Downtown Raleigh Economic Development Strategy
The Downtown Raleigh Economic Development strategy equips our community with the tools it needs to act boldly and dream big to intentionally create and cultivate a downtown for everyone.
Final Report (August 2024) Activating the Core Report (February 2024)
This plan provides a bold vision for Downtown Raleigh’s future rooted in the power of big ideas and collaborative thinking while highlighting our community’s unique strengths and shared ambitions for a renewed downtown. Produced by a consultant team lead by Interface Studio and commissioned by Downtown Raleigh Alliance and the City of Raleigh, this report shows how we can continue to build support and investment for a brighter and better tomorrow.
As Downtown Raleigh continues to experience exceptional growth, this report sets forward ambitious plans for investment in our downtown community to ensure Raleigh remains a leading market force for decades to come.
Explore the Plan
The recommendations from this plan can be summarized into four categories; Places, Connections, Community, and Celebration:
Planning Process
Through focus groups, individual interviews and surveys conducted over one year the consultant team solicited significant community feedback to inform this Economic Development Strategy. The recommendations included in the report reflect community input, address community needs identified during the process, and outline potential solutions for improving our downtown community.
What are we solving for?
Emerging from the COVID pandemic, downtowns nationally recognized that a new set of tools would be required to tackle systemic challenges and create thriving urban places. Hybrid work is more entrenched and the change in foot traffic and shifts in commuting patterns can have a significant impact on storefront sales and leasing.
Downtown Raleigh is unique and growing, but also disconnected in some places. New investment is happening but those developments are not represented equally across downtown, often separating the core from evolving districts and investments. Public spaces in downtown are often underutilized in their everyday activation and placemaking, creating an uneven experience.
This economic development strategy moves forward with the goal of inspiring our community to dream boldly for a new future that reflects our shared values and desire for a thriving capital city which celebrates all that makes Downtown Raleigh great.
For Downtown Raleigh to thrive into the future, we must coalition build together to advance catalytic investment and bold ideas for our community to grow.
Final Report (August 2024) Activating the Core Report (February 2024)