In Raleigh, Glenwood South needs to evolve into more than bars | Opinion

The half-mile stretch of Raleigh’s Glenwood Avenue from Hillsborough Street to Peace Street is a straight line that has turned into a crossroads between urban energy and neighborhood nuisance.

The area, known as the Glenwood South entertainment district, is home to more than two dozen bars and restaurants, with several large apartment buildings also opening there in recent years.

The district a bright sign of Raleigh’s growing vitality, but its rising popularity is also causing concern about the rowdiness and safety hazards that arise along the street and spill into nearby neighborhoods.

“It’s a positive, but it’s just a mixed bag,” said David Meeker, a developer and a partner in Trophy Brewing who serves as chair of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance.

“It’s a really challenging situation for how you regulate it,” he said. “You want a fun entertainment district, but you want to look after the neighbors who are there.”

A report commissioned by a group of district residents and business owners found that the district has a $1.2 billion annual economic impact. It also found that that district businesses generated $125 million in food and beverage sales in 2022.

But along with the revenue has come problems with crime and neighbors upset by the noise and people parking in their neighborhoods.

Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin, who lives near Glenwood South, knows the dilemma of the district producing both rising sales and rising worries.

Since the city stepped up weekend police patrols, including in the parking garages, the number of assaults and other incidents has dropped. In addition, the City Council will soon vote on a tougher noise ordinance.

Glenwood South is “a vibrant area and a lot of people move there because of that,” Baldwin said. “What they don’t want is the excess craziness, the noise at three in the morning, the reports of crime.”

Those concerns were given a prominent voice recently in a listserv post by North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s wife, Kristin. The Coopers have a private home in a neighborhood adjacent to the district that has experienced disturbances after the bar closing time.

Kristin Cooper wrote: “I’m personally sick of these people roaming the streets of what is obviously a neighborhood, yelling and carrying on as they head to the free parking area for Glenwood South that we have become. This is not what ‘vibrancy’ looks like to me.”

The challenge with entertainment districts is finding a way to keep the energy strong but to stop short of chaos. Austin has struggled to keep its famous Sixth Street in check. In New Orleans, Bourbon Street’s drunk scene can turn off as many city residents as the tourists as it attracts.

Glenwood South, once an industrial and commercial strip, happened mostly on its own over the last two decades. One bar opened and then another and then there was a concentration that drew still more. “I don’t think anybody thought of this as what it is today,” Baldwin said.

But now that random growth needs management. The sidewalks are too narrow. Lighting and signage could be improved. Parking should be expanded. “Right now, it’s built how it was 20 years ago,” the mayor said. “I think we need to look at things a little differently.”

For Baldwin, the way to keep Glenwood South on track is a watchful police presence and more variety in businesses. Instead of just a string of bars, add more restaurants and retail, including businesses that would draw daytime shoppers and lunch customers. She is encouraging building and business owners to “contribute to the productivity of the street and not its demise.”

That change is coming. Bars set in small houses along the street’s north end are about to be replaced by a developer who will be able to build a residential building with up to 20 stores. On the street’s southern end, LODEN Properties has bought up most of the 100 block’s east side, where existing buildings are being renovated. The plans are to add restaurants and retail.

LODEN partner Henry Ward told me, “The district’s greatest days are ahead of it. It’s evolving to be a true mixed-use area.”

To avoid a collapse under the weight of its popularity, Glenwood South needs to move on from a raucous mixed bag to a well-balance example of mixed use.

Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-404-7583, or nbarnett@ newsobserver.com