Exploring Downtown

Defining & Understanding the Areas

The heart of any city is its downtown in days past, the busy hub of work, shopping, dining, entertainment, the arts community. Downtown Raleigh may have been no different from most any other quiet Southern town 40 years ago, as residents followed the trend to move away from the center of the city. But as the second-largest city in the Carolinas, the fastest-growing city in the state, and the very heart of the expanding Triangle metropolitan area, Raleigh today is experiencing a true renaissance and reveling in its rediscovery by people and businesses choosing to return to a downtown that is no longer simply a place for government and tall buildings.

Indeed, with a rich past that begins in the Mid 1700s, the 110 blocks that comprise Downtown Raleigh are a blend of history and the contemporary, divided into five distinct districts that together create a vibrant urban center offering a progressive, cosmopolitan, and diverse selection of options for life, work, and play something for everyone, just waiting for you.

Learn More About Each Area

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Getting to Know Downtown

Downtown Raleigh, the center of the second-largest city in the Carolinas and the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the state, includes 110 blocks divided into five distinct districts, surrounded by six historic neighborhoods with architecture typical of the later 19th and early to mid 20th centuries.

The Capital District, the largest of the five districts, is home to the state’s government complex. Located within this district are the Governor’s Mansion, the Legislature, and the original NC Capitol Building.

The Fayetteville District, directly south of the Capital District, is the Central Business District of Downtown Raleigh, distinguished by its skyscrapers and centered along North Carolina’s main street, Fayetteville Street.

East of the Fayetteville District is the Moore Square District, the focal point of the city’s art and cultural attractions that surround the grand oaks and gardens of Moore Square Park.

The emerging Warehouse District to the west of the Fayetteville District is defined by its red brick warehouses and is the future site of the Contemporary Arts Museum and a proposed commuter rail station.

The Glenwood South District, a vibrant restaurant and retail scene, lies due north and west of the Warehouse and Capital Districts, respectively.