Raleigh

Community-focused posts

There are 773 posts filed in Raleigh (this is page 67 of 78).

Downtown help is definitely available

I walked up to the office just as two police cars were driving up to the corner of Fayetteville Street and Hargett Street. From what I gather, a man on a scooter ran into a pedestrian walking along Fayetteville Street, knocking him down but not seriously injuring him.

While I was glad the man was okay, I was amused at the amount of response his injury garnered. There were two police cars, a firetruck, an ambulance, and a half-dozen cops on bikes that showed up. One of the first cops on the scene began dispersing the bike cops by giving them the classic “there’s nothing to see here” line, after which some appeared somewhat embarrassed.

The traffic or the view?

I took a walk past the State Capitol today to clear my head, on my way to the credit union branch on neighboring New Bern Avenue. The credit union sits on a little sliver of New Bern that has since become essentially a parking lot. Its a shame that this slice of New Bern is cut off from the rest of the street grid, because it absolutely offers the best view of the Capitol.
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Beatification

I was looking into what Raleigh’s Neighborhood Improvement Grant program might do for my new neighborhood, so I wanted to see what kind of programs were being supported by other local governments.

I think I found one that tops them all. Cary’s grant (Cary Grant?) can be used for beatification:

The goals of the Neighborhood Improvement Grant Program are to improve the health of Cary’s neighborhoods by addressing needs through the active involvement of the neighborhood residents themselves. Specific goals include:

  • Improve neighborhood organization and pride by encouraging more resident involvement in addressing neighborhood issues and needs.
  • Leverage both Town and neighborhood resources towards addressing neighborhood issues.
  • Improve community aesthetics by encouraging physical improvements in Cary’s neighborhoods such as beatification programs, environmental enhancements and neighborhood clean-ups.
  • Maintain or improve property values in the neighborhood.

I know it might cross the line between church and state, but I think it would be pretty cool to ascend to Heaven and have people pray to me and stuff.

Our last week on Hobhouse Circle

Today marks the beginning of our very last week here at 8321 Hobhouse Circle. We close on our new home on Friday and the moving trucks crank up Saturday morning. While I’m excited about the possibilities our new home will bring, I am also going to miss this house. Its been so good to us.

Kelly and I have discussed this before, how we couldn’t wait to leave our Garner home and didn’t ever regret that move. It was nothing against Garner but more particular to our house, or more specifically our neighborhood, I suppose. We had no sidewalks and no front porch there. We didn’t have the chance to meet our neighbors the way we do here. Even though our new neighborhood has no sidewalks, our home has a porch and our home sits right next to an active pathway into the next neighborhood.
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East CAC meeting

I went to my first meeting of the Raleigh East CAC last night. I’ve wanted to see what was on the minds of our future neighbors so this seemed the perfect opportunity. Since the meetings are held at Lions Park which is a stone’s throw of our new house, I won’t have much excuse for missing them.
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First meeting of Raleigh Neighborhood College

I went to my first meeting of the Raleigh Neighborhood College last Thursday. I would’ve blogged about it that night but it turned out I was out later than I expected.

The classes are held at Peace College, incredibly convenient to my job. I arrived a little after five, walked into the dining hall, got introduced to Charlene Willard (one of Raleigh’s Community Specialists) and enjoyed a fine dinner while getting to know my fellow classmates. Twenty-five citizens from all over the city share the class. They’re a very energetic, friendly bunch, too, from what I’ve gathered.
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Downtown Raleigh: sleepy no more

I got called back into the office last night when it appeared the work I had done on our company’s firewall had taken down our network in Germany. It turned out to be a power failure rather than something I did, but I did appreciate a peek at what the area around my office is like at night.

Wow, was I amazed. The streets were full of people! Some waiting to get into a club that by day is a sleepy storefront. Others enjoyed drinks at sidewalk tables in front of The Raleigh Times. Bicycle taxis drove people from one end of Fayetteville Street to the other.

In spite of all the activity, I still managed to snag a street parking space right in front of my building. Before I could even log into my computer, I got the call about the cause being a power failure, sending me home again.

I remember my first visit to Raleigh in the fall of 1987. A friend had started at N.C. State and he took me on a tour of the city. On a Friday night downtown were deserted! I had to smile last night when I considered the contrast.

My, how things change.

Take me out the ball game, again?

I’ve become intrigued by the knowledge that Raleigh used to have its own baseball team: the Raleigh Senators. I read somewhere (can’t remember now) the Senators once played at a park near Wade Avenue and Capital Boulevard, now home to the garbage trucks of Raleigh’s Solid Waste Services.

I am gathering more info on this missing ball park and hope to bring it back to life through the magic of the Internets.