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IMPLEMENTATION
This project was unusual for us because we were not
asked to produce any implementation strategies as
part of the plan other than citywide Urban Design
Guidelines that dealt in passing with the two urban
transit villages in the master plan. These guidelines,
extracts of which are included in Appendix V, were
subsequently adopted by the city of Raleigh to cover
all mixed-use centers within their jurisdiction after
extensive debate and several public presentations.
Subsequent to our involvement in the planning
process, the state sold the ‘159 acres’ to a developer
from Birmingham, Alabama, for a modified mixed-
use development, somewhat similar to our Options B
and C. Detailed negotiations between the city and
the developer ensued, with the master plan as the
focus of debate. City staff expressed themselves very
pleased with the detail of the master plan, as it
enabled discussions with the developer to get right
down to meaningful detail, and they credited the
master plan for elevating the design of the new devel-
opment above and beyond the normative suburban
commercial centre.
CONCLUSIONS
The fundamental impulse of the plan was to pull
together several conflicting patterns of development
into one coherent vision that took into account mar-
ket, development, and environmental realities. From all
these variables, we highlighted the importance of focus-
ing urban development around the two train stations
on the site. We felt we could not overstate the impor-
tance of proactive planning for commuter rail transit.
This important transportation choice for citizens
should give rise to Transit-oriented Developments
around each of the two stations that would provide
models for similar projects in the region. For transit to
maximize its impact under any Smart Growth scenario,
it must transcend issues relating purely to transporta-
tion and have a direct influence on adjacent land use
decisions. The initial planning by the Triangle Transit
Authority for simple park-and-ride lots at both stations
should represent only a first stage in the active promo-
tion, perhaps through public–private partnerships, of a
pair of mixed-use urban villages that would invigorate
and enrich the whole plan area.
We were also concerned about the lack of a coordi-
nated parking strategy between the main event orga-
nizers on site. We felt such a strategy was essential,
for without this, valuable and attractive land would
become marginalized as low-grade fields of tempo-
rary parking, unsuitable for other, more productive
uses. This would be poor stewardship of public land.
Existing neighborhoods presented another deli-
cate issue. They had recently focused their commu-
nity energies on withdrawing defensively from future
development, and instead we wanted to encourage
them to join in a more positive vision for the future.
We accomplished some of this during the charrette as
we showed residents that their property values could
benefit from upgrading the plan area into a showcase
of integrated mixed uses. Our drawings convinced
several key participants that their single-family neigh-
borhoods could be sensitively enlarged and connected
to a lively and attractive mix of workplaces, shops and
entertainment opportunities. However, this selective
densification could only work environmentally, and
in terms of neighborhood politics, if substantial areas
of the study area were maintained as compensatory
public open space, as parks, nature trails and other
opportunities for active and passive recreation in
green and attractive natural surroundings. The stew-
ardship of the remaining natural landscape needed to
extend beyond the protection of the stream buffers.
Well-planned and maintained open spaces as parks
and greenways are the necessary corollary to urban
density, providing a contrast with, and clear bound-
aries to the proposed new urban villages.
We argued that developing this managed gradient
between open space and natural surrounding and
urban neighborhoods and centers was the most
important strategic objective for this plan area as it
transformed itself from an undifferentiated suburban
mélange to an orchestrated series of urban villages
and parks.
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