'A park plan only a bunch of developers could love'

That's how Bob Geary describes the Urban Land Institute's proposal for the Dorothea Dix Hospital property near downtown Raleigh in this week's Independent. The ULI recommends developing a third of the available 300 acres for residential use.

ULI -- a nonprofit think tank affiliated with the for-profit real-estate development industry -- was paid for its advice by the Dorothea Dix Property Study Commission. The think tank came up with its recommendation for Dix despite a poll taken earlier this year that found almost two-thirds of Wake County voters want all the land to be set aside for a park.