Real Kato Blog: Town of Cary

This city drives me crazy sometimes. (Oops: I mean "town". The word "city" is apparently too urban.)

A few weeks ago, our town council decreed that downtown businesses could not use illuminated signs in their windows. They were also not permitted to use sandwich boards or the like. Apparently, people are just supposed to guess that the businesses exist, and guess as to what is being sold.

A lot of businesses in that area go under within a few months. The lingerie store, Crash and Cocoa, is popular with my friends but is struggling to get by. They'll probably have to close. Cafe Ciao, one of the few interesting places to go out at night in Cary, is doing well for now, but without supporting business around it, how long will it last?

It's typical for this city. There seems to be a vocal group of residents who are intent on having Cary be a sleepy suburban town, with dashes of strip malls between tightly-regulated subdivisions, but nowhere really to eat or shop. So we all drive to Raleigh when we need anything.

Here's the logic that people seem to miss: we can have nightspots and commerce in this town without degrading the residential quality of life. Those things are not mutually exclusive. We're not talking about casinos and strip joints here (though there is one strip joint smack in the middle of downtown, because Cary had a whole in their zoning ordinances and couldn't close it before the place opened). We're talking about pubs, restaurants, wine bars, boutiques, art galleries, museums, and theaters. We're talking about a nighttime destination where we can walk around from place to place. For you family-oriented people, by the way, that means less traffic and fewer drunk drivers.

Sure, we can put stuff out on the edge of town, like Macgregor Village. But it's too far for most folks, and there's still not enough to do there. Downtown Cary has the potential to be a really interesting, charming, and accessible place. We really need to get the Old Cary Guard out of there, breathe some life into this place, and make it so we are not the cultural laughingstock of the Triangle.

It almost makes we want to get into politics.

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