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Greensboro...Trying to establish a reputaion as a City


jervais

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The mayor was saying how the advertisement on American idol was going to be great for the city...but do you think people will have the typical stereotype of a NC city like G'boro confirmed b/c of the image American idol portrayed? They could have shown alot more urban scenes...Elm Street, I-40 around the High Point Road Area. The only reason I'm concerned is that on Fox they showed how the city was excited about the publicity as if it would draw more businesses to the city. If I was a developer I would be looking for new and upcomming cities not small towns to invest in but, I guess we have to hope that most developers have more common sense than just taking a simple T.V. show's opinion about a city.

Does mentioning a city in songs, books, movies...(the stereotypes that the artist,authors,producers want to portray) factor in the big equation of the growth of a city?

I remember back in the late 80's early 90's Atlanta had a campaign slogan 'Look at Atlanta Now' that showcased the new skyline, which I think made a statement to the nation that said, ok we want everyone to know that we are not what you think...Should Greensboro push for something like that? Or do you think that would be an expensive campaign to spark the attention that the city wants?

I personally think the Triad has so much potential, being from Savannah a city that has no where near the population the Triad has...did pretty well as far as drawing attention to itself to increase tourist traffic but they didn't attract the big companies, making the job market weak...I think if the Triad market themselves right they can really get a good balance of tourists and companies interested in the area just from location alone.

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Splashinging TV ads across the country would be too expensive. Its going to take time to change the perception about Greensboro and the Triad. We just have to keep making the region a better place to live and work. Continue downtown revitaliztion and focus on education. Even when we get to the promise land those perceptions will still be around. People still cant stop saying Charlotte, "NC". Our actions as a city and a region will be our advertisement. We have to do things that set us apart from other cities and regions. But the key is that the Triad need to take more risk and bolder actions and stop being so conservative.

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We are who we are. We should just do what we do best and leave what others may or may not think about us alone. People are going to think what they will. For one town or city to try to be another town is as silly as me trying to be my next door neighbor. Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point, Raleigh, Charlotte, Asheville, Willmington etc all have their own unique flavor. (as do Atlanta, and other small and large southern towns) Each should do what they do best and develop accordingly. (especially taking into consideration the people that already live there) Otherwise you end up with a bunch of cookie cutter towns each looking like another-and then why would someone come across the country to relocate or move here at that point?

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I agree but we can still be different and grow at the same time. Just as every major city in this country has its own unique flavor. Greensboro and the Triad should focus moving in a more urban direction.

But urban can mean different things in different towns to different people. What being "urban" in Greensboro takes on a whole different flavor than it would say in Atlanta. Some (like myself) think Greensboro is quite urban enough for where it is and who lives there. We do not have to become the next Atlanta to be seen.

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it was funny listening to Ryan call greensboro a "small town." that was sort of bad advetisement IMO. GSO is not a small at all. its just that the rest of the nation still has the perception that Charlotte is the only sizable city in NC. I remmber when Clay was on AI...thye described Raleigh as a small town. :huh:

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it was funny listening to Ryan call greensboro a "small town." that was sort of bad advetisement IMO. GSO is not a small at all. its just that the rest of the nation still has the perception that Charlotte is the only sizable city in NC. I remmber when Clay was on AI...thye described Raleigh as a small town. :huh:

Unfortunately the size of most cities is judged according to the size of its skyline. Greensboro's skyline looks like that of a small town. Most people who are not familiar with the Triad always think Winston Salem is much larger than Greensboro because Winston Salem has a very impressive skyline. NO! Greensboro is not a small town in the sense of the average small town america. In terms of population and land mass, Greensboro is a mid-size city. Compared to Chicago, San Francisco, and New York, Greensboro would be a small city. I was disappointed with the way Ryan referred to Greensboro as a small town.

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When I think of Greensboro, I think of a city. It's not exactly a "small town." The entire Triad Area is also not small. At least not by my definition of "small." Back in Virginia, people used to travel down to Greensboro and Winston Salem all the time for concerts and things. It also had more going on that anything we ever had. Greensboro is actually really historic, I've read something about the origin of it's name. I've forgotten it now. Really, NC has lot's of great towns and cities.

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Unfortunately the size of most cities is judged according to the size of its skyline. Greensboro's skyline looks like that of a small town. Most people who are not familiar with the Triad always think Winston Salem is much larger than Greensboro because Winston Salem has a very impressive skyline. NO! Greensboro is not a small town in the sense of the average small town america. In terms of population and land mass, Greensboro is a mid-size city. Compared to Chicago, San Francisco, and New York, Greensboro would be a small city. I was disappointed with the way Ryan referred to Greensboro as a small town.

Really, Greensboro's skyline is pretty nice. It's very balanced. From far away, it looks like it could actually be large. It's just when you drive into downtown that you find out how small it is. I've personally never watched American Idol, but I'm not surprised by their mentality.

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I agree! I was driving today on Battleground Ave. on the stretch of road right after the Lawndale mixing bowl going in towards downtown and thought exactly the same thing. I then began to invision the skyline with the new "Park Center Plaza" skyscraper proposal.... and (totally my own idea) a "Battleground Expressway" starting at this stretch of road -- A suspended freeway that would travel straight into downtown above and across Wendover Ave. and the Benjamin Parkway intersection... and up by the Ballpark and future Bellemeade Village ending at Greene St. I know... vivid imagination. Overall, I think a downtown freeway would give Greensboro a much more urban feel than it currently has right now (not saying that it does not currently have one).

Too... I wonder why the city feels the need to make their major roads with 5, 6, 7, 8 lanes and at grade intersections with stop lights, instead of all out freeways. I feel that for the people who work in downtown who live out off of Bryan Blvd., it defeats the purpose of having the freeway style road way out there when it takes 10-15 minutes to get through the stop lights and traffic during rush hour every day.

Really, Greensboro's skyline is pretty nice. It's very balanced. From far away, it looks like it could actually be large. It's just when you drive into downtown that you find out how small it is. I've personally never watched American Idol, but I'm not surprised by their mentality.
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It's all relative. I grew up in a small rural Piedmont town called Wadesboro. At the time, I thought towns like Monroe, Lexington, and Salisbury were big towns and Greensboro was a big city. IN college when I moved to Chapel Hill, I looked down on places like Monroe and Lexington as small towns. After college when I moved to DC, I was struck by just how small Greensboro, Raleigh, and even Charlotte seemed. After I spent some time in New York City, I started feeling that DC was rather small and quaint. ONce you are exposed to a bigger city and its fast-paced and progressive culture, it is hard of anything but the biggest cities as truly urban. For instance, when I go back to Greensboro and Winston, I am struck by how early the streets are deserted at night, how early people go to bed, just how openly religious people seem to be, how culturally and socially conservative most people are, and just how slow everything is. There are just some stark differences between Greensboro and big cities, not just in population but in culture that strike people from big cities when they visit.

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Actually I do know what you mean. I went to Chicago for about 4 days and came back to Greensboro and the comparison made Greensboro look really suburban. But I still think small town was the wrong choice of words. small city would have been better even though techincally Greensboro is a medium sized city

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