By Lora Lavigne, WRAL multimedia journalist
Three Wake County cities are giving their downtowns a makeover. The initiatives started earlier than the coronavirus pandemic, and native leaders have saved shifting them ahead.
Morrisville is quiet, with little or no exercise, however regardless of the pandemic, city leaders are re-envisioning progress. Neighboring cities, like Holly Springs and Apex, could possibly supply some inspiration.
Known for its massive tech firms, Morrisville sits within the coronary heart of the Triangle, but doesn’t have a coronary heart of its personal to name downtown.
“It looks like people are looking for that live, work and play environment where they can live close to somewhere where they can go and shop [or] they can go play in the parks,” mentioned Steve Rao, a Morrisville council member.
Rao mentioned that long-anticipated imaginative and prescient could quickly come. The city has partnered with builders, making nice progress to construct its downtown from the ground-up.
“We have a great, talented workforce, and we have great business community and entrepreneurs. So, being able to create this kind of environment right in Morrisville would be no different than what Raleigh has done, what Winston-Salem has done, what Durham has done,” Rao added.
“At one point in time, way back when, we didn’t have a downtown, and I used to get comments like, ‘When are you going to look like Apex?’” mentioned Dick Sears, the mayor of Holly Springs.
Sears mentioned his city additionally has come a good distance, touting the success of initiatives just like the Town Hall Commons.
The pandemic isn’t slowing Holly Springs down, with a number of initiatives nonetheless underway.
“We’re welcoming new businesses in town as fast as they can come, and now we have a new one called the Block. We are going full blast. I think you’ll find we’re investing in downtown more than anybody else,” added Sears.
