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Funny, I always thought Raleigh was very much laid out on a grid. A squiggly, oddly-named grid, perhaps, but it's definitely there. My family was transferred here with another family we were friends with and the two of us women used to get out of the house and "get lost" for entertainment. We'd just drive (when gas didn't cost more than a buck fifty) around for an hour or so, almost always finding interesting stores or entertainment options, or maybe just through a pretty old neighborhood. It never bothered us to be "lost" because we knew if we could locate Wake Forest Road or Millbrook Road, we could get home quickly enough. Come to think of it, that was fun and we learned a lot about our area that way. I will give you the confusion over the street name changes, though. I'd never been more confused in my life till I was at the intersection of Atlantic/Litchford/Old Wake Forest/ Dixie Trail.
This is a tough one but since you asked I shall try to encompass the question with a firm directional answer.
I was thinking more of a polar thought, like North Raleigh versus South Raleigh. East and West would be more of a right and left discussion. But then I thought North and South Raleigh would polarize the community to much so I started to change direction slipping slightly eastern in thinking until I wrapped all the way to the west. And I do hate when that happens, its not pretty. Its the old latitude and longitude discussion and that discussion has been know to stretch out and encircle itself. So getting the plotting paper out and a good compass I drew a couple of lines but they really did not lead me anywhere so I decided one unified Raleigh complete with a center and a East, West, North, and South sub-direction from the center makes the most sense to me.
But I have been known to be a bit off-center in my thinking.....
People have said for 30 plus years that Raleigh is two distinctly different towns. ITB and OTB. I tend to agree. One is not better than the other, just absolutely, completely different.
I agree. N. Raleigh/OTB has always struck me as having much more in common with Cary than with ITB Raleigh. I've got N. Raleigh friends who get frustrated with the Raleigh leadership, especially Mayor Meeker, who they feel is not "their" mayor. They feel like he is the Mayor of downtown and ITB, but ignores OTB (especially N. Raleigh). I can definitely see where they are coming from.
What do you think? I'm guessing you have some thoughts about it, RaleighRocks.
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Originally Posted by Dire Wolf
I agree. N. Raleigh/OTB has always struck me as having much more in common with Cary than with ITB Raleigh. I've got N. Raleigh friends who get frustrated with the Raleigh leadership, especially Mayor Meeker, who they feel is not "their" mayor. They feel like he is the Mayor of downtown and ITB, but ignores OTB (especially N. Raleigh). I can definitely see where they are coming from.
I don't live in Raleigh, but I am starting to get that impression, too, through watching media reports. However, if that is a real case, then it sounds like it's time for the people of each region to start writing letters and the government to start reorganizing and redistributing their priorities. Hmmm. I wonder if there are historic points in history when cities begin to outgrow the local government's ability to manage it and what that city had to do to manage its breadth better?
If RaleighRocks thinks East/West is the biggest chasm in this city, I have to assume he (?) hasn't lived here very long--for decades it's been "North Raleigh vs Raleigh" (divided by The Beltline), even back when "North Raleigh" didn't go past Strickland Rd.
It has been called the great wall of Raleigh for many years. It always amazes me when a suburban newcomer says that Pullen Park is an unknown secret. I would venture to bet that every Raleigh native still breathing has been to Pullen Park. It is the oldest public park in the state. There are still many of us that are Raleigh natives. We do tend to stick together just as all of the relocated northerners do in Cary, Holly Springs etc. We all tend to live in the real Raleigh where our kids go to the same schools that we did, where friendship begins at birth. Natives are more than willing to pay $550k for a 2000 square foot home ITB instead of caving in and buying a brick front 3200 hundred square foot transitional off Raven Ridge. Root, Lacy and Joyner will never face reassignment. Why? Because the old Raleigh powerbrokers will not permit it. And they make the rules. That is just the way it is. It is like that in Pittsburg and Boston and New Haven as well. I for one am so glad that Raleigh is still run by the Popes, Williams, Yorks, Poes, Underwoods, Simpsons, Bradshaws etc.
I agree that there is a difference between ITB Raleigh and OTB Raleigh. I spend my time in both and notice the different vibe. That being said I would never want to split those two areas or east west raleigh into separate cities. Why on earth would you want to create a need for 2 local governments and duplicate all the staff and policy needed to run a city and provide services to the public.
Just make sure you vote every two years for the City Council Member you want to represent your district. They are the ones you can contact to bring the concerns of your area to the Mayor and make sure your voice is heard. Find your city councilor here: City of Raleigh | Council Districts, Members and Committee Assignments (http://www.raleigh-nc.org/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_306_207_0_43/http%3B/pt03/DIG_Web_Content/category/Government/Elected_Officials/Cat-MCH-2006509-142902-Council_Districts_and_Me.html - broken link)
Why on earth would you want to create a need for 2 local governments and duplicate all the staff and policy needed to run a city and provide services to the public.
Why do we have Cary, Apex, WF, F-V, etc. instead of one big mega-city?
Some of the smaller towns can be much more responsive to their citizens. Instead of having conflict over what problems to solve and where to spend money, they can reach agreement and get things done.
Look how inefficient our federal government has become as it has tried to do too much. Instead of decisions vested in States, it has wrested power and tried to do more than the founders intended, and as a result it remains in a state of gridlock. It either becomes the least common denominator or it ends up meeting the needs of one group at the expense of another. The history of our country is these sorts of conflicts - the Revolutionary War and Civil War were fought over such things. These same principles work on the smaller scale of out cities, counties and even neighborhoods.
Take the Wake County school system as an example where almost no one is happy because of trying to be everything to everyone. Here in Cary most people want neighborhood schools. If Cary had its own system, its citizens would be much happier.
Just make sure you vote every two years for the City Council Member you want to represent your district. They are the ones you can contact to bring the concerns of your area to the Mayor and make sure your voice is heard. Find your city councilor here: City of Raleigh | Council Districts, Members and Committee Assignments (http://www.raleigh-nc.org/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_306_207_0_43/http%3B/pt03/DIG_Web_Content/category/Government/Elected_Officials/Cat-MCH-2006509-142902-Council_Districts_and_Me.html - broken link)
This is true and, oftentimes, they're accessible enough to meet with in person. But it takes a citizen to actually do something, make a statement and voice a logical concern. The hardest part I imagine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dire Wolf
Some of the smaller towns can be much more responsive to their citizens. Instead of having conflict over what problems to solve and where to spend money, they can reach agreement and get things done.
This makes a lot of sense as I have experienced this first hand (Los Angeles is really just a culmination of a bunch of smaller cities that surround the city of Los Angeles). Unless the mega-city is efficient enough to manage widespread issues, someone lacks. And even if they were, the bigger a city becomes, the harder it becomes to please or attend to everyone's needs considering the diversity and gridlock that comes from appeasing a diverse crowd of needs.
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