How are main streets near Triangle colleges doing compared to UNC’s Franklin Street?

Josh Shaffer
·2 min read

You can still buy a used paperback, a vinyl record and a cup of espresso on Franklin Street — staples of a college town’s main street.

But the favorites are vanishing fast in Chapel Hill, enough that UNC alumni feel lost on their Tar Heel Street — most acutely since the recent departure of Linda’s Bar and Grill.

In a 2023 article, Governing magazine urged alumni to embrace change and stop asking their alma mater towns “to remain an idealized version of what they were in the past,” noting that this NIMBY bent seems strong around both Indiana University and the University of Michigan.

The Triangle has long been blessed with main streets running next to major college campuses, offering an eclectic mix of offbeat book stores, coffee houses and bars.

Here’s how other Triangle big school strips are faring:

Hillsborough Street in Raleigh

The same laments over Franklin Street’s loss of soul ring loudly at the front door of NC State University. Years after they shut their doors, Sadlack’s, Western Lanes and East Village Grill are still mourned by alumni and Raleigh locals.

A report from the first half of 2023 shows residential development still booming around campus, with more than 2,000 units finished, suggested or on the way. Still, vacancies there persist, according to the report from the Hillsborough Street Community Service Corporation, and rent on Hillsborough rises past Raleigh’s average.

A recent walk along Hillsborough showed a parade of chain restaurants — popular with students but bemoaned by alumni — and an empty spot at what used to be Umami Asian Bistro, one of the larger spaces.

The DoubleTree hotel at 1707 Hillsborough Street is demolished to make way for new N.C. State student housing on Sept. 29, 2023 in Raleigh. Originally constructed as a Holiday Inn in 1966, the hotel was also named The Brownstone for a period of time.
The DoubleTree hotel at 1707 Hillsborough Street is demolished to make way for new N.C. State student housing on Sept. 29, 2023 in Raleigh. Originally constructed as a Holiday Inn in 1966, the hotel was also named The Brownstone for a period of time.

Food and beverage sales fall below the city’s average mark, with the report warning of post-pandemic doldrums for restaurants and bars — a familiar picture.

Still, major construction is clearly happening, most noticeably at the former Brownstone Hotel, cleared for a 12-story student luxury housing complex with a spa and coffee shop.

Durham’s Ninth Street

Turnover remains a theme on Duke University’s unofficial main drag, which, unlike in Raleigh and Durham, does not pass the front door of campus.

But while the pandemic claimed Chubby’s Tacos and even Waffle House, the city and campus are doing less hand-wringing over Ninth Street’s future.

The new Common Market in Durham opened near Ninth Street, serving sandwiches all day, plus beer and wine in a basement bar.
The new Common Market in Durham opened near Ninth Street, serving sandwiches all day, plus beer and wine in a basement bar.

It remains a haven for Asian eateries, particularly the long-standing Bahn’s Cuisine.

Barnes Supply Co. and The Regulator Bookshop still show their familiar faces.

And in September, Common Market opened its neighborhood hangout around the corner on Green Street, offering a deli, basement bar, coffee counter and ice cream parlor.

Photo gallery: Take a look at Chapel Hill’s Franklin Street through the years