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I meant our downtown has a lot more potential growth. A second commercial district at this point in time would be competing with downtown. Although I would love to see such a district at some point in the future. Midtown seems like a good choice. However Four Seasons is right on the Interstate so that location would be higher visibility, easy access not to mention a number of hotels are in the vicinity. Today that area might not be ideal for upscale retail, office and High end residential but that's why it would need to be redeveloped much like Southside in downtown Greensboro. That neighborhood was plagued with drugs, hookers and crime 30 years ago but today its an upscale residential district with shops.
Yeah I mean the big hotel and convention center and mall might be somewhat of a headstart to the development there but overall I think it would be decades and decades away. If ever. My aunt and uncle live just a few blocks up off Vanstory and that area is years off being able to attract big money development. The mall itself would have to really turn around too. Probably being the 1st step. Overall I could see more development like Crabtree one day. Idk about a smaller North Hills/Buckhead though.
At the same time I would hate to see that area gentrified. Nothing wrong with focusing most development in downtown. A lot of people hate midtown style developments lol.
Downtown Greensboro is 210 years old. I think its already reached maturity. The creation of a second commercial district has nothing to do with the "maturity" of downtown. Besides, the area around the airport became G'boro's second commercial district a long time ago.
When he talked about downtown reaching maturity, I think he was referring to downtown being closer to being fully built-out but you bring up a really good point in that historically, the development of a second CBD (the airport area is a bit different as it isn't an intown commercial and retail district) in many cities wasn't due to the traditional downtown being fully built-out; Atlanta is a good example of this as the rise of Midtown and Buckhead actually coincided with the decline of downtown as investment and development shifted northwards to those other CBDs and in many ways, downtown Atlanta is still playing catch-up. But going forward, if America continues to focus on its traditional urban areas/downtowns and we don't experience another era of massive decline and disinvestment as we did during the mid-20th century, it's very possible that the establishment of new CBDs will actually be contingent on built-out primary CBDs/downtowns. I would predict that it would be a relatively affluent intown area that already has the commercial infrastructure and development to handle more intense development.
Yeah I mean the big hotel and convention center and mall might be somewhat of a headstart to the development there but overall I think it would be decades and decades away. If ever. My aunt and uncle live just a few blocks up off Vanstory and that area is years off being able to attract big money development. The mall itself would have to really turn around too. Probably being the 1st step. Overall I could see more development like Crabtree one day. Idk about a smaller North Hills/Buckhead though.
At the same time I would hate to see that area gentrified. Nothing wrong with focusing most development in downtown. A lot of people hate midtown style developments lol.
I agree. Decades away but possible. With the streetscape improvements and continued expansion at the coliseum, the seeds are being laid. It wouldn't be on the scale of Buckhead though. That whole district is larger than downtown Greensboro. As for midtown, I don't see it being a large second commercial district, I think we will see some high density residential, more retail,restaurants and entertainment. Publix will soon be built in midtown as well.
When he talked about downtown reaching maturity, I think he was referring to downtown being closer to being fully built-out but you bring up a really good point in that historically, the development of a second CBD (the airport area is a bit different as it isn't an intown commercial and retail district) in many cities wasn't due to the traditional downtown being fully built-out; Atlanta is a good example of this as the rise of Midtown and Buckhead actually coincided with the decline of downtown as investment and development shifted northwards to those other CBDs and in many ways, downtown Atlanta is still playing catch-up. But going forward, if America continues to focus on its traditional urban areas/downtowns and we don't experience another era of massive decline and disinvestment as we did during the mid-20th century, it's very possible that the establishment of new CBDs will actually be contingent on built-out primary CBDs/downtowns. I would predict that it would be a relatively affluent intown area that already has the commercial infrastructure and development to handle more intense development.
This could be a future trend as downtowns become more and more expensive to build in. It's not a bad thing and I don't think it will kill the downtowns. Downtown Atlanta is going strong despite the explosive growth in Buckhead.
I agree. Decades away but possible. With the streetscape improvements and continued expansion at the coliseum, the seeds are being laid. It wouldn't be on the scale of Buckhead though. That whole district is larger than downtown Greensboro. As for midtown, I don't see it being a large second commercial district, I think we will see some high density residential, more retail,restaurants and entertainment. Publix will soon be built in midtown as well.
Yeah no other southern city will grow anything on the scale of Atlanta's midtown or Buckhead lol
Yeah no other southern city will grow anything on the scale of Atlanta's midtown or Buckhead lol
Right no southern city can hold a candle to it. Maybe Miami but people tend to exclude Florida from the south lol. Even Charlotte has a long way to go before it looks anything like Atlanta. Atlanta seems to be developing impressive skylines all over. I saw a photo one time which seem to show Buckhead, midtown and downtown Atlanta's skyline appear as one big skyline for miles.
Right no southern city can hold a candle to it. Maybe Miami but people tend to exclude Florida from the south lol. Even Charlotte has a long way to go before it looks anything like Atlanta.
Right I generally don't consider Miami a typical southern city. Even being similar size it's just so different from Atlanta.
Right I generally don't consider Miami a typical southern city. Even being similar size it's just so different from Atlanta.
Florida's culture with exception to the panhandle is just totally different from the south. But I do marvel at the development going up in Atlanta. Great infill urban development all connected with MARTA. Greensboro will only look like that in a dream lol. But speaking of Greensboro lol, the Hampton Inn Downtown seems to be making progress. A lot of foundation work is going into the ground and the exterior of Caroll at Bellemeade and Hyatt place is nearing completion. I'll have to upload some photos.
This could be a future trend as downtowns become more and more expensive to build in. It's not a bad thing and I don't think it will kill the downtowns. Downtown Atlanta is going strong despite the explosive growth in Buckhead.
Only recently has that started to change. Over the past 20 years or so, most of the new residential, hotels, office, restaurants, and retail have gone to Midtown and Buckhead while downtown mostly got the new tourist attractions and GSU-related development. In the near future, things will be drastically different if current plans come to fruition as envisioned.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trent Y
Yeah no other southern city will grow anything on the scale of Atlanta's midtown or Buckhead lol
Actually uptown Charlotte is very comparable to midtown Atlanta, but I don't want this to digress into a pissing match. My point was that historically, the development of other CBDs in a city like Atlanta wasn't because downtown Atlanta was built out. The same goes for South Park in Charlotte. Those secondary CBDs started to become built up in an era when cities were more suburban-minded and offices sprung up near suburban shopping centers. That's basically the history of edge cities all across the country but that's a model we seem to be moving away from particularly as urban living is more of a thing now and more shopping is done online. In short, the trends that predicated the establishment of secondary office and retail districts are changing from what they used to be.
When he talked about downtown reaching maturity, I think he was referring to downtown being closer to being fully built-out but you bring up a really good point in that historically, the development of a second CBD (the airport area is a bit different as it isn't an intown commercial and retail district) in many cities wasn't due to the traditional downtown being fully built-out; Atlanta is a good example of this as the rise of Midtown and Buckhead actually coincided with the decline of downtown as investment and development shifted northwards to those other CBDs and in many ways, downtown Atlanta is still playing catch-up. But going forward, if America continues to focus on its traditional urban areas/downtowns and we don't experience another era of massive decline and disinvestment as we did during the mid-20th century, it's very possible that the establishment of new CBDs will actually be contingent on built-out primary CBDs/downtowns. I would predict that it would be a relatively affluent intown area that already has the commercial infrastructure and development to handle more intense development.
Downtown G'boro has plenty of unutilized and underutilized real estate to accommodate future growth for a long, long, long time. The Friendly Center area probably fits in with your definition of an intown commercial and retail district.
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