Archive for January, 2011
One Small Step for a Vital Greenway Connection — One Wrong Step for the Environment? So Argue Property Owners.
There’s a lot at stake… First consider Sig Hutchinson’s dream for area walkers, runners and bikers:
Sig Hutchinson, co-founder of the Raleigh Downtowner has long been working to build 150 miles of greenway trails spanning Falls Lake to Durham’s American Tobacco complex, and he sites Crabtree Creek as the connection point for the rest of the grid. Sig says, “The (1.3 mile) Crabtree Creek Greenway connection to Umstead State Park is the final link in a hundred plus mile greenway system”.
The DLA also sees an advantage in this connection, since it allows downtown residents to not only walk, run or bike on greenways from Downtown to Umstead Park, but they’ll be able to continue through the park and connect through the new Crabtree Creek greenway onto Shelley Lake, or east past Raleigh Boulevard and all the way to New Bern Avenue. With plans for a future 3-mile link to Downtown from Raleigh Boulevard, residents will enjoy a continuous 26 mile loop.…
[ Read More → ]Feeling Brunchy? Downtown Raleigh: Where Brunch Eats Are Found
There’s no nice way to write this. So, here it goes: the promise of Sunday brunch gets my family to church on time. But I can’t point the finger at them for loving the incentive. I’m guilty, too. Toward the end of the service, I’m thinking about “together time,” complete with a meal that I don’t have to prepare or clean up.
Luckily, the downtown area lends itself nicely to a brunch scene that’s worth checking out. With close proximity to numerous places of worship, theaters, museums and shopping, downtown restaurants can be a perfect spot for a weekend meal before a matinee, exhibit or even before your much-needed nap.…
[ Read More → ]Tru Blu!
Thank you all for your warm response to Raleigh’s new Tuscan restaurant in the Depot area of the Warehouse District. Each time my husband and I drop in, we see tables filled with people like us who are obviously pleased to be the recipients of tru blu hospitality! (Read our recent blog post on this restaurant here.)
Please note that in an effort to avoid confusion with Charlotte’s Blue Restaurant, Maurizio and Patrizia have opted to change their name to Tuscan Blu. This name perhaps even better captures their ability to combine the best of world cultures to create a sense of sitting in a countryside trattoria, or even visiting Italian friends at their table.…
[ Read More → ]At Southland Ballroom, It’s All About the Music
“Raleigh has lots of bars with a band in the corner,” says Triangle music scene veteran Scotty Brownell, “but very few true music venues.” That balance changed a little this fall when Scotty and his business partner, Howard Moye, opened Southland Ballroom (614 N. West St.), Raleigh’s newest (and Glenwood South’s only) venue focused exclusively on the music. Sure, it has a well-stocked bar (beer, wine, mixed drinks), but you would not meet your friends there for a regular after-work drink or hang out there to watch a game together. On the other hand, if there were a band you and your friends really liked, the Ballroom would be the ideal place to see them perform.
Scotty Brownell, Co-owner Southland BallroomAnd that’s the way Scotty Brownell wants it. He is very clear about his vision. He is not interested in running a neighborhood bar or a dance club. Nor does he want to target a particular age group or any single musical genre. There will be shows for all tastes.
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