Earlier this week, the Technician reported that The Alley on Hillsborough Street would be converted into a Target. According to the story, the change is expected to happen in mid-November.
The conversion has some people up in arms, as they feel that this is another example of gentrification getting the best of Hillsborough Street.
As a super senior, I have been able to witness many of the changes that have occurred on Hillsborough Street firsthand. New hotels, swanky burger joints and overpriced apartments are all new additions — additions that do not personally benefit me.
In fact, NC State has changed tremendously in the almost four and a half years I’ve been here. I remember the dungeon that Talley Student Union once was and Carmichael Gymnasium before the facelift. When D.H. Hill was the only option. And while Hillsborough Street may not technically be a part of NC State, it only makes sense that they’d follow suit with a few upgrades.
Gentrification is problematic for many reasons, one being that it perpetuates elitist principles that often seek to rob urban areas of culture, history and value. Gentrification often seeks to appropriate or exploit, instead of celebrating and improving what is already there.
However, I’d hardly call Hillsborough Street “urban.”
In the previously mentioned Technician article, Chris Poole, the tenant of The Alley, stated that he would not be renewing his eight-year lease due to “increasing economic pressure from the rising prices of property on Hillsborough Street.”
New business often comes at a price. Sometimes changes are subtle and others are more drastic. Unfortunately, in cases such as that of The Alley, when businesses are not able to keep up, they are often pushed out.
I do not consider myself to be a fan of bowling. However, I am certainly able to respect Poole’s dedication to make The Alley a better place for customers and enjoyable for students and alumni. However, I am far more comfortable with The Alley being replaced by a Target, rather than something frivolous.
Sure, Target gets a bad rep for being hipsters’ favorite domestic playground. But in all honesty, a Target being located close to campus could be a really great convenience.
I didn’t have a car for half of my college career, and my family lives three hours away. The closest Target was not walking distance, and the prices at the C-Stores should be a crime. At the time, nearest option I had for personal products was Kerr Drugs, which has since been replaced with a Dollar Tree.
There is one problem that this new Target is not helping: parking. Hillsborough Street is not overflowing with parking spaces. Commuting to campus sometimes means leaving 45 minutes earlier just to find a decent place to park. One can imagine that adding a Target would only aggravate this problem, not help it. In addition, the current construction on Hillsborough Street is already quite intrusive.
Gentrification is a real problem, and it is happening all over Raleigh. But Target coming to Hillsborough Street just isn’t one of those instances.
Yet, Hillsborough Street is an extension of downtown Raleigh, a place that is increasingly growing in popularity. Gentrification works as an infection, spreading and growing and it is often hard to reverse. The people negatively affected by gentrification often do not have a voice or economic authority to combat it.
Pay attention to the economic development of not only Hillsborough Street, but the communities surrounding NC State as a whole. As NC State grows and changes, so will these areas.
Having a Target so close to campus is awfully convenient, but drawing the line now is imperative. Convenience and aesthetics are never worth the sacrifice that comes from gentrification.
