Hill May Get Flat Top For Development In Raleigh

"Where others saw a floodplain, Brewer saw a shopping center, and in the mid-1950s Raleigh rewarded him with its biggest shopping mall by far (at the time, it was the biggest between Atlanta and Washington) smack dab in the middle of where it floods every time there's a good rain. (Still floods there, in fact, which is kind of funny unless it's your car they're dragging out of it on the news.)"

"The main structure at the top of the hill burned down, and so naturally, some developers have latched onto the 24 acres that remain of Kidd's Hill, and they propose to build-well, whatever. A big parking deck, a hotel maybe, stores, condos; you know, they want one of those Raleigh PDDs ("planned development districts"), where you just make up your own zoning, and the word 'planned' is there for laughs."

"All of which would be neither here nor there in the story of Raleigh's comprehensive plan gone wild, except that instead of erecting a monument to Kidd Brewer at the top of his hill so that everyone who's anyone in the Cap City of tomorrow could honor him, these guys-they're from Atlanta-want to tear Kidd's Hill down."