What Does Cary Need to Do To Reach the Next Level as a City..er, Town?

[Spatula]

I can say that I don't shop much. If we got an IKEA... they would get my money on opening day.

[KJHburg]

Cary one of the safest cities in America in the top 5. Congrats.  https://smartasset.com/mortgage/safest-cities-in-america-in-2017

[urbanlover568]

On 12/30/2017 at 8:52 AM, KJHburg said:

Cary one of the safest cities in America in the top 5. Congrats.  https://smartasset.com/mortgage/safest-cities-in-america-in-2017

I love living here. Not scared to walk around at night. 

[Jones_]

Food for thought only (not attacking anyone here)

Which came first, the uber high MHI or the safety? 

I had a bit of a revelation the other day driving past a gated community....it was a bit ironic that the wealthy folks living behind that gate, in many ways are responsible for creating the conditions that require them (in their minds anyway) to live behind a gate (attempts to debate me on this will be ignored to maintain the integrity and civility of UP). 

Absolutely nobody wants to be a victim of crime. Obvious. But a surprising few perps *want* to be committing crimes....but people get admittedly desperate just trying to survive...in my neighborhood I meet them all of the time...all of this just to say, I'd be careful bragging about how safe a community is....the big picture never goes away, and low crime areas are tethered to all the other areas in ways less flattering than anyone but a Sociology PhD will ever think about...

Put another way...shouting "we left all you other poor f&*#ers behind!" is what these lists say to me. Good job Cary. 

[KJHburg]

I think Cary's high income surely helps with the crime figures but sometimes that makes you a target too.  From Charlotte what I see in Cary and Raleigh is less of a tolerance for petty crimes like there is in Charlotte.  I drove all over Cary last summer and saw not one panhandler on the street corner and only 1 or 2 in Raleigh but much less than in Charlotte.   Irvine California in the heart of Orange County CA is another city at the top of the list and it too has a high median income.  

[Jones_]

I wonder what the police staff to population ratio is for the places on this list vs say a Raleigh or Durham. I wonder if Cary also has more officers out and about to stifle things or less because it doesn't have to, or is it all sort of industry standard ratios? 

[ctl]

The 2013 annual report of CPD gives 1 sworn officer per 810 residents. A 2016 "Community Report" for Raleigh gives 1 sworn officer per 590 residents. However, I suspect that RPD carries a disproportionate burden for commercial and industrial establishments, even if I ascribe all the responsibility for policing governmental and educational establishments in Raleigh to other law enforcement agencies. I also suspect that the composite demographics of Cary most closely resemble the composite demographics of north Raleigh zip codes 27612, 13, 14, and 15. You'd have to look at comparable crime figures for Cary versus those four zip codes in Raleigh to draw inferences.  

[KJHburg]

Downtown Cary getting new condo development.  From the Business Journal subscriber article 

""“With the critical mass of retail tenants, new restaurants and food downtown, we felt like there was a need for residential close to downtown,” Gussenhoven says.

He expects luxury apartments downtown eventually will come as well, but that this project will straddle a location between the town and nearby neighborhood. 

The development, called Chatham Walk, will include 33 condominiums with prices starting in the $300,000s.""

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2018/02/02/biz-cary-to-join-rush-to-build-condos-in-downtown.html?ana=e_du_prem&s=article_du&ed=2018-02-02&u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&t=1517605364&j=79796571

[Merthecat]

Random observations on development in Cary:

1.  A new building is being constructed in Waverly Place above the fountains and playground.  The framing is clearly visible.

2.  Down the street, at the corner of Kildaire Farm and 1/64, the abandoned neighborhood accessed by Guernsey Trail has finally been cleared and construction should be starting on the medical buildings (I believe) replacing it.

[DPK]

On 2/2/2018 at 6:34 PM, Merthecat said:

1.  A new building is being constructed in Waverly Place above the fountains and playground.  The framing is clearly visible.

That's slightly amusing considering there used to be outdoor escalators and a pedestrian bridge connecting parts of the upper level in that general area of Waverly before they "redeveloped" the center.

[KJHburg]

Very interesting from the Triangle Business Journal

""A stealthy, cryptocurrency mining operation is happening in Cary – and netting some major financial support.  Routemaster, a Canadian firm traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, confirms it has invested $1.5 million into what its chairman calls a “solar-powered cryptocurrency data center” at an undisclosed location in Cary. """

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2018/02/08/canadian-investor-funds-stealthy-solar-powered.html?ana=e_mc_prem&s=newsletter&ed=2018-02-08&u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&t=1518098452&j=79889601

[Merthecat]

Pictures of new development in Cary:

1, 2. New Downtown Cary Library being constructed at Walnut/Dry:

3. Medical buildings being constructed at Kildaire Farm/US 1

[KJHburg]

Downtown Cary and yes there is such a thing.   Of course the size is very small compared to the total population which is north of 160.000 however it is fairly active.  New library going in with parking deck  Huge arts center.  It looked like all the small shop space is occupied.   Today.   The Cary Train station is way nicer than Charlotte's current station.

Last photo on Cary Town Blvd where Fenton mixed used project will be.  Nothing happening yet as you can see. 

[ctl]

The Cary station has had a tortuous history. Regrettably the original depot for Seaboard Air Line and Southern Railway was torn down circa 1970 when Cary had fewer than 10,000 residents. No passenger train was calling at Cary by then, and no one had reason to believe that Cary would ever be served by a passenger train again. NY-Raleigh-Charlotte trains began calling at Cary in 1995, but the second depot didn't open until 1996. It was a small DMV location with a tiny waiting room for train and municipal bus passengers. In 2006 another platform was added to serve NY-Raleigh-Miami trains. Finally in 2011, the 1996 station was rebuilt to a larger scale as the third station. The 2011 project was a few million dollars... peanuts to compared to the cost of Raleigh Union Station or the forthcoming Charlotte Gateway station.

Edited October 3, 2018 by ctl

[nicholas]

The new library is starting to make an impact.  I've forgotten, what were they planning on doing with the current library once this is complete?

[KJHburg]

Cary's new Fenton project gets final approvals.  Fenton is going to be very nice with mix of uses and such.   You will love Superica from Chef Ford Fry of Atlanta.  There is a location in Charlotte's Southend and it was muy bueno! 

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2018/10/29/carys-fenton-project-lands-key-approval.html?ana=e_ae_set3&s=article_du&ed=2018-10-30&u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&t=1540930899&j=84729061

[DPK]

On 10/30/2018 at 4:24 PM, KJHburg said:

Cary's new Fenton project gets final approvals.  Fenton is going to be very nice with mix of uses and such.   You will love Superica from Chef Ford Fry of Atlanta.  There is a location in Charlotte's Southend and it was muy bueno! 

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2018/10/29/carys-fenton-project-lands-key-approval.html?ana=e_ae_set3&s=article_du&ed=2018-10-30&u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&t=1540930899&j=84729061

I really despise the sea of parking right at the entrance there.  I wish they'd pulled the Wegmans closer to the street and built a deck behind it that was faces with apartments/hotel/retail.

[nicholas]

23 hours ago, DPK said:

I really despise the sea of parking right at the entrance there.  I wish they'd pulled the Wegmans closer to the street and built a deck behind it that was faces with apartments/hotel/retail.

^^^THIS.

[Jones_]

I am always over my 3 article limit it seems like...where exactly is this going in the eastern edge of Cary?

[Prodev]

NWQ of I-40 and Cary Towne Blvd. across from Cary Towne Center.  It's the former county owned land south of the soccer park.

[KJHburg]

^^^^ about Fenton 

 

""The developer behind the long-planned $850 million Fenton mixed-use project in Cary can now buy the land needed for the development and could soon begin constructing the public infrastructure that will support it, with backing from the town.

That’s according to an agreement approved by Cary officials, which ensures the town will reimburse Columbia Development if and when it builds the new roads and underground utilities associated with the development.

The sprawling project is viewed as a catalyst for revitalization along Cary’s eastern gateway corridor, an area that has had its share of bad news in recent months. In May, Ikea announced it was abandoning plans for a new store at the struggling Cary Towne Center just across the street."""

from the Business Journal 

Here is their website http://www.fentonnc.com/

[nicholas]

The library is coming along.

[paytonc]

On 11/4/2018 at 10:59 PM, DPK said:

I really despise the sea of parking right at the entrance there.  I wish they'd pulled the Wegmans closer to the street and built a deck behind it that was faces with apartments/hotel/retail.

Or, at the very least, pulled the Wegman's to the back of the parcel. You'd think the whole point of an anchor store would be to draw customers past the other stores.

Wegman's is not nearly as progressive about its store layouts as, say, Harris Teeter. I've seen several of these new lifestyle centers built around them (Leesburg, Woodmore, Woodbridge, Hilltop Alexandria, Hunt Valley, Chestnut Hill, Westwood), and they always demand a giant parking field in front of their entrance. They're currently building out Metro-adjacent stores in multistory buildings in Tysons Corner and Hoffman Town Center; will be interesting to see how those work.

In adjacent news, Cary Towne Center was effectively foreclosed upon, and will be sold to new owners by next year. Anyone need a cheap stocking stuffer?

[nicholas]

A few updates from Cary.  First two pics are some sort of development happening along Chatham St in the eastern part of downtown.  The next three pics are of the new library as well as the freaking HUGE parking garage a few steps away.  Cary must have some major plans for downtown to build such a massive deck because it dwarfs literally everything else in the area.

[KJHburg]

3 hours ago, nicholas said:

A few updates from Cary.  First two pics are some sort of development happening along Chatham St in the eastern part of downtown.  The next three pics are of the new library as well as the freaking HUGE parking garage a few steps away.  Cary must have some major plans for downtown to build such a massive deck because it dwarfs literally everything else in the area.

 

It is their new huge library with parking garage.