Hillsborough Street Roundabouts Are Cute, But Will They Help?

Will the City of Raleigh’s efforts to revitalize Hillsborough Street have the same effect as their efforts on Fayetteville Street?  Below are some caveats I’m not convinced are addressed in the City Council’s plans.

I’m thrilled Raleigh is finally investing in the Hillsborough Street corridor.  Hillsborough St. is one of our city’s primary gateways and has been blighted far too long.  Equally important, NC State University is a $1.1 BILLION dollar institution, and one of the area’s largest employers.  The importance of NCSU is often overlooked by our town’s leaders.  I hope their plan succeeds marvelously, yet I remain unconvinced. Their plans fails to address what this layman sees (I profess I am not a city planner) as the real problems with Hillsborough Street – parking and zoning density.

[Note: Due to the inconsistencies of the Orange and Wake County tax records, all square footage (SF) figures mentioned herein are approximate and were measured using Google Earth.]

Lack of Parking

Let’s start with parking.  Everyone loves Mitch’s Tavern.  From the front door of Mitch’s, I count approximately 25 parking spaces within 150 feet. I only add roughly 15 additional parking spaces (for a total of 40) if I include the available parking 150 feet from each of the blocks’ end (Horne to Chamberlin).  These spaces are supposed to support El Rodeo, Golden Dragon, Porters, Frazier’s, Global Village, the Jasmine Mediterranean Bistro, and numerous other establishments!  That is somewhere around 43,000 square feet of various commercial uses on this block alone.  That equates to a parking ratio of roughly 0.93 spaces per thousand square feet.

For comparison sake let’s take a look at East Village, another Hillsborough St. favorite.  East Village is roughly 4,000 SF (3,537 heated plus deck) according to the tax records.  Immediately surrounding East Village (not even including the street parking close by), I count 55 parking spaces (2 handicapped), for an outstanding parking ratio of 13.75!

How about everyone’s favorite coffee joint, Cup a Joe.  There are roughly 44 spaces (2 handicapped) within close proximity (the farthest is roughly 200 feet away).  I estimate Cup a Joe to occupy roughly 2700 SF.  Assuming that Cup a Joe is the primary beneficiary of the parking available during the day they have a parking ratio of roughly 16.3 spaces per thousand square feet.  If you include their neighbors for a total of 6000 SF then the parking ratio is still roughly 7.3 spaces per thousand square feet, which is more than plenty to share.

I am much more likely to go to East Village and Cup a Joe because of the available parking even though I love the black bean chili at Mitch’s and the atmosphere at Global Village.  I would frequent these places much more with readily available (and affordable) parking.  Yet as it stands now, it’s not worth the chance of a parking ticket to enjoy lunch at Mitch’s.

Now let’s take a look at zoning density.  A lot of people believe Hillsborough Street should look more like Franklin Street [debatable, but I digress].  Here are the two streets’ commercial zoning square footage for roughly the same comparable areas:

Hillsborough St. Commercial Zoning Area

Hillsborough St. -- Where is all the parking? Image via Google Earth, click for a larger view.

Franklin St. Commercial Zoning Area

Franklin St. - Notice all the parking and density. Image via Google Earth, click for a larger view.

In light of the above, is it really safe to say that Hillsborough St. lacks vitality because it is “ugly?”  Is Hillsborough Street really any uglier or less “pedestrian friendly” than Franklin Street?  I highly doubt this is the case.  The primary difference between the two corridors is Hillsborough St. backs up to a residential neighborhood, a very vocal and powerful antidevelopment neighborhood (think Coker Towers).

I can’t help but wonder whether the streetscape renovation is throwing money at a problem instead of leadership.  Instead of spending the money on a new streetscape, might it have been better to buy and level numerous houses that front Vanderbilt Ave. to provide parking?  Will hindering automotive traffic turn Hillsborough Street into another Fayetteville Street Pedestrian Mall?

I realize I am asking more questions than I answer.  I truly don’t know what’s going to happen, and I am hoping for the best.  At the very least, we got one good thing out of this project. [Queue Barrel Monster]

Thanks for the laugh Joseph Carnevale.

What do you think? Did the City Council do the right thing, or is Hillsborough St. doomed? I welcome your comments as always.

Cheers,
Eric

[PS, I can't say thank you enough for everyone's support as I battle(d) cancer.  I'm through chemotherapy now, and all indications are I'm healthier than I have ever been.  Thank you once again!]

Posted by Eric Stroud on July 28th, 2009 in Commercial Real Estate, NC State, Raleigh

Tags: Franklin Street, Hillsborough Street, NCSU, North Carolina State University, roundabouts