Raleigh revealing downtown vision for next 10 years
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Consultants have been busy for most of the year dreaming up what downtown Raleigh could look like over the next 10 years.
On Friday, they featured some of the highlights at the City of Raleigh Museum.
"People don't come to downtown to see land uses, they come to downtown for an experience," said Fred Merrill, with Sasaki Associates. "They want to live, they want to work, they want to have fun, they want to play, they want the cultural experience, they want to feel like they're part of an urban place."
Some of the attractions include a possible sports arena and hotels and office space near the Raleigh Convention Center.
Also, more hotels and office space around Moore and Nash squares, and bringing a park and more daytime traffic to Glenwood South.
"Say eight, nine years ago, downtown was a pretty quiet place -- 9 to 5, there was nothing going on down here," Merrill said. "But since Mitchell Silver and other leaders have kind of turned this thing around, we have this amazing redevelopment going down."
Those behind the plans are still hoping for more input within the next 90 days so they can bring the plans to the Raleigh City Council, and eventually make their sketches a reality.
