Greensboro will soon have a new mayor and a largely new City Council and those leaders will have some hard work ahead of them managing things like fast economic growth, the housing crunch, the homeless problem and many other issues.
It will be interesting to see how well they do; however, when it comes to addressing a lot of those challenges, there’s a long-term strategic plan in place to tackle them.
On Friday, Nov. 7, the city was highlighting the plan meant to give direction to Greensboro.
Five years after the City of Greensboro adopted its ambitious GSO2040 Comprehensive Plan, city officials say the work to build a more connected, equitable and forward-looking community is well underway – and they’re taking World Town Planning Day as a moment to show what’s been accomplished so far.
The City of Greensboro Planning Department released its semiannual GSO2040 implementation newsletter this week, marking a quarter of the way through the 20-year plan that was adopted in the summer of 2020.
The report, which was posted online to coincide with World Town Planning Day, describes how the city is turning long-term goals into visible progress across housing, transportation and neighborhood development.
Greensboro Planning Director Sue Schwartz called it a fitting day to reflect on the progress so far.
“World Town Planning Day is an opportunity for us to recognize how important planning is to the growth and development of our city and the preservation of our beloved neighborhoods and spaces,” Schwartz stated in the city’s press release. “It’s the perfect day to celebrate the progress we’ve made on our GSO2040 goals.”
City officials describe the comprehensive plan as a “roadmap to the future.”
The new update begins with a reminder from city officials that great communities don’t just happen – they require steady work and sustained commitment. It also stresses that the city’s growth is both exciting and challenging, and that that progress must balance new opportunities with Greensboro’s long-established character and sense of community.
The new report highlights several major initiatives that have defined the first five years of the plan. One of the most visible is the Road to 10,000 program – a multi-year push to increase Greensboro’s housing stock to keep pace with the city’s growing population and massive job growth. With tens of thousands of new positions expected in sectors like aviation, advanced manufacturing and life sciences, city leaders say that adding a diverse range of housing is critical to maintaining affordability and quality of life.
Economic development numbers underscore that need: According to the update, Greensboro and Guilford County have added more than 22,500 new jobs in the past five years.
In addition to the private investment that figure represents, the city notes that workforce programs like Guilford Works’ Mobile Job Center and the GearUp apprenticeship program are connecting residents across Guilford County to these new opportunities. The newsletter states that growth “translates into an exciting future with new homes, new neighbors, and new opportunities,” and stresses that the city wants to grow “with” the community rather than grow “around” it.
Another emphasis of the plan is transportation – what the city calls “becoming car optional.” Greensboro has been investing in safer, more accessible ways to move around, including a new Neighborhood Safety Program that drew 349 applications in its first year. Two projects have been completed, three are in progress and more are under review.
The City of Greensboro has also added bike lanes, is finishing the Downtown Greenway and is developing new cross-town bus lines under the Crossmax system and the upcoming GoBoro transit plan.
The newsletter also points to smaller-scale efforts that bring planning directly to residents.
The city has been holding what it calls “Road Shows.” Those are mobile community engagement events where staff from multiple departments meet residents in neighborhoods to answer questions, gather input and listen to new ideas. Officials say that these sessions are designed to help Greensboro residents shape not only the city’s overall direction but also the look and feel of their individual neighborhoods.
Greensboro has also advanced several area and corridor plans that tailor long-term growth for specific parts of the city.
Here are some examples…
The Randleman Road Phase 2 Corridor Plan focuses on re-energizing a key southern gateway. Improvements so far include more traffic enforcement, new and repaired streetlights to eliminate dark spots, stronger code enforcement and collaboration with Retail Strategies to attract restaurants and retail options.
On the east side, the East Gate City Boulevard Corridor Plan builds on one of Greensboro’s best-known thoroughfares. Current efforts include two major transportation studies – one addressing traffic “calming,” non-car travel, and transit options, and another exploring the potential for Bus Rapid Transit express service along the corridor. Construction is underway at the Windsor-Chavis-Nocho Community Complex, and 13 surrounding neighborhoods have formed a Unified Neighborhood Alliance to strengthen local connections.
In northwest Greensboro, near the fast growing Piedmont Triad International Airport, the Fleming Road Area Plan is guiding development in an area expected to see significant new growth. City officials say this plan is designed to identify suitable places for future housing and commercial expansion while preserving quiet residential streets, protecting natural landscapes and maintaining the charm of existing neighborhoods. It also encourages a range of housing types to serve the area’s changing population.
Together, these projects represent what city leaders call “wins both big and small” – practical steps that move Greensboro toward the future described in GSO2040 while staying true to the city’s history and character. The update notes that progress so far has been steady; however, the work is far from finished.
“This is a marathon, not a sprint,” the report says, adding that Greensboro’s friendly and open nature remains central to its growth.
City leaders are encouraging residents to follow the plan’s progress, sign up for updates and attend upcoming community events. Information and subscription links are available through Greensboro’s website on the GSO2040 page under “News.”
As the plan enters its next five years, city officials say Greensboro is “stepping into a beautiful new future” – one that honors its past while building for the decades ahead.
Welcome to the Socia….uh, Democrat Workers Party Utopia.
And a special dropped-pants thank you to all those who did not vote.
“People deserve to get to government they vote for.” Or don’t vote for.
Nope. Will not happen. You won’t have enough people paying the taxes. You are making assumptions that all the ” new jobs” you keep talking about will cover the current excessive waste. There will be no ” beautiful new future” just a nice utopian dream.
What happened to GSO35?
That is just for downtown. GSO2040 is for all of Greensboro
World Town Planning Day…..now there’s a holiday that government workers can love…….
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What a load of crap.
“World Town Planning Day”. “…great communities don’t just happen”. Oh yes they do! ALL great cities have grown organically and naturally. London is thousands of years old, and is still one of the World’s great cities.
This illustrates the inconvenient fact that City Planners are irrelevant and unnecessary, which is a conclusion that City Planners want you to avoid. They like their salaries and sinecures. In truth they are paid busybodies and meddlers, unelected bureaucrats who think they know what’s best for the rest of us.
And they are determined to impair our physical freedom, as they vow to make driving as time consuming, frustrating, complex and costly as they can. They’re calling it making our city “car optional” – which means waging a war on our cars, and trying to force us into public transportation – government transportation.
Americans don’t like being herded like cattle and moved around en masse, from an origination point they didn’t choose to a destination point they don’t want.
But Leftists (and all “planners” are Leftist statists) despise and resent the private automobile – because it is individual freedom and it’s difficult for them to control.
We’re going to have to fight these control freaks on every issue, in every instance, in every measure they’ll try to impose on us.
Join the NMA. National Motorists’ Association. And defend your freedoms.
Or you’ll lose them.
The best way to control the freaks is term limits. Term limits reduce the chance of another Skip Alston, Nancy Pelosi, and Bernie Sanders. The politicians will never willingly support term limits. Term limits must be a grassroots effort. Email politicians en masse supporting term limits.
————– Agreed.
Try getting term limits through Congress.
Austin at my house every year we celebrate Tax Freedom Day. This next year I believe it falls on April 25. The neighborhood turns out and there are games for the kids like bobbing for can Spam and pin the tail on the government administrator. Now of course if you factor in the cost of federal deficit spending as well and the party would be sometime in early October. Party on
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Yep, government is insidious and covert in its malevolence.
In the 1970’s my father had an office in Headrow House, Leeds, one of the major office buildings in the city centre. The Inland Revenue had the top floor, and my dad became friendly with the staff as they’d meet for lunch in the building’s cafeteria. One of them told my dad that they’d conducted a study to see just how much of an average man’s income ended up back in the government’s coffers, one way or another (including local govt.). The guy refused to tell my father the percentage, but he said that there would be a revolution if the number became public.
In the UK the people are serfs, slaves to their masters, who allow them to keep just enough so they keep running away on their hamster wheels – and generating more money for the public sector parasites.
Even here, I just pumped gas and bought cigarettes for my wife. I wonder how much of my money was clawed back by the Parasitic Sector… out of my “after tax income”.
The one thing I assumed city planning professionals would actually be needed for is planning efficient roadways. The rest I am not so sure but if roads were built willy nilly, it would be a bigger mess than even now. The grid pattern that makes navigating NY so simple didn’t happen without planning.
many of the buses i see in the downtown are passengerless. consider eliminating them & let ‘gig’ workers do transport portal to portal in their private vehicles ? subsidize cabs ? capitalism ?
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Yes Markl, most of the buses and public transportation are so useless and inappropriate to the actual needs of real people that they just drive around empty, or mostly empty, all day.
It’s government in action – “helping people”.
Costs us taxpayers a lot of money, though.
ditto
If it is “car optional”, then all city planners should be required to use optional transportation and not depend on personal and city owned vehicles to move around from point “A” to point “B”. Maybe they can use “optional virtual office” and just stay home.
Absolutely!
Make THEM ride the damn buses.
Automobiles are the largest manufacturing business in the Country. At the turn of the last century, automobiles transformed the Republic with prosperity & freedom. Think of having fresh vegetables trucked in from out of state during off season. Or lobsters from Maine, Cigars from Florida, smart clothes from NYC. Drive 30 miles to Mom & Dad’s for Thanksgiving, no problem.
The LEFT wants us all dependent upon them. For all this, for everything. Big Brother is here now.
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The private automobile has transformed society, providing unheard of freedom to millions. It has empowered individuals and provided everyone with opportunities that were previously impossible.
On top of these concrete benefits, it represents individual freedom – which is why it is so beloved in the country that most treasures liberty.
All this makes it a target of the Left, because the Left craves control and authority over everything.
Freedom is anathema to Leftists.
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Love the photo… but when are we getting the flying cars, Scott?
Aren’t we behind schedule on that ?
[ had to tease you ]
Al,it should be any day now according to the flying car scientists.
Ahh…
I guess that’s like the sign above the door at College Hill Sundries : “Free Beer Tomorrow!”.
You are thinking Mamdami?
No, I’m thinking “tomorrow” never comes.
is angel still alive ? electro isn’t but might be if he had avoided the place !
2 more weeks…
We did a lot of things right now we will see. I still can’t believe the TANGER CENTER was built with private funds
The real shame is that we lost three very capable people that were willing to serve while holding real jobs. The city government was not their primary source of income.
Don’t screw it up as GSO was poised to take off.
Pay for what you vote for. Congratulation, Greensboro voters. You thought Nancy was wasteful with our tax dollars–get ready for the waste about to come.