Hillsborough Street must have the highest number of automotive service shops (both current and abandoned) of any street I’ve ever been on. Most of them are clustered around the campus area, but there are a few that are closer to the Capitol Building end of Hillsborough Street.
Even more peculiar is the brand new asphalt surrounding this otherwise decrepit building. What gives? This end of the road isn’t exactly the hottest piece of real estate downtown, but I still don’t understand how this property has been able to sit in this condition for this long–unless there are environmental issues requiring cleanup before redevelopment.
This building gives us a peek into Raleigh’s past. With the development about to take place just around the corner, I can’t imagine this will continue to be an abandoned relic.

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Over the years I’ve heard of really old hobbit-like doors in old cities that were short, rounded, and had the knob in the middle of the door. This is the first one that I’ve noticed (although not round nor short) in Raleigh.
It makes you wonder, what is really the advantage of placing the knob in the middle?

It wasn’t exactly planned, but today must be “alley day” as I also posted an alley shot for Goodnight, Asheville! too. This one in particular is by the old Water Works building in the Warehouse District. If you look carefully you can see the Clarion Building poking out above the horizon.