
announced their North American summer tour yesterday and Raleigh’s Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek gets the act on Friday, June 24. Opening will be Heart. In all likelihood the mostly original lineup for Def Leppard will consist of Joe Elliott on vocals, Phil Collen on guitar, Vivian Campbell on guitar, Rick Savage on bass, and Rick Allen on drums. Campbell is the only member who wasn’t in the band during their 80’s heyday.
Borders Closing Most Area Locations
The Borders location at Six Forks and Wake Forest Roads is in the books. On Friday the company announced that it was filing Chapter 11 and will close 4 of its 6 Triangle stores including Apex, Cary, Chapel Hill, and the Creekside location in Raleigh.
This bad news certainly isn’t a surprise, but surely doesn’t please landlords at places like North Hills, Cameron Village, Downtown Raleigh hoping to make their developments more browsable. This is just the beginning, too. As digital downloads envelope brick and mortar book sales, expect the final chapter from more booksellers.
ACC Football Schedules Posted for Easy Download
Today the ACC released the complete schedule for the upcoming football season. In typical fashion,
gogoraleigh has compiled the schedules
into a formats that are easy to import into almost all calendar applications. Included are not only downloadable files for the UNC and NCSU schedules, but also files for the entire ACC conference schedule.
Google Calendar users will find that the existing feed for each of these schedules has been updated, so there is no need change anything if you are already subscribed.
TV has not had a chance to affect the schedule, so the dates are not final and times are not set.
Pigs and Politicians
An AP story by Tom Breen detailing the N.C. Barbecue argument was released yesterday, and
shows up today at Forbes.com
. It is a tongue and cheek response to First Lady Michelle Obama’s proclamations of barbecue as one of Charlotte’s assets earlier this week when the Queen City was named as the next Democratic Convention site. The article has a classic quote about Charlotte in the 4th paragraph that is worthy of a good chuckle.
While it is a good-natured overview of the barbecue argument in North Carolina, the article also carefully explains that the art of wood-cooked barbecue, such as that at Wilbur’s, seems to be a dying art. Those who good steaks on charcoal instead of propane can relate to this “problem” all too well.
They say that one of Charlotte’s assets is that it is an hour from Shelby, alluding to the prominence of excellent small-town outlets in the state, and the Raleigh area is no different. We have some good barbecue in Raleigh, but the best Eastern N.C. products are found in stores about an hour east of here.
I’ll risk all of my life-long Raleigh street cred to name my favorite, so here goes: The Blue Mist (Asheboro). I know, I know, it is a different style, but ohmygosh! I’ve only eaten there a few times, it was always to go, and I only had a pulled pork sandwich with slaw, but those times were fantastic and had me tempted to do a U-turn and go back for more.
City Problem Reporting Goes to Web, Apps
According to the city’s website, Assistant City Manager Dan Howe said:,
"The City of Raleigh is hoping that See Click Fix will provide a convenient tool for citizens to use to alert us to issues in the community as they arise. Â City staff and the City Council take great pride in the high level of service provided to citizens in Raleigh and it is our hope that See Click Fix can add another means for citizens to partner with our elected officials and professional staff as we all work to keep our city clean, safe and well-maintained."
Problems can be reported by going to SeeClickFix.com or by using the company’s apps for iPhone , Android , or Blackberry .
2010: Best of the Year
As you may have noticed, the posts here have slowed down quite a bit. It’s a direct reflection on the dull year that was 2010. In retrospect, however, there were plenty of significant events that happened. Here are the Top 40 events of 2010:
- N.C. Museum of Art Opens New Building
- The Walt Opens
- Hopscotch Festival Begins as Huge Success
- Moore Square Redesign Approved
- Caniac Coach Begins Service
- Duke Wins National Championship
- Elizabeth Edwards Dies
- Ira David Wood IV Fills in for Ailing Father
- NHL Announces All-Star Game to Raleigh, Finally!
- Hillsborough Street Renovation Complete, with Roundabouts
- 90-Degree Heat Record Set
- The Container Store Opens
- John Wall is Selected First In NBA Draft
- NCSU Grad Loses Secret iPhone4
- Josh Hamilton Named Major League Baseball’s MVP
- North Hills Harris Teeter Opens with Controversial Design
- Raleigh Loses Hamid Mohajer of Mo’s Diner
- “Hudson Belk” Becomes “Belk”, Gets New Image
- William D’Auvray leaves Buku
- H&M Opens in Raleigh
- Golden Corral Razes, Replaces Home Store
- City Council Endorses Western High(er) Speed Rail Route
- Mike Krzysewski Becomes #2 Winningest Coach
- Broughton Band Selected for Rose Bowl Parade
- Penzey’s Spices Opens in Cameron Village
- Get Motivated Seminar Brings Top Names in Leadership, Ties Up Traffic
- Another Samaratan Falls to Death on Beltline, Prompts New Fencing
- Taylor Swift Plays Sold Out RBC Center
- Mami Nora’s Opens in Raleigh
- Winterfest Returns to Downtown
- North Face Store opens in Crabtree
- Brind’Amour Retires, Staal Named Captain
- D.H. Hill Relights Art Wall
- Catapano Retires from Sanderson
- Varsity Mens Wear Moves from Crabtree to North Hills
- Sparians , Zoe’s Kitchen , Piola , and Brueggers Open in North Hills
- R-Line Food Tour Comes to Downtown Raleigh
- TWC Remaps Channels
- Evan Rachael Wood Engaged to Marilyn Manson, Splits
- Meat House Opens
We got a few new retailers and restaurants about which we’ll be excited for many years to come. Some others were lost and might be missed one day:
- Buckhead Saloon
- Ten Ten Chinese Buffet
- Yoho Asian Bistro
- Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe
- Bear Rock locations
- Uno’s Grill
- Space Savers
- Ruby Tuesday
- Ted’s Montana Grill
- Duck and Dumpling
While we didn’t make a lot of big news, there was plenty of entertainment. I’ve always told people from bigger cities that there is more to do in the Triangle than I have the money and/or time for. Perhaps you got to spend an evening being entertained by some of these fine artists:
Rush Coming to Greensboro
On Friday, April 1
Rush
will bring their Time Machine tour to the Greensboro Coliseum. Tickets go on sale Saturday (12/10) at 10am.
I got a last minute invitation to see the band that I once loved (back in my high school says) at Walnut Creek two years ago and was blown away . It was hands down one of the best 5 concerts I have ever seen.
Nowell’s Furniture Hosting Benefit Event
Nowell’s Contemporary Furniture in Cary will launch its holiday fundraiser to benefit multiple myeloma research (at Duke University Medical Center) with an in-store kick-off on Tuesday, December 7, from 6-8 p.m. The event will include giveaways, music, refreshments, and a brief presentation on the illness as well as Nowell’s fundraising effort, “Nowell’s Fund To Fight Multiple Myeloma.” Nowell’s owner Jerry Nowell was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the white blood cells, earlier this year and is currently undergoing treatment.
There are two associated benefits as part of the program:
- An online auction of fine furnishings from Nowell’s that has been featured on the set of NBC 17’s “My Carolina Today” show.
- The in-store Ekornes benefit: Every customer who purchases an Ekornes Stressless Recliner during the holiday season and donates $50 to Nowell’s Fund To Fight Multiple Myeloma will receive a $200 discount off his or her purchase. The Ekornes fundraiser began Thanksgiving weekend. Party “giveaways” will be provided by Ekornes.
Raleigh’s Biggest Needs
While we have a lot for which to be thankful in Raleigh, there is more work to be done! Here is my list of 30 things Raleigh needs:
-
A sexy CAT Bus system. This means rolling out Android and iPhone apps that consider your location and your destination, and suggest routing options and times of route service that are based on real-time bus location data…for all routes. Right now the R-Line reports its bus locations to the web, but this doesn’t cut it. The free TransitGenie app on the iPhone does what I am describing and makes using Chicago’s bus and rail system very easy and actually fun to use. Each CAT bus should be spotless , have internet access, feature news and ads on video screens, and should be lit with something other than fluorescent lighting. Would you rather fly on this airplane or on this one ? Here is a private bus company with their comfy bus.
- Walnut Creek and/or RBC Center bus shuttle on every night there is an event. The Caniac Express is fine, but has been poorly marketed. Parking is nearing the $20 point, and if we add that to the $12 per head, at least, for a minimal concession stand meal, that means that my wife and I will spend at least $40 above the ticket price to go to a hockey game. Wouldn’t it be better for me to spend that money in downtown restaurants, use a shuttle that skirts traffic, delivers us near the RBC North Entrance, then returns to downtown after the game? You never know, we might just want to go have a drink downtown after the game. If we cannot have a downtown arena, then we can, in effect, have one with an express shuttle service. The buses, by the way, must play the Hurricanes or Wolfpack’s pre/post game broadcasts on their intercoms.
- Lingerie Football ( link to Chicago Bliss ). notreally
- An outstanding restaurant that almost has no service. Essentially think of a Zoe’s Kitchen concept that serves food like Bloomsbury Bistro. Each order could be handled online, via a mobile webpage or Android or iPhone app. One could set up an account, and order on their way to the restaurant. Simply pick up the food upon entering and eat. Pizza Hut’s iPhone app works almost this simply, but you still have to pay when you pick up the food. There is a growing number of people like me who just want good food, and we want a drink refill when we want it, not when someone happens to give us permission to get one….and we don’t want to be constantly interrupted…nor do we want some failed comedian trying to entertain us. Just give us the food!
-
A really good fast-food Indian restaurant. I visited Chutney Joe’s in Chicago, and it is almost exactly what we need; a Chipotle-level fast-casual restaurant that serves Indian food. The key is to not make the food too hot, which is a weakness of Chutney Joe’s.
- A great, quick taqueria downtown.
- A 5,000 seat indoor concert venue.
- An El Pollo Loco location
- Milepost designations for Glenwood Avenue. Much like those used on the Outer Banks, mileposts for Glenwood Avenue, from Morgan Street to the Durham County line would help to regionalize the 14 mile-long spoke. Businesses could advertise that they are "between mileposts 11 & 12", for instance.
- A place to buy fresh-made corn tortillas
- To fold A Taste of the Triangle into Raleigh Wide Open, and make it the premiere food event in the south.
-
A ferris wheel at Pullen Park. When that’s a success, add a wave swinger .
- To convert Dorothea Dix into a State government office park/urban park. The downtown Raleigh amphitheater should eventually be relocated to the sledding hills so that the skyline can be appreciated by concert-goers.
- More non-country and non-rock live concerts. Walnut Creek should be booking more events centered around Broadway reviews, light jazz, Oldies, world music, and traveling symphonies, like WolfTrap is booking. Many of these events should have lawn rules conducive to families spreading out, allowing short chairs, blankets, picnic baskets, and wine. Sorry, but people are just fed-up with paying for $15 beers and bad food, and are just not choosing to attend events now. The concert industry needs to win us back.
- A slew of free, artsy concerts in the new amphitheater that are free. Local big-band jazz bands, talent show winners, world music performers, etc should get exposure using this facility. Fans should also be able to bring their own food and wine onto the grounds. See my statement about venue price gouging above.
- To make US1 past I-540, and US64 west of Cary limited access highways. Access roads should be the only way the businesses can be accessed. These are major arteries, not portals for parasitic business that will turn each stretch of road into the nightmare that is Capital Blvd.
- To move forward with Dan Douglas’ Capital Blvd plan
- A combined Hopscotch Music Festival, Artsplosure, Downtown Live, and Raleigh Wide open as one week-long extravaganza. The experience at Milwaukee’s Summerfest, complete with an excellent iPhone app that allows one to plan the events they want to attend, far exceeded the experiences of these combined. This is something that the Arts Commission would have to organize.
-
To commission great pieces of public art for both Moore Square and Nash Square. Pieces like the Bean in Chicago find themselves constantly pulling people in. Each could define the squares and offer a very different experience in each, but complement each other.
- To cut down half of the trees in Nash Square. There needs to be some shade, however Nash Square is extremely uninviting and boring.
- Better mobile food truck sanitation monitoring. This is the job of the state, however, do you know that the conditions are sanitary?
- Twice-a-week garbage pickup in the summer. The days are up to 4 hours longer, so each truck could run two shifts. Add Monday service in the Summer, too. The smell of rotting diapers and shrimp is terrible.
- A Mexican cafeteria
- Great pieces of art for the Hillsborough Street Roundabouts.
- A blimp festival
- A concerted effort to corral all of the area’s Soups of the Day. This would allow one seeking a particular soup to know which restaurant to visit.
- A local DCI drum corps contest.
- A better technology statement throughout the city. Parking in decks downtown should have a “vacancy” sign, and that data should be integrated with a web client that allows people, in real-time, to see where parking vacancies are in the downtown decks. [ essay ]
- Minor arteries to be rezoned to have small commercial clusters, like Five Points and Oberlin/Fairview.
- Traffic lights to flash red/yellow during lightly travelled times of the week.
Raleigh’s Biggest Thanks
Thanksgiving is a day where we like to reflect upon our fortunes and blessings. I don’t see too many civic-based lists, so here’s one man’s take. I am thankful for:
- A city where there is more to do than I a) have time for and b) can afford.
- The RBC Center. Until the 1986 opening of the Student Activities Center in Chapel Hill, the Triangle did not have an air conditioned space that could hold more than 2,300. The Smith Center is difficult for attendees and cannot be operated without major government subsidies. The RBC Center is an excellent, comfortable, convenient venue that made it possible for the area to have its first major pro sports franchise.
- The 440 Beltline. Sure it acts like a sieve to outer/inner traffic transitions, but if you ask Charlotteans they will talk at great length about how hard it is to get around a city with just city streets.
- Clean water at a good pressure piped right into my house. How much harder would our lives be if we had to boil river water any time we needed it?
- Live sports on an HDTV. I love watching basketball, hockey, and football on a big TV. In some ways it is better than going to the game.
- A strong Y-Guides Program. Several decades ago the Raleigh YMCA established a local Indian Guides program which gave fathers and sons chances to do projects and spend wholesome time together. The program was a wild success, adding a father/daughter program. Together they are, by far, the largest Y-Guides programs in the nation. Dallas’ is a distant second.
- Lex Alexander. Many years ago Lex Alexander established a small grocery store in Durham called Wellspring. It was such an excellent outlet for ingredients for chefs, that it acted as a magnet, attracting chefs such as Ben Barker and Scott Howell to that are. The roaring success of Durham’s restaurant scene has spilled over giving Raleigh its own chapter in the area’s nationally recognized dining market.
- Everett Case, Dean Smith, and Mike Krzyzewski. These three weren’t the only factors in making the Triangle the capital of college basketball, but they were the most important at each of the area schools.
- Excellent shopping options. Whenever I travel to a smaller market I am constantly stunned by how few shopping options there are. If there is a good retail outlet, it is often the only one of its type in a small market, leading to delays if the item is out of stock. Sure, there is interesting stuff in the major shopping markets, but in the modern era I don’t find myself coveting retail finds in major markets like I used to.
- Strong youth sports programs. While the odds of becoming a professional athlete are slim for an area child, the opportunities offered by Raleigh Parks and Recreation, the YMCA, American Legion, and Boys and Girls Clubs are an important opportunity for children to learn how to work on a team and hone a skill.
- A great variety of music venues. In the area we have a plethora of music venues that is as good as almost every other market in the country.
-
Downtown festivals. Annual events like Artsplosure, Sparkcon, Hopscotch, Raleigh Wide Open, and more are doing an excellent job of attracting people downtown and allowing them to create their own experiences. These events are important in building a sense of community. (the chalk drawing to the right was just one of the many fantastic works that appeared during SparkCon.)
- A stock of old buildings. Raleigh never had much industrial growth so its stock of old buildings, whether office or industrial, is not large. However the city has done an adequate job of of keeping its stock, offering some variety. Many other cities have torn down all of their old buildings resulting in a lack of character.
- The beach is only 2 hours away. Think of how many nice areas to live are within 2 hours of an ocean. There aren’t many!
- Stadium seating in movie theaters. I’m not the tallest person, and now I don’t have to crane my head because some giraffe is sitting in front of me.
- Ubiquitous internet access. The growing coverage of Wifi in Raleigh and the competing cell phone networks have made our options for communication, music streaming, and news reporting mushroom. The thought of listening to terrestrial radio is so foreign to me that I can’t remember relying on it.
- Chick-Fil-A. People who live in an area without a Chick-Fil-A are missing America’s best fast food experience.
- Cars and light traffic. I honestly love being able to get out of my seat and get to a post office, a hardware store, and a computer store on my terms, quickly, and comfortably. While I-40 is something I don’t like, traffic in the Raleigh is generally pretty good, especially inside the beltline where there are numerous options for moving from point A to point B.
- RDU Airport. We are lucky to have an excellent airport in the area. Movement through the terminals is efficient, they are clean, and the routes offered a good for a city this size.
- North Hills. The North Hills Mall was in terrible shape when John Kane purchased it. His speculative plan to replace the mall with a lifestyle center serves as an excellent example to other developers that something other than a boring strip mall can survive here. North Hills isn’t perfect, but it is outstanding compared to the other renovation/replacement ideas that were being considered.
- Plumbing! “Pipes the $%^& right out of your house!” ( History of the World )
- Civil obedience. We want Raleigh’s crime rate to be lower, but generally we live in a society that respects others’ rights, property, and authority. Without those we have no value.
- The Wake County Public Schools. It’s been a rough couple of years, but in all honesty the school system here is as good as the child and his/her parents want it to be. Not all cities can say that.
- Curb & Gutter and Sidewalks. There are some excellent neighborhoods in Raleigh that don’t have curb and gutter, and I wouldn’t consider living in any of them. Sidewalks really make a neighborhood valuable.
- Local blogs. I honestly appreciate all of the other local-based blogs, and am very upset when one shuts down. We all have our own approaches, and no one site can do it all. Luckily we have quite a collection of interesting sites like (in no particular order): The Raleigh Connoisseur , Goodnight Raleigh , Raleigh Skyline , NewRaleigh , The Downtown Living Advocates , Raleigh MSA , Raleighing , the Raleigh Downtowner , Triangle Modernist Houses , VarmintBites , OvertheTop/InsidetheBeltline , GlutenFreeRaleigh , LiveWorkPlay , ITBInsider , The Independent , and many more! (If I omitted anyone, it is an accident. Please let me know because you are all important to our experience here in Raleigh!)
Raleigh, Chapel Hill to Host Women’s 2012 Action
Congratulations to N.C. State and UNC as basketball venues were selected to host 2012 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament action. Early round games will take place at UNC, while the RBC Center will be one of the four regional sites for the tournament. The Final Four for that season will be staged in Denver.
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