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Alcohol to-go: Social district opens Monday in downtown Raleigh

New drinking rules take effect Monday in downtown Raleigh.

Posted Updated

By
Nia Harden
, WRAL reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. — New drinking rules take effect Monday in downtown Raleigh.

Raleigh's social district opens at 11 a.m., allowing people to stroll the streets with open-container alcoholic drinks sold by licensed restaurants and bars.

The social district encompasses Fayetteville Street from the State Capitol to the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts and includes Red Hat Amphitheater. City Market is part of the proposed district whereas Moore Square and Nash Square are not. Dawson, Morgan, Blount and South streets form the district's border.

The social district will be in operation 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days per week.

“I’m optimistic that it will bring people walking in and take one to go,” said James Goertz with Short Walk Wines.

Signs are posted around the borders of the social district to let people know where they can and can't drink.

Restaurants will sell wine, beer and cocktails in special plastic cups for customers who wish to order them to-go. There will be no glass containers.

The city of Raleigh is proposing a social district area for its downtown. The city of Raleigh provided the map.

The original goal was for the city to implement its social district by the summer with the idea of bringing more foot traffic to downtown Raleigh.

“I think the best-case scenario is it brings people down to spend longer time in downtown [to] sort of lengthen their trips downtown,” Downtown Raleigh Alliance President and CEO Bill King.

Several municipalities throughout North Carolina already have social districts in place, including Greensboro, Hickory, Kannapolis, Monroe, Newton, Norwood, Salisbury and Sylva.

Other municipalities across the state are also considering social districts, including Albemarle, Charlotte, Durham, High Point, New Bern, Waynesville, Wilmington and Winston-Salem.

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