Raleigh may not look like the morning after a Shameless block party—but it’s not exactly spotless.
With the 20K residents living within a mile of DTR’s center—and thousands more commuting in on the daily—the city’s growing core generates plenty of foot traffic. And, inevitably, plenty of waste. So what’s being done about the pileup?
To many Raleighites, trash troubles feel more visible than ever. In 2018, residents reported 66.3% satisfaction with Downtown’s cleanliness. But by 2024, that number had dropped to just 56%.
Not everyone sees a problem. One Downtown business owner says Raleigh still feels squeaky clean compared to other major cities, noting that even graffiti rarely sticks around for long. Others disagree. DTR resident Bekah Gregory says she routinely spots trash piling up at key gateways like Capital and New Bern, as well as around public transit-heavy corridors like Blount and Wilmington streets and Moore Square.
For Moore Square dweller Christian Lockamy, this reality plays out daily: He’s watched people bypass trash cans and “just kind of trash the place.” The situation grew so grimy around an abandoned business that he submitted a cleanup proposal to Downtown Raleigh Alliance.
Assistant City Manager Evan Raleigh says he’s heard the mixed reviews—especially about those high-traffic areas near the bus station—and Raleigh isn’t standing idly by. Seven days a week, Raleigh’s Downtown Clean Team is on the ground, scouring for litter, grime, graffiti and more.
Starting at 6:30am, crews sweep areas like the Capital District, Glenwood South and the Warehouse District, then circle back for a second pass halfway through the day. Their focus is primarily on public sidewalks, plazas, tree pits and trash receptacles—really anything excluding trash collection (which is up to Solid Waste Services), says Raleigh.
In 2024 alone, the Clean Team collected 5,500+ bags of litter covering ~20K miles, says Public Information Officer Julia Milstead. Still, the task isn’t just about manpower.
“You have to make sure you’re staying on top of changes in behavior, patterns and trash locations,” says Raleigh. “Our team does a great job of that.”
The city is also tweaking its TRAC bin pilot program. Instead of freestanding cans cluttering sidewalks, new 95-gallon bins will soon be tucked into artistic enclosures set back from the street. Other efforts—like the ongoing beautification efforts along Fayetteville Street—are also in the pipeline.
But Raleigh stresses keeping Downtown clean can’t fall to the local gov alone. Enter the Great Raleigh Cleanup—founded in 2020 by Preston Ross III, the volunteer-driven org formed after he determined the litter had escalated into a public nuisance. “I very quickly recognized that it was too big for me to do alone,” he recalls. “So we opened it up to volunteers, and it really took off.”
Adds Ross: “If you’re complaining, you better be doing something.” Whether that means reporting cleanliness concerns, joining a cleanup crew or simply picking up after yourself, keeping Raleigh clean takes everyone.
Clicks don’t lie. We posted, you clicked, shared, commented and read—and we tracked every like, love, read and OMG moment. From civic shakeups to hot resto drops, these are the stories that made Raleigh stop scrolling across socials and web. Consider this our annual vibe check: what had you talking, debating and double-tapping all year long.
Still fancying the possibility of a Euro summer? Don’t dash your dreams just yet. Indulge in a Euro summer—sans the PTO, lack of AC and pricey plane ticket—via Raleigh’s slew of European-esque restos that have that certain ~je ne sais quoi~. Alfresco meals, sinking sunsets and bevvy ops galore? It’s almost like the Mediterranean Sea is a skip away. Here’s your Raleigh resto guide to a sweet escape of délicieux snacks and sips, Euro-inspired flavors and sunny spacious patios. Cin cin!
Taverna Agora For two decades, this Grecian eatery has transported Raleighites to the lush environment of the Mediterranean coast. From authentic dishes like handmade spanakopita and creamy tzatziki with fresh veggies to the beloved greek village salad and chicken souvlaki, you can snack on authentic flavors paired with vibrant greenery on the open-air rooftop patio—it’s giving Mamma Mia.
Giorgios Epicurean Market Stroll through the local market for a bevvy (think a Matcha made with Samovar Tea or an organic small batch brew) before sitting down to a flavorful dish made with ingredients handselected by Giorgios himself. Pro tip: No matter your pick, don’t skip the expansive patio.
Barcelona Wine Bar Wine, tapas and charcuterie: Need we say more? This ode to Spain has a phone book-size wine list, small plates worth sharing (unmatched patatas bravas) and the bustling energy of a Barcelona street on a summer night.
Press Coffee & Cocktails It wouldn’t be a Euro summer without a double espresso paired with a made-from-scratch crepe savored on an open-air patio. Sophisticated and casual, cool and comfortable—Press is the place for the 4pm coffee-to-cocktails transition time.
Ajja The Mediterranean meets the Middle East with a small Southern twist on Cheetie Kumar’s colorful and bold menu boasting the likes of lamb seekh, king trumpet mushrooms and whole fried trait. “Of the world, for the world,” indeed.
RM chats with psych-rock band Crumb ahead of Hopscotch.
Laid-back but never mundane, dreamy but more than just a backdrop—Brooklyn-based band Crumb’s music is everything all at once: nonchalant, unnerving and transient.
“Everything is an influence—probably subconsciously, definitely not consciously,” maintains lead vocalist Lila Ramani. To boot, a little bit of everything is sprinkled throughout their discography—from jazz to psych to shoegaze.
Crumb is set to bring their sparkly dreamscape to Raleigh as a headliner at Hopscotch, closing out the DTR fest on Saturday at Moore Square—one of their only two shows scheduled for the remainder of the year. “We’re focusing more on writing this fall, so no big-time touring,” says Ramani, also noting this will be the first time the band has played in Raleigh in years. Many of the group’s past local gigs were before they got their bearings in the industry—think house shows and smaller venues like Local 506.
Now, Crumb stands on various singles, one EP, three albums and millions of listeners. And their many fans aren’t ones to get a full eight hours of shut-eye: A common time to revel in the quiet, waterlogged melodies is in the dark, when the rest of the world is quiet too.
“I feel like it can be any time of day, but I definitely think a solitary kind of listening makes sense, or a laid-back environment,” emphasizes Ramani. There’s a time and a place for their haze—and “it’s definitely not for the club,” she notes.
But, when performing live, the band translates their hypnotic ballads to be more energetic and upbeat than the recordings. “Our live shows are different, or that’s at least what people have told us—that it’s much more.” Ramani told RM. More upbeat songs—like Balloon, which has a more disco-y feel—usually make the setlist.
Many of the band’s songs from early EPs and albums also make the cut, though Ramani notes the performance behind them feels different than the rendering of a more recent track. “People love them so much, and that’s amazing, but it feels the most removed from where we are now,” she says. “It’s been almost ten years.”
Haoyan of America
The four-piece’s groggy, gaze-y sound has stood its ground from album to album, and on their most recent record, Amama, Crumb appeared to lean even more into their surreal, blissed-out noise with even less vocals than previous albums. “It’s hard to tell from the outside, but I don’t think we had that in mind going into it,” Ramani muses. “Vocals are just another instrument.”
And while that instrument leans more muted on certain tracks, it’s hard to generalize the whole album, she adds. “The lyrics pop a lot more,” and certain songs still spotlight their underwater-sounding winding scripts. Despite both Crumb’s reach and palette expanding in Amama, their songwriting process has remained more or less the same. “In general, it’s been mostly the same thing, and looking forward, we might try to change it up a little more since it’s been so long,” says the vocalist.
In short, Moore Square is set to sparkle with dreamy jazz-psych paired with transient thoughts, making reveling in Crumb’s sound a no-brainer. crumbtheband.com; hopscotchmusicfest.com
Let there be light! Igniting DTR and bringing stakeholder Thomas “Skip” Hill’s vision to “make this the coolest street, certainly in North Carolina, but in the Southeast and beyond” to light—literally—the Fayetteville Street trees are finally set to get lit this summer. Get ready to bask in the glow starting Monday, June 2.
