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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
One of those is not like the others.
I really don't think there's a significant difference between G'boro and W-S in regard to "wide freeways" and "heavy development".
Perhaps, Winston-Salem's nationally-acclaimed vibrant center city is the product of its focus on its core, instead of pursuing vacuous things like "wide freeways." Greensboro should try to replicate what Winston has done in an attempt to remedy it's underwhelming downtown and Podunk "skyline." They dont call it Greensboring for nothing.
Thats not a bad thing btw. Winston-Salem has the opportunity for better urban development outside the center city
Sprawl. The word you're looking for is sprawl. And that's not a good thing.
There is significant development outside of the city center, but a good bit of it is tucked away from the major highways. If anything, I'd prefer if some of the cultural centers (Reynolda House and SECCA, for instance) were nudged in closer to the city center. That's already happening with SCIWorks/The Childrens' Museum, and I'm excited to see that project get underway. I, personally, am also hoping for a first-run movie theater downtown at some point. a/perture is great, and I check out indies there with some regularity, but I would love to be able to see an occasional blockbuster downtown, too.
Perhaps, Winston-Salem's nationally-acclaimed vibrant center city is the product of its focus on its core, instead of pursuing vacuous things like "wide freeways." Greensboro should try to replicate what Winston has done in an attempt to remedy it's underwhelming downtown and Podunk "skyline." They dont call it Greensboring for nothing.
Describe underwhelming downtown. Tall buildings are not the essence of a downtown.
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.
Well stated.
And the Moravian vestiges are still ingrained in the ideology of Winston-Salem. But Winston has come a looooooooong way. And to think many, many moons ago, it used to be the premiere southeastern city.
Quote:
Originally Posted by UnderTheLiveOaks
Sprawl. The word you're looking for is sprawl. And that's not a good thing.
There is significant development outside of the city center, but a good bit of it is tucked away from the major highways. If anything, I'd prefer if some of the cultural centers (Reynolda House and SECCA, for instance) were nudged in closer to the city center. That's already happening with SCIWorks/The Childrens' Museum, and I'm excited to see that project get underway. I, personally, am also hoping for a first-run movie theater downtown at some point. a/perture is great, and I check out indies there with some regularity, but I would love to be able to see an occasional blockbuster downtown, too.
Perhaps, Winston-Salem's nationally-acclaimed vibrant center city is the product of its focus on its core, instead of pursuing vacuous things like "wide freeways." Greensboro should try to replicate what Winston has done in an attempt to remedy it's underwhelming downtown and Podunk "skyline." They dont call it Greensboring for nothing.
last time i heard "Greensboring" was around 2004, when Greensboro was litterally Greensboring, mind you in 2004 i was living in Charlotte, but as of this day and age, that statement is not true at all. You sound silly man, relax abit. Greensboro has way more going on than just "wide freeways" or we could simply ignore all of the construction reshaping the downtown and city center area at the moment. I also don't understand underwhelming, seeing as how Greensboro actually has a more vibrant downtown of the two..(basing this on personal experience, i basically grew up in windton) And as for the skyline, the buildings arent too tall, but it's still an atractive city.
i will say the first post basically set up the fate of this thread basing comparisons on Durham and Greensboro
As for "nationally aclaimed city center" i have no comment.
i will say the first post basically set up the fate of this thread basing comparisons on Durham and Greensboro
So let's stop. Greensboro isn't boring. It's nice. And Winston isn't stagnant. It's got quite a bit going on, has come a long way, and will be even further along in a few years. There's momentum and movement, and that's the literal opposite of stagnation.
And the Moravian vestiges are still ingrained in the ideology of Winston-Salem. But Winston has come a looooooooong way. And to think many, many moons ago, it used to be the premiere southeastern city.
Ummmm...when exactly was that??? Historically Winston-Salem was never on the level of cities like Charleston, New Orleans, and Richmond.
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