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The population has been coming in waves similar to Nashville, Charlotte, and Austin, but the sprawling nature of the Triangle has limited what the eye sees. But downtown Raleigh has been getting a large makeover over the past few years. Now that the NIMBY city council has been largely replaced, that looks to accelerate. And North Hills (Midtown) will come into its own over the next decade, and start challenging Durham for larger skyline.
I would replace the word sprawling with multi-core nature. The Triangle is sprouting two cores in Raleigh and Durham, while Raleigh's Midtown area a few miles north of downtown is doing the same.
For the coming decade, Raleigh is going to take it up a notch or two. There's just a lot in the pipeline that's going to accelerate the transformation of the city, especially its downtown core.
Well, the 2020s isn't here yet, so it's still a prediction of it taking off in the next decade rather than already having done or doing so now.
Richmond had some really rough decades in the 70's 80s and 90s lots of crime and such. And also missed the whole New south spark that set cities like Raleigh, Charlotte, Nashville, Austin and even Orlando ablaze so it could be time for them to catch up. It's definitely possible. The catch will be the governing body of the city, Richmond and Virginia overall have very old-timey ways of doing things. That whole commonwealth mentality so time will tell if they are as open minded to large scale projects the way the other metros have been.
I'm surprised to see Raleigh dominating this poll. I always just assumed it was a suburban-oriented sort of city, but I guess it must be rapidly densifying. Good for Raleigh!
Surprised to not see any Florida cities on this poll, considering the ridiculous population growth we have had. Orlando and Tampa are two of the fastest growing cities in the country.
Tampa absolutely should be on this list. Dallas and Houston area already "there".
I'm surprised to see Raleigh dominating this poll. I always just assumed it was a suburban-oriented sort of city, but I guess it must be rapidly densifying. Good for Raleigh!
It is still in many ways, but about 10 years ago downtown started coming out of its 90s funk. At the same time a suburban mall began converting to a mixed use development. Now both areas are beginning to capitalize on years of groundwork, and seem to be getting the attention that used to go to the Park. The ex-mall North Hills is now pushing to be one of the largest skylines in the state.
I think some of the expectations are also coming from the fact that it is moving people in at a similar rate to Nashville and Austin, but hasn’t got the same heat as those. Partly because it’s biggest job engine had been in an office park outside town, and partly because Durham was close enough to siphon off from. But the last 10 years has shown the Raleigh-side of the metro increasing the gap as well as businesses and people rediscovering the appeal of downtown. So I suspect Raleigh is on the cusp of what happened in other boomtowns last decade.
I'm surprised to see Raleigh dominating this poll. I always just assumed it was a suburban-oriented sort of city, but I guess it must be rapidly densifying. Good for Raleigh!
Raleigh is about to take off. I’m so proud of my hometown!
If one really thinks of what this thread is asking, and if one knows what's on the near horizon for Raleigh, it's really not difficult to understand why Raleigh is leading this poll. There's just an enormous amount of energy in the development pipeline, with some of that pipeline already in construction. Additionally, the new city council has already proven on their first day that they intend to make that pipeline a reality during their tenure. Before the decade is over, it's already really easy to imagine at least 6 multi-tower developments in downtown alone: Smoky Hollow (phases 1 & 2 already deep into construction), Raleigh Crossing (already broken ground), South Saunders PUD (Zoning change approved by the city council), Seaboard Station, Downtown South including a soccer stadium, and Nexus. This list doesn't even include several other towers and projects on the boards like Raleigh Union Station bus (2 towers), CAM block redevelopment, 400Hillsborough tower, Edison office tower, 121 Fayetteville tower, Zimmer tower, and all of the development that continues to happen at North Hills/Midtown a few miles north of downtown.
Given the context of where Raleigh is now, this "take-off" is going to be extremely impactful and redefining for the city.
Surprised to not see any Florida cities on this poll, considering the ridiculous population growth we have had. Orlando and Tampa are two of the fastest growing cities in the country.
Right... Not even really just "growing," but exploding. Each "downtown" is quite literally doubling in size.
Right... Not even really just "growing," but exploding. Each "downtown" is quite literally doubling in size.
As someone who splits time between Raleigh and Miami, I understand what you mean. In Miami in particular, the amount of development in its core has been staggering. However, that's largely been a product of our current decade, not the next one. IMO, Miami "took off" this decade while Raleigh will take off in the 2020's.
Unfortunately, Miami's ascendance has largely been ignored/overshadowed/dismissed on a regular basis, and often by people on C-D Forums who have a dismissive attitude toward anything Florida.
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