For all of you non-drinkers, let’s not forget there’s a number of decent coffee spots downtown. (I personally enjoy Port City Java, being that it’s NC’s own.) In fact - I can’t believe that with all of the bustling activity downtown that the Starbucks Plaza proposal for Peace Street has been overlooked by everyone on here. 13 LEED certified stories of coffee lounges, coffee condos, and a boutique Hilton Garden Inn - plus a live outdoor poolside jazz/classical music lounge on the roof. So we’ll have a new central destination and melting pot for all of the coffeeheads, baristas, cultural socialites and afterhours Glenwood South partygoers to visit and hang out.

Let me add one more piece of good news that should demonstrate how both cities are great places: Salary.com put together their 2008 Salary Value Index, with Charlotte and Raleigh occupying the 15th and 17th position, respectively - look for the big cities at the bottom of the list… This is a major recognition, IMHO, that we have something to be proud of, no matter which city we prefer to live in.

Matt K., I work at Piccola Italia during most of the evenings, but there is no bias towards the food, particularly the pizza. It IS the best NY style pizza in the area, and all of our demanding customers from the Tri-State area (NY-NJ-CT) agree on that. Feel free to ask for me when you visit, but try to be there Wed-Sat, just to make sure I am not off that night. I will be glad to make sure you get the best service possible.

I don’t have a preference for Chicago OR NY pizza - both are just fine with me. (I lived in the Chicago area when I was younger, for what it’s worth.)

Thanks for tipping me on Cameron Village, Ernest - will definitely add that place on my “to do” list. BTW, I couldn’t agree more with the points you made on Raleigh’s public transportation problem. We need for Raleigh, Durham, CH and TTA all to tackle to regional transit problem TOGETHER. I understand that no one entity wants to give up control over what they already have, but they’re going to have to look beyond each of their own boundaries to see the problem and find a solution. I’ve seen LYNX in action in Charlotte, and I’m envious - Charlotte definitely has it together where public transit is concerned. But, what works for Charlotte may not necessarily work for Raleigh - our area’s communting patterns and habits are far too different. We really need to be examining other areas similar to ours - Dallas-Fort Worth, Oakland-SF Bay Area, places with spread out population centers like our own, to find ideas to work with.