I don’t get it! With so many ways to make the Raleigh > Charlotte argument (our anchor bank wasn’t recklessly imploding the economy , traffic isn’t nearly as awful, watching college basketball is far superior to the Bobcats, no disturbing crime rate, we don’t have to listen to Pat McCrory) it’s strange that one would select Center City Charlotte vs. DTR as proof positive of Raleigh’s awesome-ocity.

But that’s the tack President David Diaz of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance went with, because I guess it’s his job and everything, in an interview for Volume 5, Issue 6 of the Raleigh Downtowner (don’t act like you’re not preserving every issue in mint condition): Okay, the answer to question 4 is more jam-packed with irony than a Brooklyn Whole Foods, so let’s re-post Diaz’s grandiose downtown plans with links to what Charlotte already has:

I’d like to see a grocery store, an outside concert amphitheater with about 25-30 concerts a year with 5,000 people and a separate tent amphitheater. It’s very important to bring more amenities for people to come downtown. I’d like to see an outdoor ice-skating rink during the winter, a Saturday’s farmers market on Fayetteville Street and live/work space for artists. We could have 50 artists on the bottom floor, but they would all would live upstairs. I’d love to see more small live music venues[maybe Raleigh should stop knocking them down], and a better defined entertainment district that is anchored by an amphitheater but spawns out to other areas.

Mr. Diaz went on to admit that he LOVES Family Guy! It’s his favorite show, man, “clearly better” than The Simpsons, although when pressed for an opinion on the show’s future, he felt it might benefit from more satire, original content, and less “toilet humor.”