Why won the 200 acre park in the ULI Development Plan be enough for the “Destination Park”?
About 1/3 of park land in any urban park is used up in roads, parking, and maintenance areas, this reduces the “useful” property of the 200 acre Dix Park to about 140 acres. The ULI development cuts the park property off from a green space connection to the Centennial Campus wetlands that connect to both Lake Raleigh and Walnut Creek. By turning the Historic Core into a densely developed office park it eliminates the opportunity for museums and other attractions to locate in the the Historic Core preventing this unique area from becoming part of the attraction to the site. Great parks require about 400 acres, and without the whole property and the connections to other green space the park won’t have the critical mass. Also, there is very little developable land to take advantage of opportunities that may arise. Most of the land is hillsides and floodplains that are fine for a passive park that would serve local residents, but not adequate to house the attractions that make for Destinat
