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Of course not the entire city. Reference my quote substantiating this attribution and I'll own up to it. At any rate, I think we've finally found agreement with your assessment of "large portions". It's good enough for me.
Literally nobody has denied that the East side is rough in many spots.
I spent most of my childhood/teenage life in Greensboro (70s-80s), and still visit relatives there.
The gentrified Walker Avenue area used to be mostly vacant storefronts and rentals in my time. The downtown and old Hamburger Square area has been upgraded since then.
I have to admit, the city looks tattered and worn-out on the south and southwest sides today. If a newcomer approaches the city for the first time along High Point or Randleman Roads, even Wendover - they aren't appealing arteries that have aged gracefully. Four Seasons Mall feels like it's hanging on... above "dead mall" status but it feels like a more glum place, some empty outparcels around the edges.
The northwest, north, and UNCG areas seem about the same as I remember. Battleground Avenue has gone uphill and downhill a couple of times in the past 40 years. Recessions drive a lot of businesses out, and then it reorganizes into a new array of things.
All in all - I think it's the same city. It's not as techie white collar as Raleigh, and not as corporate as Charlotte. A place that hasn't made great strides forward, or slid way behind either. Just a bigger version of a city that has kept plodding along.
I would not be ashamed to live there again, if I was transferred, or had to help an ageing relative. I could find the amenities I would want. It'd be OK. Better than living in Burlington or High Point. But I can't say I feel any real draw to return, either. It's not a city with something special about it that I miss.
Personally, of the many states and cities I have lived and worked in, Greensboro is my least favorite. I honestly cannot wait to get out of this place.
My opinions are likely more reflective of my lower income than anything. I think Greensboro is fine if you have enough money to enjoy its newer amenities downtown or on the NW side. Without these things, its an incredibly depressing place. As others have mentioned, you can basically draw a backwards "c" around the downtown and all of those areas are in some stage of blight/disorder. The crime/homelessness/poverty is unbelivable. The stench of weed is pervasive. The drivers are dangerous and disregard others. The commercial strips are dominated by bars, tattoo parlors, hookah lounges, and currency exchange places. The sad thing is that the cost of living keeps going up, trapping people in these locations with no upward mobility. I know, because I am trapped living in an apartment building where cars are broken into every week, shootings happen regularly, fights and noise disturbances are a daily occurence, and drug use is rampant. Yet, this is all I can afford and even now I am paying more than I should and commuting 20 minutes to work.
Yes, lots of other cities suffer from these problems. The issue with Greensboro is that there is no easy escape from the poverty/social issues here. There are no transiton zones for the lower to middle class. Everything is either too expensive, or poor and run down. There is no in between. Then there are the cultural issues. Many on the W and NW sides act politically 'holier than thou' with their lawn signs and 'brewpub culture', but they seem oblivious to the fact that they live in economically segregated enclaves that reinforce the same social inequalities that they rail against. This problem also exists elsewhere, but it is magnified in Greensboro where the divisons are less racial and more economic than any other city I have lived in.
Last edited by JerichoHW; 06-25-2022 at 12:36 AM..
I spent most of my childhood/teenage life in Greensboro (70s-80s), and still visit relatives there.
The gentrified Walker Avenue area used to be mostly vacant storefronts and rentals in my time. The downtown and old Hamburger Square area has been upgraded since then.
I have to admit, the city looks tattered and worn-out on the south and southwest sides today. If a newcomer approaches the city for the first time along High Point or Randleman Roads, even Wendover - they aren't appealing arteries that have aged gracefully. Four Seasons Mall feels like it's hanging on... above "dead mall" status but it feels like a more glum place, some empty outparcels around the edges.
The northwest, north, and UNCG areas seem about the same as I remember. Battleground Avenue has gone uphill and downhill a couple of times in the past 40 years. Recessions drive a lot of businesses out, and then it reorganizes into a new array of things.
All in all - I think it's the same city. It's not as techie white collar as Raleigh, and not as corporate as Charlotte. A place that hasn't made great strides forward, or slid way behind either. Just a bigger version of a city that has kept plodding along.
I would not be ashamed to live there again, if I was transferred, or had to help an ageing relative. I could find the amenities I would want. It'd be OK. Better than living in Burlington or High Point. But I can't say I feel any real draw to return, either. It's not a city with something special about it that I miss.
Well said. Well said.
Funny you mention the optics of the gateway thoroughfares into the city's core and downtown... I agree. I actually made a post about how GSO's core is hands down the most "grittiest" urban core of the state's "Big 5" cities.
You posted in that thread and disagreed, but you however acknowledge the tattered and worn out feel. I think it's character (which happens to be refreshing in light of such cities as Charlotte and Raleigh becoming increasingly vanilla, shimmery, glossy and cookie cutter-ish) that has been earned by time (and a subsequent measure of neglect) ...
...but I also think the people of the city's east, south and southeast side deserve reinvestment without displacement. I think there's a way to preserve character, yet upgrade infrastructure, too, as long as the people remain in place.
But for the most part, your post was spot on.
Last edited by UserNamesake; 06-25-2022 at 12:45 AM..
Personally, of the many states and cities I have lived and worked in, Greensboro is my least favorite. I honestly cannot wait to get out of this place.
My opinions are likely more reflective of my lower income than anything. I think Greensboro is fine if you have enough money to enjoy its newer amenities downtown or on the NW side. Without these things, its an incredibly depressing place. As others have mentioned, you can basically draw a backwards "c" around the downtown and all of those areas are in some stage of blight/disorder. The crime/homelessness/poverty is unbelivable. The stench of weed is pervasive. The drivers are dangerous and disregard others. The commercial strips are dominated by bars, tattoo parlors, hookah lounges, and currency exchange places. The sad thing is that the cost of living keeps going up, trapping people in these locations with no upward mobility. I know, because I am trapped living in an apartment building where cars are broken into every week, shootings happen regularly, fights and noise disturbances are a daily occurence, and drug use is rampant. Yet, this is all I can afford and even now I am paying more than I should and commuting 20 minutes to work.
Yes, lots of other cities suffer from these problems. The issue with Greensboro is that there is no easy escape from the poverty/social issues here. There are no transiton zones for the lower to middle class. Everything is either too expensive, or poor and run down. There is no in between. Then there are the cultural issues. Many on the W and NW sides act politically 'holier than thou' with their lawn signs and 'brewpub culture', but they seem oblivious to the fact that they live in economically segregated enclaves that reinforce the same social inequalities that they rail against. This problem also exists elsewhere, but it is magnified in Greensboro where the divisons are less racial and more economic than any other city I have lived in.
Wowza. Powerful post. I hope you can get civically engaged if you haven't already. You articulate well and your voice is needed.
I really like the "backward Ↄ" reference. Spot on!
I know there's a pretty large demo lower income folks that are really hurting in Greensboro and barely hanging on as money hungry landlords continue to convert more and more nearly substandard properties to "market rate."
Keep fighting the good fight. Make your opinions known to government and community leaders if possible.
Wowza. Powerful post. I hope you can get civically engaged if you haven't already. You articulate well and your voice is needed.
I really like the "backward Ↄ" reference. Spot on!
I know there's a pretty large demo lower income folks that are really hurting in Greensboro and barely hanging on as money hungry landlords continue to convert more and more nearly substandard properties to "market rate."
Keep fighting the good fight. Make your opinions known to government and community leaders if possible.
You are spot on about the landlords. My rent has gone up over $300 in the past 3 years, I am now paying a price that would have been inconcievable a few years ago. I have slowly been working up the promotion ladder in my job, but my living standard has basically only kept pace with my rent and inflation.
I guess this is a NC problem as a whole. Greensboro just happens to be a place where these issues are more pronounced and difficult to escape from. We also simply do not have the amenities of a Charlotte or Triangle which adds to the depression.
Things I do enjoy in Greensboro are the parks, the greenways, and the people (overall).
Personally, of the many states and cities I have lived and worked in, Greensboro is my least favorite. I honestly cannot wait to get out of this place.
My opinions are likely more reflective of my lower income than anything. I think Greensboro is fine if you have enough money to enjoy its newer amenities downtown or on the NW side. Without these things, its an incredibly depressing place. As others have mentioned, you can basically draw a backwards "c" around the downtown and all of those areas are in some stage of blight/disorder. The crime/homelessness/poverty is unbelivable. The stench of weed is pervasive. The drivers are dangerous and disregard others. The commercial strips are dominated by bars, tattoo parlors, hookah lounges, and currency exchange places. The sad thing is that the cost of living keeps going up, trapping people in these locations with no upward mobility. I know, because I am trapped living in an apartment building where cars are broken into every week, shootings happen regularly, fights and noise disturbances are a daily occurence, and drug use is rampant. Yet, this is all I can afford and even now I am paying more than I should and commuting 20 minutes to work.
Yes, lots of other cities suffer from these problems. The issue with Greensboro is that there is no easy escape from the poverty/social issues here. There are no transiton zones for the lower to middle class. Everything is either too expensive, or poor and run down. There is no in between. Then there are the cultural issues. Many on the W and NW sides act politically 'holier than thou' with their lawn signs and 'brewpub culture', but they seem oblivious to the fact that they live in economically segregated enclaves that reinforce the same social inequalities that they rail against. This problem also exists elsewhere, but it is magnified in Greensboro where the divisons are less racial and more economic than any other city I have lived in.
Nothing new here. Socioeconomic stratification is simply a fact of life in any capitalist society, and likely more so in a relatively poor, post-industrial Southern city. The vast majority of these cities will never fully recover from the loss of our manufacturing base. I don't understand your enmity toward those you perceive to be above your status, though your negative opinion is obviously tinged with considerable envy. They work, pay taxes and provide for themselves and their families in a manner commensurate with their economic means. It doesn't make them bad people. You've ascribed to them, pejorative qualities that are very likely absent. Is there an "easy escape" for you and similar folks? Of course not. We live in an extremely harsh and unforgiving world. I'm guessing that you'd like your city and county leaders to "do something". They have, they're bringing thousands of good paying low skill jobs to the area. And private sector providers will take notice with housing and amenities, priced commensurately with these incomes, sprouting like wildflowers. The best drivers of a capitalist economy will always be the private sector. And even now, Greensboro offers homes to those of more modest means in Northeast developments such as Reedy Fork, Nakota, and McKnight Mill. At the end of the day, for folks like yourself seeking upward mobility, it's jobs not government that offer a clearer path. Jobs first, jobs last and everything in between. Jobs that actually pay a living wage. Jobs that have been all but non-existent in the Triad. If you can get your foot in the door at Toyota, or even Publix, I think you'd begin to see things in a different light. And don't kid yourself, the aforementioned conditions, while perhaps more pronounced in Greensboro, exist to some degree in every American city.
My rent has gone up over $300 in the past 3 years, I am now paying a price that would have been inconcievable a few years ago.
I guess this is a NC problem as a whole. .
No, its a problem almost everywhere in this country, especially in more desirable places.. And in fact, it gives lie to the supposition that G'boro is somehow not a nice, desirable place to live. If that were true, rents wouldn't be rising.
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