This Is Doing Wonders For Raleigh's Reputation

by T.H. on Mar 22, 2008 4:12 PM EDT in Basketball Comment 0 comments

The News and Observer has a good article on the hordes of fans who have descended on the RBC Center only to find that there's nothing there:

"We were hoping to get here early, walk around some and get something to eat," said Christopher Brown, 37, a software engineer. "Instead, we're standing out here biding our time to get in."

Thats from an Indiana grad. Who lives in Hampton, Virginia. And finds Raleigh the sticks. But my favorite quote is from a city council member sure development is right around the corner:

"Would it be nice to have all of the downtown development all around RBC Center? Sure. It would be nice to have that downtown, absolutely," Isley said. "In three to five years, it's still going to be a right good place to go watch a basketball game. And then, hopefully, you can walk out and go to other areas."

Walk? Now it's been seven years since I last had a 919 area code, but I get back there every once in awhile and there hasn't been a walkable anything built in Raleigh for twenty years. Just big roads, big malls, and an Atlanta of the not-as-South. You built the arena out by an interstate - where are people going to walk from?