Ideas for Downtown Greensboro
Here's a list of things that I think downtown Greensboro needs (all of which I think would thrive). Normally I favor independent unique stores/restaurants over corporate chains, but I think a couple non-local things could enhance the downtown area.
These ideas are gold, I tell you, GOLD. So if you've got some cash to invest in the g-spot, feel free to use any of the following:
1. A Sullivan's Steak House/Martini bar, perhaps in the old Silver's Dime store on the corner of Washington and South Elm (currently home of Glitters but the building is available for redevelopment). There's no steak house for power lunches/dinners downtown. Neither is there an upscale (non-clubby feeling) bar catering to the upper twenties/early thirties group.
2. I think that the first two floors of the Greensboro Bank and Trust building across the street from the old Silvers building would be a great spot for a Borders Book Store. The chain is known for taking risks with urban locations, and that would be a really impressive space for such a store. The retail spaces on the ground floor of that building (facing Washington Street) could also be utilized better to increase foot traffic in the area. The increasing density in the center city could sustain such development.
3. An independent movie theater, possibly in a mixed use redevelopment at site of the old North State Chevrolet Dealership by the new stadium. A place for indie/obscure films would be a cool addition to downtown.
4. A live music venue, analogous to Ziggy's in Winston or Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill/Carrboro. There's currently no indoor place in Greensboro to host moderately big bands, so you're either going to be crammed into a bar listening to some no name band or at the coliseum watching NSYNC.
5. A trendy independent clothing retailer. There's currently no place (that I know of, anyway) in the entire city that sells high-end jeans (like Seven or Blue Cult), for instance. With several colleges and a growing young professional crowd, Greensboro could support a place that sells cool clothing. And the center city would be a good host to such a store.
3 Comments:
Hi,
I guess I'm the first poster. Do I win a prize? How about a ticket to someplace cool...
Anyway, the ideas you have below are great in general, but Greensboro has an attitude problem. Greensboro is consistently fighting for last place in Forbes’ magazines annual “Best Cities for Singles” survey (http://forbes.com/singles/2004/06/23/04singleland.html). When I look around Greensboro, I see strip malls, strip clubs, golf courses, and churches. This place is basically a giant suburb without a city.
Don’t get me wrong. Greensboro is a GREAT place to live – for mini-van people.
No clue when you posted your comment, but yay!, someone actually reads this stuff. . . I'll try to be better about posting and reading in the future. I agree that GSO has a miserable record of sprawl and that it is more of a mini-van culture than a bike (or even sports car) culture. But I also think that's changing. Downtown, where I live, is a different place than it was even three years ago. Within walking distance is my office, the place where I get my haircut, many useful stores (the retail category is concededly lacking, but I managed to get a lot of Christmas shopping done downtown), and many bars and restaurants. I attended a meeting a few nights ago outlining the plan for a four mile urban walking/biking/running trail which will be awesome when complete. There is a music venue going in comparable to Cat's Cradle or the Orange Peel on South Elm Street later this year (developed in part by Milton Kern and the owner of the Green Bean). New housing options are sprouting up all over downtown (Smothers Place plans new phases, 411 West Washington, the are around the baseball stadium is poised for a huge new mixed use development, etc.). So all in all, I think Greensboro is moving away from the mini-van.
**********UPDATE**********
The News and Record recently reported that Milton Kern (a major downtown (re-)developer) has bought a building downtown and is in the process of making it into a music venue comparable to Cat's Cradle/Ziggy's/The Orange Peel. So looks like one of the items on my wish-list above is going to come through.
The building is close to the intersection of Lee St. and South Elm, which is almost too far from the core of downtown, but hopefully it'll be good and safe.
Woo-hoo.
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