How The N&O set out to document the many identities of Raleigh’s Glenwood South
It’s a lively debate over craft beers about Austin and Triangle connections. Are we siblings or cousins?
Austin’s got a nationally known university deep in the heart of its Texas metropolis. The Triangle has three to match three of its largest cities.
They’ve got tech startups and venture capitalists. Same here, bro.
Right-leaning state politics hubs in left-leaning cities? No wonder the cable-news chatter shows like us. Check, check.
We have direct flights to/from, industrial cranes doing their best Mr. Miyagis in downtown skylines, and Austin favorites such as Torchy’s Tacos and Chuy’s in North Hills that make the case for genetic testing of our city founders. (Plus, y’all had me at queso.)
Even Willie Nelson — Austin’s spirit icon — makes an occasional stop in Raleigh.
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And you can’t go wrong with Willie.
But whatever Instagram moments these growing metro areas share, splash some cold water on the twinsy debate and don’t forget the vomit remover. Public-policy discussions about Austin’s infamous Sixth Street and Raleigh’s Glenwood South can’t overlook the need for Voban Absorbent.
Austin’s Downtown Commission recently approved spending more than half a million dollars on more barricades for Sixth Street, a historic district of nightclubs, T-shirt shops and landmarks such as The Driskill Hotel, where Lyndon B. Johnson chose breakfast for his first date with Lady Bird. These days, Sixth Street is better known for mounted police on the weekend and a loud chorus of safety concerns and unforgettable tragedies.
Glenwood South isn’t Sixth Street.
Many shades of Glenwood South
But as The News & Observer’s staff report shows, the many shades of Glenwood South reveal a neighborhood with a doppelganger complex.
Columnist and enterprise reporter Josh Shaffer was the lead writer and organizer as N&O journalists spent 24 hours in Glenwood South from 8 a.m. Friday, July 21, to 8 a.m. Saturday, July 22. It’s a newsworthy slice of community life, given reporter Chantal Allam’s recent story highlighting Glenwood South’s estimated $1.2 billion economic impact annually.
“What was important was that we show the full complexity of the area. The party atmosphere from about 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. on weekend nights gets a lot of negative attention — much of it deserved. But Glenwood South is so much more than that. Spanning a full 24 hours allowed us to show the residents, the shops, the office workers and the families that we don’t often hear about,” says N&O Managing Editor Thad Ogburn, who serves as Josh’s editor.
Glenwood South has many identities, where residents knit sweater trees during the holidays and North Carolina’s First Lady gets frustrated by weekend drunks disrupting the neighborhood. Spend time with The N&O report and you’ll likely come away curious.
Associate Opinion Editor Ned Barnett weighed in on Glenwood South’s possibilities after interviewing developer Henry Ward of LODEN Properties.
Wrote Ned: 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.”
How interesting. How not to be Austin.
Could Raleigh’s go-to entertainment district become less messy and more of a mixed-use place, where cupcakes and cocktails get more attention than vomit cleansers?
Time — even 24 hours — will tell.
Bill Church is executive editor of The News & Observer. When in Austin, he recommends breakfast at the 1886 Cafe & Bakery in The Driskill.
This story was originally published August 5, 2023 at 10:00 AM with the headline "How The N&O set out to document the many identities of Raleigh’s Glenwood South."
