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
Stop picking on the street people. I was homeless for a brief time earlier this year myself. Most of the street people are good people going through a tough time in their lives. I personally have never been a drinker of alcoholic beverages and I have never done drugs. I had to give up my apartment because I could no longer afford it. My job went remote at the start of the pandemic so I had to give up that too. Greensboro desperately needs affordable housing. I have a College education and lots of work experience, but it is not easy finding jobs that pay a living wage right now. I am staying with a family member now, but Greensboro needs to make it a priority to get affordable housing and great jobs so everyone can have a place to go home to.
As always with the city’s grand plans, the question is, ” How much is this going to cost us?”
Will the upgrade be on a par with the much vaunted “Greenway”?
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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!”
i do. approx once a month i bike thru motor vehicle carnage downtown. every night i hear motorcycle man racing thru town as loud as possible. blat blat blat – it must be their mating call !
LOL the great anti-car conspiracy theory. What a joke.
The Left believes in science and supports reducing emissions with the use of EVs, reduced driving etc… given the impact of emissions to climate change. You don’t have to worry. Your car is safe. Frankly the biggest issue with emissions is power generation and really more the focus for change.
many roofs were recently replaced because of ‘hail damage’.. NOWHERE did i see PV panels installed @ this ideal time! suggested considering adding PV panels on the roof of deep roots food co-op (owner 56), current manager responded ” how bout an ice rink’ chris, we are surrounded by idiots !
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Look up “Vision Zero”, its backers and its goals, along with some of the WEF’s papers on transportation. They even want to limit our flying “privileges” to twice a year.
In parts of Europe they’re already blocking off roads and imposing 20mph speed limits. No typo – twenty miles per hour! Then you’ll have to beg for a permit to leave your 15 Minute City.
All true. No conspiracy theory here.
As expected, you clearly misrepresented the proposal made under vision zero. Not shocked. Reading the actual proposal is rather complex to fully understand so I grt you struggle to understand it. Personally, I dont think it works as they think. But no, 25 mile our speed limits are not universal or required to participate in the program.
Also note they are private think tank making a proposal and not a governmental organization in Europe.
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Chris has been confronted with the truth – the “facts” – and he simply refuses to accept them.
Vision Zero is not a single proposal. He misunderstands it completely. It is a series of measures that are profoundly anti-car, and which would return Western society to the Middle Ages if implemented.
Also, I did not say that 25mph Speed Limits are universal; I said that parts of Europe have imposed 20mph Speed Limits (he doesn’t even get the number correct). Big difference, but that’s what Chris does. He twists what you said and then argues against that position which you never espoused. It’s called making a straw man argument. It’s a type of lying.
Furthermore, his English borders on gibberish, since his language skills are as poor as his reading comprehension, and… he insults MY intelligence!
This guy’s an imbecile who thinks he’s a genius.
Vision Zero is not anti car. It is pro driving safety. I do not support its way of thinking but end of the day it is about making driving safer, not eliminating cars. Don’t let your tinfoil hat slip off too far Al.
Yes downtown has 20 mile an hour speed limits. Not earth shattering.
The biggest issue with emissions is China
you haven’t experienced my flatulence !
I have emission problems at home.
i was promoted to peasant. lackey next if qualified & pass the test
Go to any thriving downtown in any mid-sized or large urban area in the US or elsewhere and you’ll notice something about parking: it’s inconvenient, it’s restricted, it’s expensive, and it’s discouraged. I recommend you get out more and see what a vibrant central business district can be.
Struggling, stagnant downtowns… What do they have in common? Plentiful, cheap/free parking. Seas of asphalt and entire blocks devoted to deck structures.
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You have the causation the wrong way round.
Derelict downtowns are trying to encourage visitors by making parking easy and plentiful. The easy parking is not the cause of the downtown dereliction.
I don’t know why it needs to said, but convenient and easy parking enhances and encourages more people to go downtown. Costly, inconvenient, scarce parking discourages people.
Simple.
Franklin Steet Chapel Hill disagrees with you.
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No, YOU disagree with me.
But I could say that ” 2 + 2 = 4 ” and you would argue, wouldn’t you?
ditto but if downtown is all cars n parking infrastructure how ‘attractive’ can that really be ?
paris is redesigning a large area of their urban to be vehicle restricted.
al, 2 turds + 2 opinions = 4 what ?
4 opinionated turds.
Well said. I am always shaking my head at people who complain about GSO parking. Have you ever been to a similar sized city or larger and it had on street parking that is free and ample? Please let me know where this Unicorn exists.
thank you. people desire to come here from all over to admire parking decks & lots
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.
well thought & articulated !
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.
NCDOT has it on its 10 year plan, 5 years ago. About 5 more years to begin work. It was in the news. At that time DOT was there for a few days surveying, etc I suppose for design and budgeting.
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?
so lets eliminate the buses/schedules/routes & go to a centralized controlled uber/ ride share /gig driver with private vehicles. customers phone exactly when & where they want to go even with negotiated ‘stops’
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Oh my god… did you never read “Brave New World”?
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It’s scary that so many people do not realize how their freedoms are stolen inch by inch, year by year.
It’s how you boil a frog.
i own it & will read it. huxley ?
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I recommend it to you. Go easy on the Soma.
And think again about giving up your right to physical freedom.
i am well into BNW & just learned there is a (sat,act) CLT – classical learning test – available that i want/need when reading pre 1930 literature.
halfway thru thnx! some of the predictions appear beneficial & MANY have already occurred.
just finished it. i hesitate to read current prose because of all ‘the canon’ collecting dust in my home
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.
“physical freedom” population density ? i think so ! the tighter ‘packed’ people get the more rulesnregsnlaws become essential.. if you fart u will be punished !
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.
I used to live downtown in the early 90s while attending college at UNCG. It was a ghost town back in those days will mostly vacant store fronts. Trust me, it is far more lively today than it was in the 90s.
it got real lively when george floyd – a&t students raged thru it & busted out windows. how many business’ closed because of that ?!
If “lively” is descriptive, you are right. I lived in GSO in the 40s & 50s. Then, downtown was the place to be. My parents worked there. I took the Duke Power bus (3 tokens for a quarter) to town every Saturday morning, rode home with my parents in the evening.
The Parades were packed with spectators, as smaller people like me had to scramble for a view. I believe that they started several blocks north of Market St., south to Lee St. A great time to be alive, as I realized much later.
our town has often had vibe. but not lately, consider that considerable vibe flowed away to our PRIMO coliseum complex & PRIMO shopping ‘centers’. we need a primo buffet downtown – it will succeed !
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.
i have it it’s carrots not sticks
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.
letz put a casino/buffet/vegas complex downtown — hundreds of jobs – beat rockingham co. to it – much infrastructure in place – soak those gambling suckers !
Beautiful, love it, we’ve been investing in real estate here in GSO for the last 7 years. We very much believe in the potential for the city and will keep supporting it. Thanks to all involved
& thanks for doing it so well & successfully that i never find your hand in my pocket !
add many other types of ‘games’ with or without ‘betting’ such as bridge, chess, scrabble, – tables of acquainted/ strangers. fun social stuff that occurs around ‘tables’ with real live living loving people of all ages. a casino were children can go safely/morally ? gottta have a primo/$$ buffet.
There is absolutely no hope for Downtown Greensboro. Who in there right mind would want to live downtown would you still have to get in your car to get anything done. Downtown is ugly, non vibrant, dangerous & just plain inconvenient.
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i live downtown & everything i need is < a mile away or cheap easy GTA/
i live downtown & everything i need is < a mile away or easy access by GTA or PART or UBER. live urban & DITCH that $$ sucking stink bomb that fouls everybodies environment. put that pump jack in YOUR front yard & the refinery in the back, jack !
There is absolutely no hope for Downtown Greensboro. Who in there right mind would want to live downtown would you still have to get in your car to get anything done. Downtown is ugly, non vibrant, dangerous & just plain inconvenient.
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urbanites ditch vehicle ownership for mass transit/ taxi/ uber transport saving, KEEPING, between $12k to $25k EVERY YEAR according to AAA statistics. & this $$ stays in my wallet EVERY YEAR ! PARKING ? HA HA HA HA !
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Great! You get on your bicycle, Markl. I’ll keep my truck.
Kinda hard to do my job using a bicycle…
i acknowledge your challenge & can offer no solution. because i can live urban ii ‘free-up’ rural for people – farmers etc who desire their ‘acreage’ lifestyles. altruism ?
Get rid of the homeless people. Who wants to go downtown just to see empty Old English bottles beside every park bench? Businesses can’t thrive downtown, and without businesses no one will want to live downtown, until this issue is resolved.
put ‘substance’ dispensers where we want them to ‘hang-out’. create easy law enforcement, social services EMS access. security cameras, shelter, free food only there somewhere along the railroad tracks ?
If I need to go downtown, it is Govt business. So I go in the daytime, not at night. There is no retail business downtown that I need, as there a plenty of choices elsewhere. For example, over the years, we saw many acts at the Triad Stage. Had dinner before the shows. No mas.
why ‘no mas’ ? safety, vagrants . . . ?
my mind is empty, may i go now ?
Didn’t know you were here…..
i’m not, wut did you do where why when in the USCG ? i am MED2 with ~6 years A/D & 15 in the active reserve . my retired pay is FAT CITY & the secret benny is the TRICARE medical coverage i get. i have monthly motivation to support my guvmnt. my GENIUS (often?) guvmnt !
As a former resident of Greensboro, downtown frustrates me. There has been progress, but none of the big job announcements have resulted in a greater demand for downtown office space. What frustrates me most is that the residential developments that do occur are mostly suburban in scale (out as opposed to up). Downtowns should maximize space to allow more people and a broader range of price options/styles. The business will follow once a critical mass of residents occurs, not just expensive housing for old people but housing that young professionals can afford. This is what is happening in Durham and to a smaller extent in Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Asheville. Greensboro’s downtown is unique in that the city has kept most of it’s charming architecture – that’s a head start that’s being squandered away.