Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High PointThe Triad Area
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Saw this piece on the news about a proposed ”Innovation District” downtown. Andy Zimmerman is involved. Says he was inspired by the success of Winston Salem's Innovation Quarter.
I've been saying this was needed for a long time. It would extend downtown South another mile. Years ago I had proposed it to be built on the southern end of downtown along the Greenway and where Marty Kotis purchased property between Gate City Blvd and the railroad tracks. Unfortunately he has other plans for that property and the land along the Greensboro all the way to the Salvation Army has already been developed with student apartments. It is a great way to utilize the land Zimmerman outlined but will it be enough land? They may have to build taller buildings.
The red highlighted area is where I envisioned the Innovation District. Unfortunately other developers have purchased the properties and done other things with the land. I feel like those areas would have been better. The blue area is where Andy Zimmerman is proposing the Innovation District. The further south you go in Zimmerman's highlighted area, the shadier the neighborhood becomes. Gets kinda sketchy.
Here is an outline plan. Looks like the city of Greensboro is already involved and the city's two biggest universities and GTCC want to get on board.
While it will start out with about 150 acres, looking at other city documents show a physical downtown district could get much larger extending over a mile snaking through downtown all the way to NC A&T State University. It's going to be much larger than the initial outlined proposal. The plan does not show the phase II which will increase it in size to about 500 acres.
@gsoboi79... but one good thing about it reaching into the sketchy aeras, means maybe there will be some gentrification and not be as sketchy in the future perhaps???
@gsoboi79... but one good thing about it reaching into the sketchy aeras, means maybe there will be some gentrification and not be as sketchy in the future perhaps???
True. That's what happened with Southside. Some of it has to do with how an area is perceived. The Greensboro Urban Ministry is nearby along with the Salvation Army/Goodwill which act as a magnet for the homeless. But I don't think that will be an issue in time when these proposals begin to rise from the dirt. But this gives Greensboro an opportunity to build an innovation district with some magnificent architecture. I hope they don't blow it with lackluster buildings. The architecture really needs to reflect what the innovation district will be about and that's cutting edge technology. There also needs to be parks, water features and plazas included in the district. I did a little search and state politicians are already asking for federal funding for the innovation district. The site would qualify for
a special funding program because it is in a depressed area.
Last year The city of Greensboro was selected by Segra to become a smart gigabyte community. Segra would also partner in the proposed innovation district so this proposal has some legs.
Saw this piece on the news about a proposed ”Innovation District” downtown. Andy Zimmerman is involved. Says he was inspired by the success of Winston Salem's Innovation Quarter.
Doing what Greensboro does best. Copying and trying to out do things that have been done by Winston-Salem and Durham. Maybe if the city for once tries something original it may have a better chance at succeeding at something.
Doing what Greensboro does best. Copying and trying to out do things that have been done by Winston-Salem and Durham. Maybe if the city for once tries something original it may have a better chance at succeeding at something.
Ahhh let's see Charlotte is planning on doing it too.
Greensboro's innovation district is not a copy cat of the Innovation Quarter because the focus will not be on biotechnology. In fact the Innovation Quarter in Winston-Salem was not an original idea. Durham's DPAC was not an original idea.
Ahhh let's see Charlotte is planning on doing it too.
Greensboro's innovation district is not a copy cat of the Innovation Quarter because the focus will not be on biotechnology. In fact the Innovation Quarter in Winston-Salem was not an original idea. Durham's DPAC was not an original idea.
Being that this was a Greensboro update, I swear I was waiting for that poster's arrival to see the negative spin he'd interject. God forbid a city study successful approaches taken by other peer cities in order to improve itself.
Being that this was a Greensboro update, I swear I was waiting for that poster's arrival to see the negative spin he'd interject. God forbid a city study successful approaches taken by other peer cities in order to improve itself.
Doing what Greensboro does best. Copying and trying to out do things that have been done by Winston-Salem and Durham. Maybe if the city for once tries something original it may have a better chance at succeeding at something.
Sometimes you can be a bit overly-critical on this board....
But this was literally my first thought. This isn't a step in the right direction... it's seeing something other places are doing well and screaming "OOO OOO ME TOO!".
Instead of doing the same things others do after the fact, the city brass should consider being at least somewhat bold for a change.
Being that this was a Greensboro update, I swear I was waiting for that poster's arrival to see the negative spin he'd interject. God forbid a city study successful approaches taken by other peer cities in order to improve itself.
Same here....he's so predictable.
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