Over the last six months more than 2,500 people have shared their ideas about what the future of downtown Greensboro should hold.
The result is a plan called “GSO35: Downtown in a Decade” – a set of proposals that lay out a ten-year vision for a downtown that’s meant to be welcoming, livable, connected and prosperous.
Plan backers say the timing couldn’t be better: Greensboro and the surrounding area have been riding a giant wave of economic growth that’s pushed the city into the national spotlight. JetZero’s plan to bring more than 14,500 jobs to Piedmont Triad International Airport was one of the largest job announcements in local history. Toyota is ramping up its multi-billion-dollar battery plant to the south of the city.
The GSO35 report says these are signs Greensboro’s time is now, and that the city’s downtown must grow with the same type of energy that’s electrifying the region as a whole.
The plan rests on four big moves.
The first centers on Church Street, where several sites are ready for redevelopment. The former News & Record property, the Galyon Depot, the Weaver Foundation property and the old Gate City Motors site are among the parcels that are expected to anchor new housing and commercial activity. Church Street itself is slated to be made more inviting – with improved connectivity and upgraded streetscapes. That corridor has long been seen as being underused and the plan calls for it to help spark a new era of growth downtown.
The second move focuses on Elm Street, the historic spine of Greensboro. The plan calls for more modern streetscapes and lighting upgrades, crosswalks and sidewalks, and for new programs meant to strengthen existing businesses. According to the plan, Elm Street should be the city’s showcase; and filling vacant storefronts, reducing retail churn and improving visibility and safety are necessary to keep the street vibrant.
The third major step is called “harnessing housing.” So much of the conversation among local leaders is about housing and it’s key to the new downtown plan as well.
GSO35 sets a target of 5,000 new residents downtown within the next decade.
That means a mix of apartments, condominiums and other types of housing designed to meet demand and attract young professionals as well as meet the needs of, say, older adults seeking out walkable neighborhoods.
Supporters say more housing is the only way to build a customer base strong enough to keep small businesses thriving and to sustain the restaurants, entertainment venues and services that give downtown its character.
The fourth move pertains to the city’s greenway. The plan calls for expanding it in a way that pushes the footprint of downtown outward and encourages development along its edge. The vision is to see new clusters of housing, food and drink establishments and creative maker spaces tied directly to the greenway, with the network becoming not just a recreational amenity but an economic development engine that draws people into downtown.
Unlike some past strategic plans, this one spells out exactly what success is supposed to look like in specific numbers. The goals include adding 5,000 new residents downtown, creating 3,000 new jobs, opening or expanding more than 100 ground-floor businesses, drawing 12 million annual visits, completing 10 major redevelopment projects and attracting at least $1 billion in private investment.
To keep things on track, an implementation team will be formed to oversee the work and make sure the plan doesn’t just sit on a shelf.
Durant Bell, vice chairman of Bell Partners and head of the GSO35 Steering Committee, called downtown Greensboro the cultural, social and economic heart of the community and said how the city shapes it now will define the city for generations to come. He also said the plan is bold, community-driven and powered by the input of the people, but also grounded in data.
Residents will have chances to learn more about the plan in the weeks ahead. Pop-up events are scheduled around downtown, starting with a gathering at Union Coffee on Friday, Sept. 19 that will run from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. (Visitors will get 35 percent off their morning coffee while hearing about the plan.)
Additional events are planned as well, and more information is posted online at GSO35.com.
The Wednesday, Sept. 17 press release announcing the plan details stated, “It will take all of us – neighbors, businesses, students and community leaders – to bring this vision to life” and argued that if the community works together Greensboro can create a downtown that is vibrant, inclusive and growing for generations.
Zack Matheny, the president of Downtown Greensboro, Inc., said this week of the plan, “This vision for downtown Greensboro was created by its people, shaped not by a few, but by the many. The hopes and ideas of those who live, work, and create here are the foundation of every page. With bold growth targets and a clear implementation plan, we are ready to put the people’s plan into action.”
If you ask the Rhino Times what downtown Greensboro needs most in the coming years, we’d say more parking spaces – preferably right in front of wherever we’re going. If you have any ideas as to how to improve downtown Greensboro, please post them in the comment section below.
Do any of this visionary thinking include replacing the two parking decks being torn down right now? You can spend as much money as you want on downtown revitalization but if there are places for cars people won’t come.
Agree. Every parking plan for the last 40 years has been…. Make it less convenient and more expensive
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Too true! But the Left hates the private automobile and is waging a covert war on it, and us as motorists.
They’ll make driving increasingly costly, slow, frustrating, and unmanageable – when it should be affordable, swift, easy, and seamless.
They want to herd us like cattle onto “Public Transportation” (Government transportation) and deprive us of our physical freedom. That’s what “15 Minute Cities” are all about.
“Get on your bike or catch a bus, you serf!”
Last I read, the city Council wants make the city car optional that will help downtown when you plan on adding 10,000 more residence. As I read through the candidate stand for a city council there wasn’t one of them that talked about the homeless situation, safety , increasing the police presence or enforcing laws. We will have a pretty downtown. No one goes to.
Never mind downtown and that silly walk path we’re spending millions on, the city needs to fix that Lawndale/battleground clusterf@ck and make it one road. It would be easier to navigate and would give two or three times the parking to all the businesses in the corridor. Green Valley to Cornwallis – make it one, normal road.
Parking is for sure an issue. Additional, thoughts include some level of free or low cost mass transit from outlying neighborhoods that run a regular cycle to encourage visitation from locals. If I’m going to a bar or restaurant one either needs a designated driver or not having any adult beverages, kind of defeats the purpose of hitting some of these places.
Also, how about eliminating cars traffic on the Elm St strip, at least weekends so that can be a walkway and add additional outdoor dining, popup stores, food truck rodeo, etc. Without a central draw suburbanites like me find it more trouble than worth to visit.
Mandelstamm, that’s because the politicians want you to ride their battery powered buses, instead of driving your car to downtown with nowhere to park. See how this works?
Wish you well. Parking? Safety? Affordability? Clean environment? Quality? Not sure Greensboro can deliver as this story/idea has been discussed for years.
If you build it, they will come.
GSO35: Search “Freedom 35 and Freedom 45 Trailer Park Boys”.
This reminds me of that.
I hope the development will be more creative and long lasting in design than the recent additions to downtown. I also hope these improvements will be privately funded with strict restrictions on appearance.
Clean up the downtown, clean the paint off the street on Elm St, This can all be done in 24 hrs.
Downtown Greensboro is a shell of it’s former self. A walking or driving tour is obvious. There is not one Supermarket downtown, and no plans to build one. Major employers include government and banks. Any development should come as needed from private business.
Why would anyone want to live downtown? You would have to get in your car and drive everywhere for just about anything.
The City might try a full, motivated Police Force, upholding the law without political interference, while directing their dollars for infrastructure, not just another parking lot, or goodies for the faithful.
The last time the city did a downtown beautification project, the core of300 S. Elm merchants were blindsided by
the sudden lose of 13 prime parking spaces for 40 years to the property owners at 324 S. Elm- for them, each space is $35/month and the rest of us $95/month and it may be higher now. For years, we have asked for a machine to clean gum off the sidewalks- never happened.
A plan to get rid of the street people downtown and around town would be huge. We all feel for this population but to roll out the red carpet in GSO does not make sense. This problem never existed in GSO before. GSO was once a wonderful well maintained city. The current leadership and direction is not good. Feel for the needy people but also feel for the real estate owners.
It is greatly appreciated the time, effort, and talent already invested in this ongoing proposal. Thanks to all who have provided input and especially to the investors who will see this through. There has never been a better time to be in Downtown Greensboro!
As for the occupying of vacant store fronts and lessening of merchant turn over, please consider the coming disruptions and consequences that will be imposed on existing Downtown businesses. While the Downtown property owners are watching their values increase, most of the smaller businesses already operating in Downtown are growingly concerned with paying the rent and keeping their staff fairly compensated with the anticipated challenges resulting from discussed projects. These businesses do not have the reserves to survive multi month shutdowns.
In order to keep current businesses successful, much more consideration needs to be about how the shiny new things impact those already trying to survive. The “Go With it….They’ll Figure it Out” method that has been used most often for many Downtown projects has left out all consideration of existing businesses.
Obviously the coming projects will be well funded. It’s time to allocate a portion of the upcoming projects’ budgets for the existing “mom and pops” to weather the coming storms.
This is great. I did not see the part where they re-fund the police force that was defunded and turned downtown into a dangerous wasteland. I’m sure more police and better security is a major part of the plan if anyone expects people to spend time downtown.