by Emma Brennan | Nov 30, 2021 | December 2021/January 2022, Do
Don’t just wing it as you travel this holiday season. From prepaid RDU parking to the best flight-booking days, we’ll have you soaring—and saving—as you fly the friendly skies.
TRAVEL CONFIDENCE IS SOARING; the border ban has been lifted for vaccinated travelers from 30+ countries… and like birds of a feather, we’re ready to spread our wings and, well, flock together. But ain’t nothing fuzzy and festive about flying for the holidays—so before you go all Four Christmases and flip out, allow us to highlight some stress-reducing, money-saving holiday travel hacks.
Put It in Park
Gone are the days of pulling up preflight in full-on anxiety mode to find all parking lots full. Enter the super-huge revelation that is ParkRDU’s online pre-booking option (tell your friends about it—or don’t and save all the good spots for yourself…). Choose your date, time and location—only caveat is you have to book at least 24 hours in advance. Bonus: You can also see the capacity of each parking lot in real-time via RDU Airport’s website… so you can swap #stressmode for #airplanemode and have one less hiccup between home and sipping that cocktail at 40,000 feet. rdu.com
The Early Bird Gets the Worm
Sure no one wants to wake up at 4am to catch a flight, but it’s worth it—trust us… just don’t oversleep and get left behind like Kevin McCallister. Pros’ll tell you that taking the earliest flight available is an easy hack (think more follow-up options, more flexibility, fewer frantic bodies). You’ll thank us when that seemingly more convenient afternoon flight you were eyeing gets canceled and you’re not having to spend the night in an airport lobby (hey, Tom Hanks in The Terminal!).
Direct Is Best
Like dawn flights, direct flights are your new best friend for steering clear of potential travel headaches. Where possible, choose the option with the most direct flights available to avoid unexpected cancellations and delays. Plus, the more stops involved, the higher the risk (*mind wanders to your last Olympic sprint through some rando terminal*). And, c’mon, who likes layovers anyway?
Peak Flights
While most people will tend to jump on that Sunday afternoon flight in order to get back for work Monday, beat the Sunday scaries (and high prices!) by opting for flights on off-peak days and times—like Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Saturdays. And if that just isn’t possible for you, early morning (ahem, smarter and cheaper!) and red-eye flights will also help save you money and stress.
by Mackenzie Tewksbury | Sep 29, 2021 | Buzz, October 2021
Proposed DTR protected bike lane threatens local business owners’ livelihood.
At 12:20 on a Friday afternoon, the patio at The Cardinal is already full. This is not unusual—in fact, it’s typically busier. This anchor-tenant West Street unassuming dive bar attracts locals and tourists alike for a damn good hot dog on the daily.
Its status, simply put, is legendary. And it’s how owner Jason Howard makes his money. “If I don’t have my lunch business,” says Howard, “I’m in the red every single month. That’s a battle I don’t want to fight.”
But the battle he will fight is for his businesses—and for his patrons’ and employees’ ability to continue to park on the streetfront they’ve long been able to. You wouldn’t think a spot we just dubbed as legendary would be worried about such a battle. But parking is at a premium and herein lies the problem.
That problem? Bicycle advocacy nonprofit Oaks & Spokes is partnering with the City of Raleigh to build a two-lane protected bike lane on the north side of West Street, across the street from The Cardinal and neighboring local businesses who rely on those parking spots for access.
Oaks & Spokes Interim Executive Director Mary Sell says this bike lane is a part of the Downtown North-South Greenway Connector Project that will connect the greenways together.
“Harrington and West streets will effectively become an ‘urban greenway’ connecting two future proposed greenways, providing improved pedestrian and cyclist connectivity from the Five Points neighborhood all the way to Dorothea Dix Park when fully implemented,” says Sell.
As such, Sell suggests the transition will incentivize new customers. “It will only impact parking on one side of [West] Street, maintaining on-street parking for area businesses while providing the opportunity to attract new customers who may prefer riding and feel safer in a separated lane,” she says.
But business owners on this street have expressed serious concerns about parking. For starters, that two-lane bike lane will be protected by hard permanent plastic barriers. And most of the businesses don’t have full parking lots and rely heavily on street parking for their employees and customers.
And, if you recall, on this block of West Street stretching from Wade to Peace, removing these streetside parking spaces leaves almost nowhere to park. And no access = no consumers—especially when there are so many other nearby lunch spots with easy front-door parking.
Dean Bailey, owner of King’s Auto Service Inc., who has been on West Street for over 20 years, says having parking on only one side of the street is not enough. “I’ve counted these cars every day for the past month,” says Bailey. “There’s 56 parking spaces that would be lost on our street. The math just doesn’t add up.”
Likewise, Layered Croissanterie owner Kawsar Chavez says she, her staff and her customers rely on on-street parking every day. “Our staff is growing, and we [already] didn’t have anywhere to go. So we parked further down the road, but if the bike lanes go in, there really will be nowhere to go.”
This isn’t the first time a protected bike lane has threatened businesses in Raleigh. The City of Raleigh built the same kind of protected bike lane on the other side of West Street in front of Morgan Street Food Hall and Heirloom Brewshop.
For Heirloom owner Chuan Tsay, the bike lane was a painful transition for his business. “No one talked to us about it prior to the bike lane,” he says. “It just kind of showed up during quarantine last year. It took away all our curbside pickup.”
That loss almost devastated his business: “In the first month of COVID, we were down 90%, and the curbside pickup became a really big part of what little business we had. We had to take it away,” he adds. “It was pretty impossible. … Most of our traffic is destination. For people to drive out here, it’s a commitment, then to get there and not have enough parking, it was tough.”
But despite that reality, he understands the other side. “I really appreciate the push for alternative transportation,” says Tsay. “It’s really necessary. In other cities like Chapel Hill, what I’ve seen is a real protected lane that’s not just by pylons. It’s a parking lane, plus bike lanes. That’s a great compromise.”
For their part, West Street tenants Howard, Bailey and Chavez emphasized the need for a compromise or an alternative as well. “I’m pro-bike lane,” says Howard. “I’m not anti-bike lane. I’m all about people riding bikes. But we have to balance that out.”
But without a compromise, West Street business owners fear they will have to question what’s next for their business.
“You’re going to cut off this side of the city,” says Randy Wood, owner of Knuckle Up Boxing Gym. “If customers don’t have anywhere to park, they won’t come here. If they don’t come here, I don’t have a business.”
by Tracy Jones | Nov 26, 2019 | Buzz, December 2019/January 2020
Parking space too small for your vehicle? It’s not just your imagination.
Holiday shopping is right around the corner which means crowds, the stress of finding the perfect gift and parking in congested areas. Who among us hasn’t stalked shoppers who look like they’re walking back to their cars, idled in some parking deck with our blinker on just waiting to grab a space—any space—regardless of how well our vehicle fits in it?
On that point, CBS 17 news anchor and reporter Bill Young set out to determine whether all parking spots in Raleigh are created equal; turns out, they’re not.
Young took the City of Raleigh’s current parking codes and put 10 local parking lots, selected at random, to the test, measuring spaces to see if they met the code.
“The majority met it,” Young says of his findings. The interesting thing about the lots whose parking spaces didn’t meet the current code, he adds, that property owners skirt the rules to maintain compliance.
“Essentially, nobody is doing anything necessarily illegal,” Young says. “But that doesn’t mean that it is consistent with the current code. They can be grandfathered in. There are others that are wide enough to meet the standards for compact spaces, but aren’t necessarily marked as such. In a lot of instances, it’s a situation where they are in the process of redoing the striping and reworking the parking lots. So, while that’s not the case currently, it’s on the to-do list. It’s okay in this interim if it’s not currently marked as a compact spot.”
For his research, Young drove all over the city in a Nissan Altima, Wake County’s most registered vehicle, but tried to stay primarily in shopping areas since we’re heading into the holiday season. Of the 10 lots he tested, Young found three areas with some issues: Crabtree Valley Mall, the Pleasant Valley Promenade on Glenwood Avenue and the parking lot just outside of Marbles Kids Museum. At the Marbles lot, for instance, some spaces are clearly designated as compact while others are not; the way the spaces appear to be designated are inconsistent. (The lot is registered to a standalone LLC, with no listed phone number).
Young says he spoke to the real estate developer at Pleasant Valley Promenade and learned that the shopping center is undergoing major renovations.
“Because it was so outdated for so many years, their primary focus is bringing the parking lot up to ADA standards,” Young says. “You start getting into really big trouble if you do not meet those.” Young says that while the shopping center may not have the proper signage now, it shows good faith that its operators are working toward that goal.
Young notes that all of the parking lots he visited do in fact meet ADA standards, providing accessible parking spaces to those who need them, including people with disabilities.
As for Crabtree Valley Mall, Young went to city officials and asked them to pull codes for the parking lot. There are 3,600 permits for the parking spaces at the mall, essentially one permit per space.
“There was no way the city could reasonably go space by space and see which ones met requirements,” Young says. “There are plenty of spaces that I tested at Crabtree that meet current code. There were also some that were way under current code, even for compact.”
Young reached out to Crabtree for comment but at the time of publication the mall had not responded.
Of course, numerous factors contribute to how well a car will fit into a space, including the vehicle’s size and how well the driver is able to park. For most people who get a door ding in a parking lot, the person parked next to them is the culprit or, maybe, they’d complain to the business about the size of its spaces— especially if they can’t get back into their vehicle because someone parked too close.
No one, however, takes these grievances to city inspectors.
“It does take quite a few steps to make this an issue,” Young says. “Going back as far as the longest serving representative in city compliance, they’ve never had a complaint about a parking space not meeting code. My goal wasn’t to shake things up, but to put something out there and get people thinking. When they pull into a parking spot and it seems a little tight, it’s not their imagination, it’s not their parking skills, it’s not the person parking next to them. It might be that that parking space does not meet current code.”
by Jane Porter | May 31, 2019 | Buzz, June 2019, Top Reads
Changes are likely coming to Raleigh’s downtown parking rules. City staffers, the Downtown Raleigh Alliance and community stakeholders, have been looking at different strategies to incentivize drivers to park in city-owned decks rather than in on-street parking spaces. Especially, city parking manager Matthew Currier explains, when drivers are planning to park in metered spaces for longer stretches of time. This encourages more turnover of on-street spaces and, hopefully, more people visiting on-street businesses over the course of each day. (On-street parking changes will also apply to areas of Hillsborough Street and Glenwood South). “Some of the local municipalities, Chapel Hill and Durham, have a similar approach, as well as some of the larger cities in North Carolina and beyond,” says Currier. “These are the standard best practices for pricing and incentives to switch where people are parking or incentivize people to park in different spaces.” If approved, the parking changes will go into effect this fall, with Phase 2 of the changes slated to take effect in the fall of 2020. The Council will likely vote to adopt the new parking rules with its new fiscal year budget this month, so if you have comments or concerns, now’s the time to share them with your elected officials.
$5 After 5
There are no proposed changes to the $5 flat fee to park in city decks after 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Parking Lots & Evening Rates
The city owns a handful of surface parking lots; rates could increase from $45-$68 a month to $60-$80 a month. The $20 per month fee for city employees who work downtown in the evenings will not change.
On-Street Rates & Meter Hours
On-street parking rates could increase from $1.00-$1.25 per hour to $1.25-$1.50 per hour this fall, and potentially to $1.50-$2.00 per hour next year (Phase 2). Parking rates will apply Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. under the new proposed rules, instead of from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. “We’re trying to create some price parity and saying, ‘Hey, if you’re going to be downtown for a few hours, go and park in one of the decks, it’s the same price or similar to what it costs on the street,’” says Currier. “You don’t have to worry about any level of enforcement or getting a ticket, and that allows [the city] to free up or turn over some of those spaces on the street more often, so more folks get an opportunity to visit businesses downtown.” In Phase 2, the city will also consider charging for parking on Saturday.
Lost Ticket Rates
Lost ticket rates could increase from $12 to $25 to discourage people from parking in a deck for days and claiming they lost their ticket when they come back to leave with their car. “A $25 fee is typical and we hope it will discourage that type of behavior, where folks have had multiple days of free parking for a one-day fee,” says Currier.
Monthly Accounts in City Decks
The city could increase its $110 and $115 fees for unreserved parking—where you pay the fee monthly and park anywhere in a city deck—to $125 per month to achieve price parity with privately owned decks that offer public parking. Reserved spaces—where you pay a monthly fee for a designated space—could increase from $160-$173 per month to $190 per month.
Special Events
The special event rate could shift from $7 to a $10 flat fee. This will help move traffic into parking decks more efficiently, as staffers likely won’t have to make as much dollar bill change.
Off-Street Hourly & Off-Street Daily Max
Currently, drivers pay $2 per hour to park in city decks with a $12 daily maximum. Under the new rules, drivers would pay $1.50 an hour to park for the first four hours, then $2 an hour until they hit the daily maximum, proposed to increase to $14.
by Gina Stephens | Dec 1, 2017 | December 2017/January 2018, Do
Downtown
Downtown Raleigh is great for shopping, eating and sightseeing but parking, especially on a budget, can be challenging. There are six parking decks located all over downtown with plenty of capacity but unless you’re using them on a weekday after 7 p.m., or on a weekend before 5 p.m., be prepared to pay.
Metered parking is available on many downtown streets, and spaces are free after 5 p.m. and on weekends. These parking spaces can be hard to come by, though, especially if there are special events going on.
It is possible to park downtown, or pretty close to it, for free but be prepared to walk or hop on the free downtown circulator bus known as the R-Line. For a full list of downtown parking options and the R-Line schedule and routes, check godowntownraleigh.com. Once you’re downtown, you can use the downtown app downloaded to you smartphone to find the parking options closest to your destination.
Boylan Heights: Located to the west of downtown, you can park on many of the Boylan Heights neighborhood’s streets for free. Make sure you’re parked 5 feet clear of all driveways, 15 feet clear of all fire hydrants and no more than 12 inches from the curb. Consult any street signs you see to make sure you’re parking legally. It’s about a 15-20 minute walk from Boylan Heights to Fayetteville Street.
State property: Between Peace Street to the north and Morgan Street to the south, there are several parking decks and lots that are free and open to the public after-hours (between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m.) and on weekends. Check out the NC Department of Administration’s online interactive map to see where they are.
As with Boylan Heights, the Oakwood neighborhood, located north of downtown has free street parking. The same parking rules apply and it’s a 10-15 minute walk to downtown.
North Hills
The easy trick to parking at North Hills is to make a quick turn into the main entrance off of Lassiter Mill Road and drive directly to the bottom level of the parking deck. Use the elevator to the Renaissance Raleigh Hotel. It will get you to the hotel lobby quickly and you can walk right our the front door to the shops, restaurants and movie theater.
Glenwood South
There are five parking decks along Glenwood South, including at 222 Glenwood and the Hampton Inn, as well as parking lots and metered street parking; all require payment. But, as with downtown, there are a few other options if you’re feeling frugal and are prepared to walk.
Most of the side streets off of Glenwood South, including W. Jones, W. Lane, W. North, Tucker and W. Johnson Streets offer free street parking in close proximity to Glenwood South. Additionally, Boylan Ave. and N. West Streets, which run parallel to Glenwood on either side, have free street parking options as well.
There’s a free parking lot for patrons of Revolver Consignment Boutique, the Raleigh Wine Shop and other businesses at the 124 Glenwood Ave. block.
There is a large parking lot across the street from 42nd Street Oyster Bar on W. Jones Street. Though lot isn’t heavily monitored, a towing company does patrol occasionally, so don’t stay parked there for too long!
Hillsborough Street
There are around two dozen parking decks and lots all along Hillsborough Street, eight of which offer free parking on nights and weekends; check hillsboroughstreet.org for more information on those. The real trick to parking on Hillsborough Street, though, is understanding how NC State University parking works. All NC State parking lots, on both sides of Hillsborough Street, are free after 5 p.m. and all day on Saturdays and Sundays until 6 a.m. Monday morning.
Locals, including students, park on side streets like Pogue, Chamberlin and Horne, where there’s free two-hour parking. But parking is monitored and you will be ticketed after 2 hours.
The lot across from the Players’ Retreat is free and is for customers of Sam & Bill’s Salon, Liquid State, David’s Dumplings and PR, but it usually isn’t monitored heavily.
The Ferndell lot in that same roundabout is a new lot with metered and permitted parking; the permitted spots are free after 5pm.
The parking deck at the Aloft Hotel is for hotel guests and customers of Gonza Tacos y Tequila and Jubala, located on the first floor of the hotel.
If you want to visit Target, there are only around thirty 30-minute parking spots under the building, but Target now has 4 electric vehicles offering pick-up service. If you live within 1.5 miles, you can request a pick-up; they drop you off, you shop and then they take you home—super cool!
Only park in the lot directly behind Chipotle, Slice of NY Pizza, Jimmy John’s and Freshii if you’re going to one of those restaurants or are an employee because it is heavily monitored. If you park there and decide you want Golden Dragon just one block over instead, your car may get a boot.
The same is true for the lot behind La Stella Wood Fired, Bocci Trattoria and Pizzeria, and Kabab & Curry. It is heavily monitored and unless you’re an employee, you will be towed.
For those regularly challenged by parking on Hillsborough Street, the nonprofit Live It Up! Hillsborough Street, the city, and NC State are, for the first time ever, partnering for a comprehensive parking study of the district. An input session on Monday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of West Raleigh Presbyterian Church is open to the public. It will be a great chance to for the community to share the parking challenges they face with consultants, as well as ideas for improving the situation. The study will conclude this spring and it will provide short, medium, and long-term solutions for improving parking in the district.
