Winston-Salem Is Such A Nice City...Why Is It (Kinda) Stagnant? (Charlotte: house, movie theater)
Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High PointThe Triad Area
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It wasn't so long ago that Greensboro was larger than Raleigh. Go back another decade from then and I think that W-S was also larger. Growth over time accumulates. Durham is no longer positioning for 4th and soon it will be battling for 3rd. The only caveat is that cities can no longer annex at will and Greensboro does have 19 more square miles of land than Durham. Durham started this decade with a lot of runway in regard to ppl/sm. It wasn't all that densely populated. Will its relatively small land area eventually slow its growth rate? Time will tell. Then there's the monster that's lurking....Cary!
I dont consider it much different from say roanoke VA
no diversity either can feel pretty bible belt ish
This. I'm a WS native and it is far and away better than it was in 80s and 90s. There's much more activity downtown than in those times in terms of nightlife, lots of bars and restaurants.
That being said, I think the history of the city has left some deep impressions. Winston is provincial for a city of its size, IMO. I think it's slow to change and adopt innovate ideas like RTP and Charlotte. It is less diverse than Greensboro, which boasts not only a well-established Jewish community, but other international communities. Greensboro is a college town with a couple more universities than Winston. The large public university aspect, I believe, adds a certain flavor and liveliness to a city that you don't see in places without one. I can say this being an ECU alumnus and was dumbfounded to see a relative abundance of eclectic businesses and activities in a small rural town a fraction of the size of WS. WS and it's colleges are economically stratified and historically have served specific groups of people: an HBCU, small public arts college, private small women's school, and a private elite university.
Couple that with the history of tobacco and textiles which are blue collar industries that don't really exist anymore and you have a city that feels a little smaller than it is. The class and race divisions created by those factory jobs still remains. I do believe service industry jobs are the most plentiful. The Winston area isn't really known for quality employment and the Triad is pretty much the most food insecure location in the nation. That speaks to a persistent inequality in opportunity for people, as a whole. I think that's why it feels kinda stagnant.
Over the many decades and despite the balance of the park between Durham and Wake Cos., RTP has done more for Raleigh's growth than for Durham's. Durham has made a conscious and focused effort starting a couple of decades ago to transform itself that has changed its trajectory.
Agreed. However, its proximity to Raleigh definitely helped. The median income of Winston and Durham household are noticeably different by over $10K. I really liked the creativity and time they took to convert a huge tobacco warehouse facility into a bunch of trendy little restaurants called American Tobacco district. There's a little waterway that runs through it. In warm months, you can watch a Bulls game from the patio of Tobacco Road restaurant. It's really cool. Also, they have a two relatively large concert venues downtown and Winston doesn't. Those things make a city feel like a city, IMO.
I don't think Winston-Salem is stagnant. But I have heard that outside of the downtown area there is not thay much going on and the city outside of downtown doesnt have a lot of urban qualities.
I don't think Winston-Salem is stagnant. But I have heard that outside of the downtown area there is not thay much going on and the city outside of downtown doesnt have a lot of urban qualities.
You've heard? You're a half hour away. You can always go see for yourself.
I don't think Winston-Salem is stagnant. But I have heard that outside of the downtown area there is not thay much going on and the city outside of downtown doesnt have a lot of urban qualities.
Those statements are so vague as to be meaningless.
I guess what i meant was you don't see the wide freeways and heavy development coming into the city like you do in Charlotte Raleigh and Greensboro. Its almost like you see a lot of trees and then boom you are downtown. Thats not a bad thing btw. Winston-Salem has the opportunity for better urban development outside the center city
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.