Free Wifi Coming to Downtown Raleigh Fall 2009

• Micah
  03/07 12:54 PM
  

  I’m sorry, but can some one enlighten me as to why this is a GOOD thing to spend city funds on right now?  What is the point of this? First the R-Line, then this?  The businesses downtown already have their own internet service.  Most of the people downtown have enough money to have their own internet service (and it seems that iphone saturation might be near 100% by this time next year!).  I think this is a ridiculous attempt to have another bullet to put in Raleigh’s “Look how metropolitan we are!” brochure.

• Matt
  03/07 03:02 PM
  

  Right on Micah.  I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again - the majority of the population of this city lives OUTSIDE of downtown, and all of these perks that are getting passed only cater to a small subset of the city.

  I’d be curious to know how much influence the condo builders have in city hall.  With all those buildings going up and the slow market, they need all of the extra incentive they can get to get people to want to live downtown.

• ct
  03/07 04:20 PM
  

  Eventually, a mayor will be elected who lives outside the Beltline.

• al
  03/07 06:49 PM
  

  I’m happy to have free Wifi downtown! I think it’s great!!

• corey3rd
  03/07 07:10 PM
  

  The rest of us still have to pay our internet bill while the citizens of downtown Raleigh now get free wifi and free bus action. What a bunch of welfare mooches.

  Everybody in Raleigh city limits gets free wifi or nobody gets it. This is merely creating an elite class on the back of the Raleigh taxpayer. Maybe next meeting Mayor Meeker will give everyone downtown free ice cream for life and a monkey to wipe their butts.

• smitty
  03/07 07:38 PM
  

  We need free parking, not free internet.

• Aaron
  03/08 12:15 AM
  

  Ohhhhh living in the ‘burbs is just sooooo tough. WA WAA WAA. Get over yourselves. Downtown is open to anyone who wants to go visit. There’s no guard at the front gate asking for a visa for you to get into downtown and enjoy the free amenities like Wi-Fi and a bus.

  How much money would you think it would cost for Raleigh to set up Wi-Fi for the entire city?

• Micah
  03/08 12:58 AM
  

  I’ve lived in downtown Raleigh for 13 years.  I think the R bus, and especially free internet, are tremendous wastes of taxpayer funds.

• Jenn
  03/08 07:18 AM
  

  I live inside the Beltline, and right now I’m more concerned about when our affordable apartments are going to be torn down and replaced with high-priced condos than free wifi. But it does look good on the surface doesn’t it?

• corey3rd
  03/08 07:53 AM
  

  we can all come to downtown Raleigh with our laptops and have them stolen by hobos.

• miamiblue
  03/08 09:50 AM
  

  Wow, what a bunch of whiners, as per usual! I think the R-Line is a great idea. I live downtown and use it sometimes (I actually enjoy walking when the weather is nice), but from what I experienced Friday night, LOTS of people from outside the beltline seemed more than happy that it existed. the bus was packed!

  
  And for those who do not live in the core of a city - well, you chose to live where you do. You are not going to find the same kind of amenities in a suburb as you will in the city core, especially the CBD where the wifi will be located. There are a lot of people who come downtown to work from other parts of the city and will be able to make use of free Wifi. Just as Aaron said, no one is preventing anyone from coming downtown to use the free services offered here. I live downtown, but just outside the free wifi zone, but I am not going to whine about it. If I want to use it that bad, I’ll pick myself up and go where I can use it. I don’t know how secure a wifi connection like that is anyway, so I would probably not rely on it for everything, even if I did receive it where I live.

  
  And I definitely agree with Jenn. While free wifi is a nice idea, I think the affordable housing issues downtown are much more important.

• smitty
  03/08 10:55 AM
  

  Seriously, who will use this?  It is for OUTDOOR use according to the article.  Maybe we can sit on the curb and surf the web with the panhandlers and help them find jobs.

• KC Ramsay
  03/08 12:32 PM
  

  Surprising that an audience so full of planners and designers has so little understanding of and appreciation for the value of creating some urban density in a city that was the definition of suburban sprawl until just a few years ago. LA-like expansion of our city is unsustainable, so anything we can do to create incentives to get people working, shopping and living in closer proximity to each other (like free wi-fi downtown) is a good thing. We have been subsidizing just the opposite for the past 50 years with zoning codes that created deep front and side yards no one could use for anything except to demonstrate their affluence… and mow. And then there is the issue of so little density ANYWHERE that mass transit makes almost no economic sense.

  The real cost of our past planning mistakes is only beginning to emerge. If you are younger than I am (and most of you are), do you REALLY want to pay for the future cost of continuing the same mad policies of suburban expansion that my generation, and my parents generation foisted on us in our post WWII affluence (and hubris)?

• platitudes
  03/08 02:40 PM
  

  micah, please explain the “tremendous” taxpayer waste of the R line to me…

• corey3rd
  03/08 03:27 PM
  

  If one group of elite citizens get free internet access based on OUR tax dollars - we all deserve free internet that pay city taxes. Why do the downtown trolls get a free drunk bus? I don’t have a free bus at my doorstep taking me down to the local bar.

  It’s just disgusting how the Downtowner are getting their lavish lifestyles subsidized by my tax dollars. Maybe I could afford to live downtown if I didn’t have to pay all my bills for gas and internet.

  If anybody who needs wifi access in downtown ought to just get their own account with Sprint. This is just another charity for the rich.

• mgd
  03/08 03:44 PM
  

  The R Line is for typical American type people that cant walk 4 block to a different bar. 

  I see zero benefit for the community as a whole for free WiFi.  Who is going to sit in Moore square and check their email or Nash Square for that matter.  Ive never set foot on Nash Square maybe if there was a R Line stop there I would LOL.

  If they are looking to spend money, they should give it to Wake Tech so they can keep the classes that they are trying to cut from the summer and fall semesters.  Or god forbid actually increasing the amount of classes in an economic down turn.  There are surpluses of people willing to teach and take classes.

• ben
  03/08 05:29 PM
  

  mgd… there are many of us downtown residents who will benefit from the free wifi zone.  palladium, founders row, rbc, hue, park dev, dawson, hudson and atrium all are all in the grid. it’s not all about checking email in the park.  this is the kind of thing that will save me a few hundred bucks each year. sure there are dozens of other things that our local government can spend money on but i certainly appreciate the effort they are making to improve the core of downtown.

• smitty
  03/08 07:16 PM
  

  Winston-Salem tried this.  It crashed and burned mainly due to cost.

• ChiefJoJo
  03/08 09:06 PM
  

  What KC Ramsey said.

  Downtown was ignored for decades and it’s payback time.  Besides, it only makes economic sense to invest in the urban core.  My only complaint is that I live in the downtown overlay district and also pay extra taxes for the Downtown Raleigh Alliance (Ambassadors, R-Line, etc), and would like the wifi district expanded to include the entire DOD.

• mgd
  03/08 10:48 PM
  

  Ben Im sorry but there is no benefits from free WiFi.  There is no reason for someone in N. Raleigh to pay for your surfing “surfing” of the net. 

  But if you cant afford the internet then go to a coffee shop or other establishment and buy a drink/sandwich and use it there. 

  And if you chose to live downtown then you know/accept the cost of doing so an you shouldnt complain. <—thats a Period

• Kurt
  03/09 12:09 AM
  

  I smell pork.

• DPK
  03/09 12:14 AM
  

  Wow, what a big group of whiners.

  Sorry we all choose to live where we live.  We all pay taxes for things we might not all use.  Grow up and get used to it.  We can’t keep promoting suburban sprawl.  Incentives designed to get people to live more densely are what is needed.

• mgd
  03/09 01:40 AM
  

  How does Wifi help a resurgence of an urban influx?  Its subsidizing people that dont need to be subsidized. 

  Seriously, not paying $50 a month for internet is not an incentive to buy 350K plus condo that is at the most 1000SqFt.

• corey3rd
  03/09 05:54 AM
  

  DPK - This is not merely whining about paying taxes for something we might not all use. Because anyone posting here does use the internet. And most of us don’t get it for free because Mayor Meeker doesn’t love us as much as his chosen people (downtowners).

  I’d like to have an extra $500 a year that I burn with Time-Warner cable. But I have to spend that cash and pay my taxes so that you can save $500 while living the faux-Manhattan experience in downtown Raleigh.

  I’m not whining. I’m protesting. Sorry if we all don’t kneel down and accept that downtowners deserve every f’n break. If the real estate vultures want to fully fund this project - so be it. But if I have to pay for my internet and your internet - then screw off. You people already get free soup lunches if you drop by the right church kitchen.

• DPK
  03/09 06:03 AM
  

  “You people”??!  Excuse me?  I don’t even live downtown.  How does that even remotely relate to getting a free soup lunch?  What the hell.

• corey3rd
  03/09 06:14 AM
  

  So you’re just one of those guys who loves giving the rich charity and perks? Do you often pay your neighbor’s internet bill? Or do you just accept that they are entitled to free internet while your bill shows up every month?

  the city has no problem giving these people (since you’re no longer identified as a you people) free internet and bus service, they might as well drop by the Raleigh Rescue Mission for free soup. They deserve to be given everything for free since they want to live in glorious downtown Raleigh.

• DPK
  03/09 07:02 AM
  

  We all pay for stuff we won’t use.  I’m sure my taxes went to pay for a pool at some rec center in north Raleigh that I’ll never use for example.  If we’re going to start talking about “charity and perks” than we can start picking off services left and right all over the state.

  I’m also a firm believer that you need to invest in something to get anything worth a return.  Wifi to you may seem pointless, but I see it as an initiative that may get people to rethink living outside of the city center and move closer to downtown.  The more people downtown.

• corey3rd
  03/09 07:31 AM
  

  This is not the case of a service or community center being missing in downtown Raleigh. People can already have wifi if they live in Downtown Raleigh through Sprint or other services. This isn’t a massive deadzone that needs to be addressed. The city is cutting into a private business and having me and the folks who don’t live in Raleigh subsidize this handout to the rich. Lawyers can’t afford a Sprint wifi package?

  If the city wants to set up this service in order to entice people to live within the city limits - great. But for Mayor Meeker to discriminate against the rest of the community in order to give one area an advantage is wrong. Free internet for one - free internet for all.

• Hank
  03/09 07:37 AM
  

  I guess I have a few questions.

  How much would this cost?  We are having some issues with budget short falls.  I don’t know that this is gonna bring anyone else downtown.  “Hey honey lets pack up the kids and head downtown for some free Wifi.” 

  Will the Wifi be able to penetrate structures?  Any building with steel framing or metal lathing for plaster would block out the signal.  This would mean you would need to be outside or set up a repeater of something in some buildings. 

  Okay and some comments. 
  I don’t live right downtown.  I am inside the beltline but not downtown.  I do sort of see this as a charity.  It is a utility that is being given away. Is free power downtown next?

  It is not like a community pool.  I would be in support of this as community pools are scattered through out Raleigh.  Now if there were plans for expansion of said service might seem better.  But then when does it stop? 

  I am all for incentives for people coming downtown.  Have more outdoor concerts.  Free parking.  (I bet we spend more on parking enforcement then we we gain from ticket proceeds.) 

  Corner markets that sell everyday items.  Grocery stores. More retail.  More employers.  Less empty buildings.  People feeling safe.  Entertainment.  Parks. Get the bike lanes put in.  Help the homeless. Get more of these first then worry about free internet. 

  I am all for the advancement of Raleigh. But I wouldn’t put this as a high priority in times like these.

  Hank

• arthurb3
  03/09 08:38 AM
  

  The R line is funded by the downtown business association, not by city taxes. Having free WIFI- I could care less as I surf the net at home not at coffee shops, ect. Why would any one go to a place made for interacting with others to be “alone” I have never understood?

• smitty
  03/09 08:54 AM
  

  Municipal WiFi is a joke.  Several US cities have tried it, most have pulled the plug.  Portland killed theirs, Pittsburgh has it but only for 2 hours a day now, Philadelphia turned theirs off ad nauseum.  There are several articles from 2007 about how this is a very bad idea.  It’s high cost and zero benefit.

• JT
  03/09 09:32 AM
  

  I still think the homeless are going to start hacking the Linux kernel in Nash Square and eventually be landed with $100K+ tech jobs.  Then you’ll all see the benefit!

  “”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“
  Seriously, not paying $50 a month for internet is not an incentive to buy 350K plus condo that is at the most 1000SqFt.
  “”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“

  While I agree partially with the sentiment there are $400 - $1000 a month studio like apartments all over downtown.  Elizabeth apartments and numerous houses converted into duplexes for example. 
  +

  “”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”
  hy would any one go to a place made for interacting with others to be “alone” I have never understood?
  “”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”

  Sometimes it’s easier to work and zone out with background noise.  Getting into the zone is how you achieve peak productivity.

• Carver
  03/09 09:33 AM
  

  I go downtown to DRINK and SOCIALIZE. It’s more fun than surfing the internet!

• GD
  03/09 11:38 AM
  

  Since I don’t have kids, I don’t want any of my tax money going to schools then.  I chose not to have kids so I shouldn’t pay for your kids to go to school.

  Thats how a bunch of you cry babies sound.  Get over yourself.

• corey3rd
  03/09 01:38 PM
  

  GD - This would be the same as saying that people who have kids that don’t live downtown have to pay for their kids to go to school while the Downtowners kids get free education.

  Sorry if you’d rather waste $500 to Time-Warner for your internet while Mayor Meeker gives it away to all the downtown folks who bless his sacred plot of land. He gives free internet to the people of The Hue - why shouldn’t I have to city cover my internet bill?

  Crybabies - I bet you thought certain people were crybabies when they were upset that they couldn’t sit anywhere they wanted in the Downtown Raleigh theaters.

• Aaron
  03/09 02:11 PM
  

  The bus and the internet is free. What more do you people want! God some of you people just have to nit-pick the hell out of everything and anything that comes to your table. Don’t like it? Don’t use it.

• mgd
  03/09 02:30 PM
  

  Nit-picking is fun.  What else is there to do while you are at work not working.  Like when Im at work I waist my employers time by reading the New Raleigh and bickering at people who nit-pit.

  The point about this article that opponents are making is that the having free WIFI doesnt improve the quality of downtown or is for the greater good for the city.

  Things like schools and public rec centers are for the greater good for the community.  It may not directly effect you though.

• mgd
  03/09 02:32 PM
  

  If I were really nit-picky I would correct your grammar and mine.  But it is completely obvious that I didnt do that so you can refer to me as a DB

• GD
  03/09 02:51 PM
  

  I swear, if people who don’t live in Raleigh read this blog, they would think we all hate our city.  Those of you who never have anything positive to say, shut up or leave.

• Carver
  03/09 02:54 PM
  

  Are we done yet? I just want to have a drink and relax! Cheers!

• TSnow27604
  03/09 06:22 PM
  

  From raleighnc.gov: “The goal of the project is to offer free, outdoor public WiFi access”  There is no talk of having it for in home use.

  It has already been mentioned that the R-Line bus is not funded by tax dollars but these amenities are for both the citizens of Raleigh as well as visitors.  Is this a local example where some elements want our leaders to fail?  The convention center along with the Progress Energy Center promise to bring thens of thousands of visitors and tens of millions of dollars to the downtown area each year.  Why would we not want these visitors to enjoy their trip?  Why not offer them an easy way to get from the CC to Glenwood South (hardly a couple of blocks) so they can see our city and spend money with local businesses?  Please stop complaining.  If free wifi creates a City Plaza/Moore Square/Nash Square area where people want to congregate, why would we not encourage this?  If people want to ride a bus so they can more easily spend money and increase tax revenue, why would we hinder this?

• corey3rd
  03/09 09:04 PM
  

  The people who live downtown can’t get this magical outdoor wifi because it won’t be able to penetrate the candy outershell of their $500,000 condos?

• smitty
  03/09 09:05 PM
  

  Yes, I’m sure visitors to the Convention Center will hop on the R-Line to Nash Square to sit on a park bench and surf the web, maybe feed the rats and bums.

• way too much vitriol
  03/09 09:35 PM
  

  Price of installing/maintaining free WiFi in downtown Raleigh: $100,000 maybe?

  Price of building a new driveway for all the residents of the satellite bedroom communities around Raleigh (aka N.C. 540): $838 million

  The irony of the bedroom community folks’ complaints about subsidizing downtown living: priceless

• corey3rd
  03/09 09:49 PM
  

  The visitors to Raleigh can always drop by the News and Observer Hometown Printed Newspaper Memorial and use the free wifi to instantly post to facebook pictures of them next to the shrine to the paperboys. Also now they can take instant movies of themselves next to the Giant Acorn for Youtube

• mgd
  03/09 09:55 PM
  

  I vote for a protest in Nash Square when/if it happens.  We can post our disgruntled comments on NR!

• mgd
  03/09 09:55 PM
  

  We can teach the homeless how to ask for tree fiddy on NR too!

• way too much vitriol
  03/09 09:56 PM
  

  And while we are on the subject of taxes:

  Let’s see who really pays taxes in Wake County:

  Commercial:
  http://www.wakegov.com/tax/statistics/toptaxpayers/top50county2008.htm

  Note #1 surpasses #2 by a factor of nearly 4. Where is #1 based?

  Residential:
  http://www.wakegov.com/tax/statistics/taxbasecomponents/compwakco0708.htm

  I would love to see the inside/outside the beltline breakdown of that ~$65bn in residential taxes. My guess is that the majority of that 65 doesn’t come from the cookie cutter communities in Garner.

• Magnus
  03/09 09:58 PM
  

  This is all fine and dandy and all, but what about all of us poor schmucks who live outside of the downtown area and pay for all of these great progressive things that we aren’t deriving a benefit from? My tax dollars are being shoveled into improving the downtown area while my sewer pipes are collapsing the the roads outside of downtown are crumbling in many areas.

• way too much vitriol
  03/09 09:59 PM
  

  Oh, and what’s with the bashing of homeless folks on this post? You people are a bunch of creeps.

• smitty
  03/09 10:09 PM
  

  I don’t think the people in Garner really care about this, they won’t be paying for it.

• blzbub
  03/09 11:45 PM
  

  corey3rd = DB

• mgd
  03/10 05:49 AM
  

  I thought that was funny!

• Greg B.
  03/10 08:03 AM
  

  People.. people!  RELAX!  Quite a few of you, it seems, have never used let alone set up a public Wi-Fi system.  I have.  Let me tell you that the speeds available to the users of the system are going to be limited based on the amount of bandwidth available to the entire system.  Each access point installed is not going to have its own TWC/DSL line, not even close!  Most of the APs in a public system are placed on city owned structures and back-hauled to the city data center via fiber the city already owns.  From there ALL the APs piggyback onto the city Internet connection complete with QoS (or outright sliced using a Packeteer).  In short the speeds available to the users will be less than what a condo owner could get by getting their own Internet connection via the ISP of their choice - and they likely will sign up for their own service.  This doesn’t even take into account the distances and speed decreases even when the system is set up with the correct directional antennas and amplifiers.  It’s going to be a nice service for visitors downtown.  That is all.

• mgd
  03/10 08:25 AM
  

  I just dont buy that visitors will use in any distinguishable numbers. 

  First there would have to be an advertising campaign informing visitors of such service available to them.

  Second if they are visitors and they are downtown and have a laptop they most likely are staying in a downtown establishment which I would guess has internet connection. 

  If they would like internet and be outside then there are several establishments in that area that offer internet that extends to the outdoors.

  Im not opposed to spending money in that area.  I just not convinced that this program will have enough users to justify the expense.

• yeah
  03/10 09:35 AM
  

  @mgd Why are you assuming that they wouldn’t advertise it?  Many more devices than laptops use Wifi,  but its cool if you live in the past.
  You are like Raleigh’s Eeyor.  Must be hard for you to enjoy one minute of your tortured life.

• mgd
  03/10 10:06 AM
  

  @my tail “Dont listen toe Beaker” 
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpcUxwpOQ_A&feature=related

• smitty
  03/10 10:23 AM
  

  Orlando had a similar system.  They turned it off after they only had an average of 27 users per day.

• Carson
  03/10 10:46 AM
  

  I live downtown in the area in question and I can’t wait for free wi-fi in my building. Call me greedy if you like. If you saw what I paid in property taxes to Wake county you wouldn’t think as much of the $40/month the free wifi will save me.

  I believe in the cause of building a thriving downtown in Raleigh, and I pay a premium to be a part of that effort.

  Bottom line, free wifi may be the final perk that helps push someone thinking about moving downtown or thinking of opening a business downtown to get off the fence and make the investment.

  Stay classy Raleigh.

• Carver
  03/10 01:06 PM
  

  @ Carson - Nice Ron Burgundy reference: “Stay classy Raleigh!”  HaHaHa…

• afbro
  03/10 03:07 PM
  

  For those of us who have lived in other major metro areas such as DC, Boston, Madrid, NYC, Raleigh has no worries of ever being considered “metro”.  Trust me!!  Raleigh needs to build a NASCAR track downtown and then people will come, believe that!

  I think the R-Line and free wifi are great services for those who use it, but let’s be real, it will not be a conduit to attract people downtown.  As one poster said, the majority of the city population only go downtown when they have to.  My wife and I live in the city and the only constant downtown is the homeless.  Raleigh needs to stop trying to be “hip”, “metro”, etc.  It is a small southern city and the people want that—they have spoken. 

  God, why would anyone spend 300k on a condo in Raleigh?  No metro, vibrant downtown, diversity?  You can get a great condo in an established major metro area for that price.  Of course you have to be comfortable with a more diverse population and leave your empty holsters at home!

• Carson
  03/10 03:25 PM
  

  Wow, Afbro… I feel sorry for you that you and your wife have to live somewhere you so obviously disdain.

  Your advice is to “stop trying” and be content with “no metro, vibrant
  downtown, diversity”? Move to “an established major metro
  area”. Yeah, that’ll make things better. Some folks like it here, and they cheer when it shows signs of getting better.

  Why are you living here again? Maybe Madrid would take you back.

• afbro
  03/10 03:45 PM
  

  I have to go where the military sends me—don’t have to like it, but will do my part to protect your right to live where you want to!

• Carson
  03/10 04:16 PM
  

  Thank you for your service afbro. My brother is in the Army, just like my father and my grandfather were before him. I am in NC because my dad was stationed in Bragg with SF.

  
  Now that this is your home I suggest you learn to love it. Or, you could carry on spreading your “the rest of the world is better than Raleigh and I’m speaking from experience” message on progressive Raleigh web sites like this one, but what good would you really be doing?

  Hooah!

• blzbub
  03/11 01:36 AM
  

  Look guys.  Those of you complaining about downtown condo-dwellers having free access to wifi are putting forth a weak argument.  They can easily afford, and would probably prefer to have their own private wifi networks.  I would.  If you think it’s a bad idea and a waste of money, fair enough.  However, stop pissing and moaning about how it’s unfair that someone has something that you don’t.  The truth is that none of us cares about it.  And it wouldn’t make me pack my bags to move down here if I already didn’t.  And as others have mentioned, it will probably be short-lived.  If paying TW $500 a year for wifi is a major hardship, then you’ve got bigger problems.  And for the soccer moms complaining about taxes going to pay for my wifi.  Come on.  The property taxes on your double-wide aren’t paying for much.  If you want to move downtown and reap all the benefits that you’re belly-aching about, then ditch your brood and move down here.  Otherwise STFU.

• CF
  03/11 08:53 AM
  

  Free bus and internet service are feasible downtown because there is a mass of people in a concentrated space.  People from outside the core come here to eat, work, etc.  Neither of these qualities exist in the suburbs, so whining that these services should be provided to the entire city or no one at all doesn’t make much sense.

• Magnus
  03/11 08:56 AM
  

  That mass of people in the downtown area who are benefiting from the WiFi should be paying for it exclusively.

  Or better yet, make it privately funded by local businesses.

• CeliaFate
  03/13 03:02 PM
  

  Which block is it that has the free non-smoking hookers? I always get confused & end up talking to the $30 ones hocking black lugies on the corner. Maybe i’ll be able to look it up on the internets after the pillow fight.

• Carson
  03/13 03:09 PM
  

  Sounds like you’re a block off bud. Head west one block to fayetteville st.

• mgd
  03/13 03:19 PM
  

  Between Western and Hillsboro and Pullen and Dan Allen.

• Carson
  03/13 03:23 PM
  

  @ mgd. calling out the wolfpack ladies huh?!!

• JT
  03/14 04:38 PM
  

  He’s thinking of Peace.

• Hank
  03/17 09:59 AM
  

  Maybe if we had some sort of budget surplus this might seem like a better idea.  But we don’t.
  http://www.newraleigh.com/articles/archive/raleighs-budget-shortfall/
  It’s not whining its a discussion.  Saying STFU is really childish.  Like someone said before keep it classy Raleigh.
  Hank

• John
  03/17 11:14 PM
  

  To those who complain about money being spent downtown, might I remind you that those of us who own downtown have higher property values per s.f. and therefore pay higher property taxes than those of you on the edges of the city.  We are also often subjected to additional service district assessments to pay for patrols, ambassadors, additional services so that suburban people can come down and play in our backyard on weekends at our expense.  So, before everyone starts bitching about tax money being wasted on DT, remember that we pay more taxes on average than you do and we constantly fund forever surburban expansion that doesn’t generate enough tax revenues to pay for itself with all its extended sewer lines, additional roads and other low density infrastructure requirements.

• corey3rd
  03/17 11:37 PM
  

  You people are subjected to your own self-inflated value.

• mgd
  03/18 12:07 AM
  

  I dont see how over paying per SF of area makes someones vote better.  The argument isnt over spending money on the downtown area.  Its HOW its spent.  I agree that the downtown area has been neglected for to long.  But Wifi isnt an attraction.  I would vote for better lighting over WiFi.

• Jason/North Hills Buzz
  03/18 09:40 AM
  

  I think this is an interesting idea. I do wonder how much it would cost (I don’t think it would be too bad, but I’m no expert)

  I understand the argument about how this might not be the best use of taxpayer dollars right now, but in the long term, I think it will be worth it. It will definitely generate some good PR for Raleigh.

  It seems that it could be something restaurant and shop owners could pay for/subsidize, since it will help them and their customers out and provide a better experience at their locations. Thoughts?

• Johnny
  03/26 12:53 AM
  

  so, do you have to live in DT Raleigh, or could you just work there, and use it on your lunch break to say, pay your bills?

  it’s the 21st century people, get used to it.

  way too much vitriol you’re my new hero.

• kevin turnage
  06/04 09:28 PM
  

  Where is all the lottery money going. Living in Goldsboro I have seen my share of people standing in line to buy tickets. Having a lottery for over 2 years now, there must be funds building up somewhere that can help out in other places. Teachers are taking hit after hit and sit back and take it. I say lets stand up for what we believe in and do something about it. Our ancestors did and that is what shaped America to be what it is today.

• Dave
  08/13 10:13 AM
  

  Great article on Steel Framing.

  I have learned a lot about them from this and other articles like the ones i found at Industrial Machinery News (http://www.industrial-machinery-news.com)

  It’s cool to watch how they form the steel studs and purlins using roll former machines.

  Thanks,