2030 Comprehensive Plan Update, April 2024

Downtown Raleigh

15.3 Economic Development A strong and diversified downtown economy is critical to the prosperity of the residents of Raleigh and the region. Downtown’s unique character and geography – including close access to universities, its status as the hub of government, and a compact, pedestrian-oriented urban character have provided downtown with a competitive economic advantage. Both now and in the future, Raleigh’s ability to attract a talented and diverse workforce, foster ideas and innovation, and make strategic infrastructure investments will be key components to downtown’s economic growth and success. The critical economic development issues facing downtown Raleigh that are addressed in this section include: • Activating streets through the provision of retail and active uses. • Bolstering the economic climate through the recruitment and retention of businesses. • Expanding hospitality and tourism.

Expanding Retail for Active Streets No matter how tall their skylines, downtowns succeed or fail at the street level—compare Los Angeles, with towering skyscrapers but empty sidewalks, with Alexandria, VA, which has no tall buildings but is a lively and active destination. The convenience and vibrancy offered by successful street-level retailing is a downtown’s key competitive advantage, and the selling point that justifies downtown rents and prices. The land use aspect of creating retail space is included here within the context of economic development. The policies below address how to promote the use of ground-floor space by businesses that will add to the vitality of the downtown experience. Space designed and constructed for active use at the ground-level plays a very important role in shaping a pedestrian-oriented built environment and in creating value for the upper-floor uses. As the retail development market matures, the city needs to proactively guide the placement of active uses on downtown’s most important streets to promote a lively downtown destination built on a strong retail core. Retail streets prosper when complementary uses are in close proximity. By guiding where retail uses are located, Raleigh will grow its economic capacity, strengthen existing public spaces, and enliven the downtown experience by clustering these active uses between and surrounding activity generators. Policy DT 3.1 Ground-floor Uses on Primary Retail Streets New development along Retail Streets identified on Map DT-5 should provide continuous retail use along the ground floor. Zoning for parcels and sites along Retail Streets should be mapped with Shopfront frontage or other zoning mandating a retail-ready ground floor.

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