So what do we do about downtown Raleigh's largest park?

Pro keeping all 306 acres a city park:
http://www.dixpark.org/

And I don't know where I can find a pro development website...if one exists.

Here's my two cents at the current time.
The 306 proponents just seem to optimistic about this potential for a World Class Park. Yes Raleigh will double in population in 20 years. And yes we need to perserve green space for our future as a large MSA.

However have you looked south of Western Blvd recently? How will leaving Dix a park, which is already partially corrupted by crime and shadyness, benefit the local economic growth of that part of Raleigh?
The distance from downtown to the Park is not that far. However there is no, and I doubt ever will be, pedestrian friendly paths or transit to the Park. Just drive up and down Salisbury/Wilmington and see.

I honestly am confused about what to do. Keeping it a park to protect it from inevitable surrounding business, and to create another unique downtown park, is a good idea. And so is partially developing it to give South Raleigh a smart physical economic boost.

Thoughts?

2/13/2007 12:46:06 PM

They'll do the same thing they did behind taco bell and around Food Lion. They'll send in 150 police officers to the government subsidized housing and do searches (which they are allowed to do by law since it's government housing) without prior notification.

They evicted like 78%? (couldn't find the article) of the people because of illegal firearms possession, drug possesion, drug possession with intent to sell.. etc.

Those people will be punted, the area renovated, people who actually NEED it will get the spots and the community will grow and become a good place.

Aka the legal way to kick out the degenerets.

2/13/2007 1:01:45 PM

^ are you talking about over on Western Blvd? That's interesting, I'd never heard about that. When did it happen?


Also, as far as grass roots activism goes, I give the people that started the Dix306 campaign some credit, because they definitely got my attention with all their yard signs. Check out http://www.dix306.org/ for more information on how to keep the land a park.

I'd be willing to bet a small part of the land will be turned into a park with the rest being developed into businesses and homes.

The really sad part is that the mentally ill in our state will continue to get shit upon. First there is going to be an even greater shortage of beds for the mentally ill, despite what the state says. This whole shifting them to private facilities isn't working now, and isn't going to work two years from now. That just means that there will be more mentally ill people that are homeless in the streets, in prison, or furthur crowding up the emergency rooms.

If they're going to develop it, go for it, but give all the revenue to help build and promote services to serve the mentally ill. Like that will ever happen.

gg Government. hooray for capitalism!

[Edited on February 13, 2007 at 5:31 PM. Reason : a]

2/13/2007 5:30:44 PM

Quote :

"However have you looked south of Western Blvd recently? How will leaving Dix a park, which is already partially corrupted by crime and shadyness, benefit the local economic growth of that part of Raleigh? The distance from downtown to the Park is not that far. However there is no, and I doubt ever will be, pedestrian friendly paths or transit to the Park. Just drive up and down Salisbury/Wilmington and see."

the boylean heights area already has a lot of renovation and revitilization, this will just continue to work its way south east

2/13/2007 5:33:55 PM

I think the state should keep it and build offices for DHHS so they can get everybody on one campus and quit leasing space all over town. They should hang on to the rest of the land until they realize that Butner isn't going to cut it, so they can build a new one.

Whatever happens, it's pretty presumptuous of Raleigh to think that the state is going to just give them the land (or sell cheap). I think that land needs to benefit NC, not Raleigh.

2/13/2007 5:52:19 PM

Yeah it would be horrible for a chunk of land near downtown raleigh to benefit the city that it's in.

2/13/2007 11:27:37 PM

Won't somebody PLEASE think of Dave, Juliet, and the twins??

2/14/2007 12:58:10 AM

was wolfpack2K sighted?

2/14/2007 1:32:30 AM

mdbncsu

God I don't remember when it was exactly (part of why I couldn't find it). It was back in 97-01. It was so long ago I couldn't place it but basically the RPD had been investigating the areas for a while and got a huge break when they arrested a guy who ran the money around (I guess picking it up I never found out).

I was driving to get taco bell and I see at least 40 cop cars, some rpd, most undercover, 3-4 vans, a processing station etc. They were all over the area behind Taco Bell. I found out later that they also hit the areas behind Food Lion that is housing for college married couples with kids (not sure if it's still that).

The areas on method road that used to be trash was the road just past the first church on the left coming from Western Blvd. That road used to dead end and there were 2 crack houses. My roommates cousins used to live on it. They moved real quick.

Now if you look at it... all of the houses are cleaned up, there's new development. They upped the patrols to the area, several cops were arrested in the whole shebang. It was big news.

2/14/2007 7:30:17 AM

NCSU owns that land. Gov Hunt gave it to NCSU in the last few hours of his term of being Govener. Thats what I have heard from many people around the university. They plan on using it to add more space to campus. I say it should be done and put the freshman in the Dorm rooms over there.

2/14/2007 8:36:26 AM

No the land is owned by the state (DHHS). There was talk of trading part of the Dix property with NCSU for part of the Spring Hill property, but that has been a non-starter. I think you are talking about the Spring Hill property which sits between Centennial Pkwy and the Dix property.

[Edited on February 14, 2007 at 8:53 AM. Reason : ?]

2/14/2007 8:48:49 AM

?? I don't know I say give it to NCSU let us build a golf course on it and a convention center maybe a hotel or two. We need all the land we can get.

2/14/2007 11:25:01 AM

^x4 Yeah Wilder St has cleaned up big time since I moved here in 2002, and I'm sure it was worse before then. I still sleep with the pistol, but it's mostly out of habit these days. A lot of work went into cleaning up those houses by the cops, owners and tenants. I'm proud of this street.

2/14/2007 11:39:59 AM

Quote :

"I say give it to NCSU let us build a golf course on it and a convention center maybe a hotel or two. We need all the land we can get."

1. we're building a new convention center in Raleigh
2. golf course? please...
3. what else do we need land for as of right now?

2/14/2007 2:31:28 PM

Yeah gofl course all we have right now is a crappy par 3 at the university club. Land is a great thing to have they aren't making any more of it. There are several things that the university needs more field lab's would be nice also they are trying to expand the school even more soon they will have the campus spilt into 2 separate campuses.

2/14/2007 11:31:42 PM

They are getting ready to build a golf course already. Land isn't the problem.

Quote :

"2. golf course? please..."

It's legitimate for 3 reasons:

1.) The golf team needs a home course.

2.) The golf management program need a golf course.

http://natural-resources.ncsu.edu/pgm/

3.) Duke and UNC both have golf courses.

[Edited on February 15, 2007 at 12:17 AM. Reason : ?]

2/15/2007 12:06:29 AM

Quote :

"2.) The golf management program need a golf course."

this is exactly why i support it

if chem students get labs and horticulture gets greenhouses then they should get a course

and for the record, im a ME

2/15/2007 12:32:48 AM

What would a park due?? give a place for homeless drug dealers a chance to go too. We have a park over in Pullen and I very seldom see many people there. During the summer and when its hot familys go out there but the north side of the railroad tracks are empty. I can remeber walking throught there at like 1 and 2 am seeing plenty of people doing drugs.

2/15/2007 9:13:26 AM

^ That was my original thought, but on the other hand I know that once land is converted to private use (housing, hotels, office park, etc.) it is almost guaranteed to never be available for public use again. I think this is a rare opportunity for the city of Raleigh and they need to be thinking 50, 75, or 100 years down the road. 50 years isn't long in the history of a city like this.

2/15/2007 6:22:47 PM

Quote :

"What would a park due?? give a place for homeless drug dealers a chance to go too. We have a park over in Pullen and I very seldom see many people there."

the park on glenwood (close to glenwood south) always has a lot of people in it

2/15/2007 7:01:53 PM

I didn't read this entire thread but what do you do with all the patients?

I heard that most of them get let back out on the streets. Except those high risk patients.

2/15/2007 7:35:37 PM

Quote :

"We have a park over in Pullen and I very seldom see many people there. During the summer and when its hot familys go out there but the north side of the railroad tracks are empty. I can remeber walking throught there at like 1 and 2 am seeing plenty of people doing drugs."

I have a hard time buying this. I was there this past weekend, and even with the coldish weather there were plenty of people out there. No crackheads, tho.

2/15/2007 7:51:16 PM

Quote :

"I didn't read this entire thread but what do you do with all the patients? I heard that most of them get let back out on the streets. Except those high risk patients."

They are building a new hospital in Butner. The patients are going there.

2/15/2007 11:56:45 PM

the crack heads come out at night. I don't know many drug users thta go out in a large crowd in the day time to get their fix on. Parks are nice but 300 acres in Downtown Raleigh is to expensive not to develop your looking at close to a half a billion dollars in land.

2/16/2007 10:10:06 AM

Am I the only one that saw a map of what Centennial would look like when it was complete? I remember seeing a golf course. Was that idea scrapped?

2/16/2007 10:27:56 AM

no

2/16/2007 11:47:27 AM

why the hell would the property be completely turned into a park?

is there not already a park directly across the street?

2/16/2007 11:57:01 AM

we're not talking about a fucking "park" with slides and a swingset you fucking morons. we're talking about a real goddamned park that would serve the purposes of a large city

2/17/2007 9:24:18 PM

what happened to them being legally required to keep it as a park?

2/17/2007 10:40:32 PM

I know this will get laughed out of soap box, but I really wish that we could get a pro-baseball team in Raleigh and that they would build the park on that land.

2/18/2007 9:47:31 AM

I'd settle for minor league.

2/18/2007 10:22:00 AM

Quote :

"I'd settle for minor league."

mudcats and bulls are too close for a third team.

2/18/2007 12:07:00 PM

there is so much fucking space downtown for developement. Huge amounts of flat parking lots and short buildings which were built in the 70's and look horrible. Instead of destroying a historic sight why dont they start building on all the parking lots and fugly buildings. The parking lot I normally park in downtown has a building being put on top of it. Thank god. If Raleigh wants to be a city with people living downtown they need to stop expanding and starting building density and putting things downtown that people want to live by........like a fucking grocery store within walking distance of Fayetteville street.

how about they bulldoze the Macdonald's downtown too.

2/18/2007 3:10:55 PM

Quote :

"there is so much fucking space downtown for developement. Huge amounts of flat parking lots and short buildings which were built in the 70's and look horrible. Instead of destroying a historic sight why dont they start building on all the parking lots and fugly buildings. The parking lot I normally park in downtown has a building being put on top of it. Thank god. If Raleigh wants to be a city with people living downtown they need to stop expanding and starting building density and putting things downtown that people want to live by........like a fucking grocery store within walking distance of Fayetteville street. how about they bulldoze the Macdonald's downtown too."

Because that is all private property. The city doesn't own it. The city has very little control over what the owner does with it which is exactly how it should be.

[Edited on February 19, 2007 at 1:04 PM. Reason : .]

2/19/2007 1:04:17 PM

if they bulldoze the mcdonalds then where will the crack whores spend their money?

2/19/2007 2:06:10 PM

Quote :

"I know this will get laughed out of soap box, but I really wish that we could get a pro-baseball team in Raleigh and that they would build the park on that land."

You sir are a damn genius.

Seriously, this is an excellent idea. With teams like the Marlins and Royals potentially looking for new homes, why not make a play for them?

306 arces could be a City Park and a very nice new ballpark.

2/19/2007 2:43:12 PM

Quote :

"Because that is all private property. The city doesn't own it. The city has very little control over what the owner does with it which is exactly how it should be."

The city doesn't own Dix either.

2/19/2007 3:34:34 PM

yeah thats kinda my point tnx

2/19/2007 4:37:33 PM

downtown Raleigh has a lot of work to do. A mass transit hub thru Dix would be one step to help get people to downtown via more available space for stops near the new convention center.

2/19/2007 4:55:20 PM

Is Raleigh even densely populated enough for an efficient mass transit system?

Although I'd love for them to replace the trolleys downtown that they got rid of in the 30s.

2/19/2007 5:13:52 PM

this should be in the lounge

2/25/2007 11:54:05 PM

THAT'S BECAUSE YOUR A EVIL ZIONISt

2/26/2007 12:26:30 AM

^^ why? is it not political?

2/26/2007 4:18:51 PM

bump

3/19/2007 5:37:54 PM

bump

3/19/2007 6:56:24 PM

Give it up, its stupid to try to turn 306 acres in downtown Raleigh into a Park, Be real try for maybe say 40 acres thats large enough.

3/19/2007 7:22:05 PM

i would love it if they could find someway to get central prison the hell away from downtown

put the shit in johnston county or something

3/19/2007 7:37:28 PM

the more i think about it, the more i like the idea of the whole area becoming a park. sure it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to have a park that large RIGHT NOW. but presumably this city is only going to get larger, and that park could become a focal point of the city. A bustling downtown right next to a beautiful park.

3/19/2007 9:14:17 PM

we should put a public gallows there

then i would have something to do on those lazy sunday afternoons.

3/19/2007 9:23:25 PM