Hillsborough St.: From Tragedy to Travesty [Update: I Could Well Be Wrong]

I'm trying to keep a relatively light tone here at Raleighwood, NC so I won't have much to say about the Travesty in Progress that our city planners, and we the people, are currently foisting on Hillsborough St.

Roundabout?

That's some idiot nonsense, imho.

Raleigh Boy says he's "(cautiously) optimistic" about Hillsborough St.

Well, optimism is good for your health!

Indyweek's Bob Geary talks to a bunch of people and you've got your pros and you got your cons.

But this statement from Bob pretty much reveals the damage done:

"Consider, too, that many of the street's needed ingredients are hidden in plain view, like the old Varsity, a marquee movie house back in the day that later showed porn flicks and then was turned into a McDonald's restaurant....now, it's a stripped-down student bookstore that, like many other locations, awaits its new life as part of a new main street for Raleigh."

No, Bob, it doesn't await anything. Walk around back. Do you see the missing part of the building that used to hold the stage?

They destroyed that a long time ago and that's how I feel about Hillsborough St.

I'm not saying it won't come back or that things can't improve or that businesses won't find a way to make things work. I just can't feel good about a future engineered by city planners that don't get the concept of mass transit and only care about getting white people downtown.

I just don't trust good old boys that love white bread, even if they're Yankees with PhD's. Know what I mean?

Note:
Comments are welcome. I could be wrong about the theater but that's how it looks to me. "Yankees w/PhD's" is a metaphor. I won't attack you for disagreeing with me. I look forward to thousands of flowers blooming in the rubble of those roundabouts!

Update:
Here are some positive points that contradict me.

I remain unconvinced!

2010 Update:
I've been talking to some folks I know who have convinced me that the turnabouts may well be a good thing.  And, though Hillsborough St. will never be what it was, maybe something great for our time is emerging.  I would like that because, at heart, I'm an optimist.

Comments

[Bob Geary]

Clyde -- Hey, just catching up to this. (Guess I need to google reader myself or something.) Fingers crossed on Hillsborough Street. All-white music? Not my department, but I hope not. Chico Scott, movie reviewer, is a person of color, and I think we asked Sidney Lowe -- of the top of my head. Anyhow, hi.
--Bob Geary

[Clyde Smith]

Thanks for writing. I do have issues with the Independent but I think you play an important role in local media.

The all-white music cover? Take a look for yourself and decide how it looks.

I didn't have identifying information on the film reviewers other than gender so that's all I discussed.

In any case, love your work. This resegregation business has me reading you and I'm liking what you do with that. Don't let up!