This rant has been lightly edited for style and space and is not endorsed by Raleigh Magazine.
If you live in DTR and complain about noise, grow up. Or don’t live Downtown—period. I am tired of constantly reading about new noise ordinances among all the chatter of breathing new life into Downtown. Clearly some locals are all about revitalizing our city’s core until they are minorly inconvenienced. And it’s getting old.
We should want our city to grow and flourish. And living in a bustling city means not every neighborhood is going to cater to your exact sleep schedule. Stop whining and let Glenwood South stay fun. It’s an *entertainment* district—and no one is forcing you to live there.
A little extra noise means people are buying drinks, tipping our bartenders and getting food from vendors at night—and enjoying our restaurants, streets and small businesses during the day. We should be welcoming them with open arms and encouraging this support for our service and retail industries. And the “noise” under scrutiny is, most of the time, from our local bands, DJs and musicians. If we want to be taken seriously as a great city to live in and visit—on par with New Orleans and Nashville—then why are we threatening businesses and smothering culture? Glenwood South is nowhere close to Bourbon Street or Broadway—yet here we are silencing it.
Reviving Downtown and ensuring the area thrives means supporting all businesses and ventures, not just ones you feel cater to your individual lifestyle. Keep complaining and DTR will go back to being a ghost town—and then you killjoys will probably complain about that too.
So, to City Council: It’s time to stop pandering to a select few at the peril of many. Just let them be mad—or, better, let them leave. Noise is part of living in a cool city. If you want to “keep Raleigh boring,” please go to a neighborhood that is already boring and keep your complaints to yourselves.
50Cups tea shop now pouring organic locally sourced teas
Stressed? Sleepy? In desperate need of a detox or some postworkout sustenance? We have the tea for you. Now open on Wade Avenue and tailoring to all your tea needs is uncle-and-niece duo Jim Baker and Isabella Luciano’s new 50Cups tea shop serving sips you can feel good about—from detox, refreshers and immune-boosting teas to classics like green, Earl Grey and English breakfast, plus coffee. And if you’re craving more than a cuppa, satisfy hunger pangs with fresh fare like almond butter toast, overnight oats, breakfast burritos, salads and more.
Luciano’s tea blending prowess procured from the World Tea Academy and travels across the pond coupled with Baker’s business acumen perfectly position the two to elevate the local community via “good for you” drinks aiming to do more than just quench your thirst. The brewing brand also hopes to educate novice and seasoned tea drinkers about all the benefits of the bev to boot.
“Tea is the No. 2 drink in the world, right behind water,” says Baker. “We hope to offer our customers an inspirational experience through knowledge and great taste—translating into better health and well-being.” Now that’s some hot tea you’re gonna wanna get in on (!). 50cupstea.com
WEB EXCLUSIVE CLTure and Transfer Co. Food Hall are teaming up for another shopping bazaar on March 26.
You’re in for a fun-filled day of arts and culture—plus music, food and shopping!—during the CLTure + Transfer Co. Spring Bazaar on March 26. After a successful fall event, the Spring Bazaar will once again take over the entire Transfer Co. Food Hall in an effort to encourage and promote the support of local businesses and North Carolina musicians.
While you’re shopping around you can enjoy all your fave food and beverage offerings from the food hall to the badcrop of live beats from Zack Mexico, Solomon Fox, Jack the Radio and Tecoby Hines. And new to this season’s bazaar is also a mini-arcade set-up by Arcade of Thrones (!).
Arcade of Thrones | Photo by Rich Levine
“We’re extremely grateful to bring back the CLTure + Transfer Co. Bazaar to Raleigh to showcase a diverse mix of music from all over North Carolina along with a great selection of local vendors,” says Cameron Lee, founder of CLTure in an exclusive interview with Raleigh Magazine. “We look forward to continuing to provide spaces for local bands and microlocal businesses throughout the year with Transfer Co. Food Hall.” We don’t know about you, but these shopping bazaars are definitely something we could get used to! Music festival tickets $7; local market free to the public, eventbrite.com
