The Triad In 2020

[sean]

What does a company gain by being located near a FedEx hub, when FedEx will virtually ship express shipments anywhere in the country overnight?

[CapeFearRiver10]

I wonder have you guys seen the future Greensboro skyline rendering? (I don't know what year this is suppose to be, but its pretty similar to New Orleans or Birmingham, AL.

http://www.downtownstadium.org/NEWCITYVIEW3.JPG

[twincity]

cityboi created that and its no where near as large as New Orleans or Birminghams. It would be pretty impressive though.

thats what GSO could look like if Triumph Center and Centre Pointe II were built.

[JerseyBoy]

cityboi created that and its no where near as large as New Orleans or Birminghams. It would be pretty impressive though.

thats what GSO could look like if Triumph Center and Centre Pointe II were built.

[jervais]

Agreed, not to diminish Greensboro, but it really doesn't have anything on those cities in terms of skyscrapers.

[suburban george3]

I think if those buildings are built Greensboro will look a little like Tampa Fla.

[krazeeboi]

I don't think it's about wanting to make one city a clone of another, but just to have a point of reference. We don't know what Greensboro will look like in 25 years, but it's very possible that it could resemble another city as it exists today. Nothing wrong with mentioning other cities for the sake of comparison, as long as it doesn't get too farfetched and out of hand.

[beyonce245]

No one has made a post on this topic in a while, so my thoughts here may be moot. But as a recently new contributor to Urban Planet, I thought that I would share my perspective on the tone of the dialogue in this forum and my thoughts on the growth of the Triad.

To be blunt, many of the posts in this forum, however old, sound like the rants of babbling idiots. This forum wreaks of intercity feuding, which is the antithesis of what the Triad needs. I understand people are partial to their own city. But to talk doom and gloom, like many of the remarks in this forum seem to do, will get the Triad nowhere.

I also think many of these poll questions are not in the least helpful. While rating which city will be "first" by population has been the traditional method, it is by no means the best, at least in my opinion. While both Greensboro and Winston-Salem will undoubtedly continue to annex residents for years to come, I find it pointless to try to one-up one another by talks of larger and even more expansive annexations. Personally, I think talk about growth should be more centered around density, as growing outward will only continue to deplete natural resources and cause greater expense to municipalities to extends services further and further out. On an aside, Greensboro's urbanized density at 1977 residents per square mile exceeds the density of any other major North Carolina cities, including Charlotte. Winston's density is only pegged at 1190 per square mile. See the data here.

I was especially peeved by one writer's comments about how Greensboro would be smothered by the outer loop and I-40/I-85 through its development as a transportation and logistics hub and, therefore, Winston-Salem would have the upper hand. But doesn't Winston-Salem depend on these same interstates (excluding the outer loop) every bit as much as Greensboro. If congestion on these interstates really does grow that severe, we'll all be in the same boat.

In terms of future job creation and growth, I believe both cities have promising futures as well as struggles. While Winston-Salem can look forward to the Piedmont research facility downtown, Greensboro can also look forward to continued development at the Gateway campus and the school of nanotechnology. The planned Pharmacy school at UNCG will make Greensboro even more attractive to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. On the downside, both cities will have to deal with continued transitions from traditional manufacturing companies. And Winston-Salem will have to deal with the continued decline of RJR.

Lastly, I'll return to my original point. Feuding and trying to out-do one another is the opposite of what the Triad needs at this critical juncture. More cooperation between municipalities will grow more important as the region continues to grow. This is especially true concerning transportation. While I have no doubts that cars will still be plentiful in 10 or 11 years, the increased number of them on the road will only worsen congestion and air quality. The region can make great strides in preventing this by investing more in public transportation. I think both Greensboro and PART (the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation) are taking steps, albeit baby ones, towards improving public transit. And while talking about light rail is sexy, it nevertheless remains unviable for the triad at this time. Each city should concentrate on drastically improving bus service, but especially High Point and Winston-Salem, where buses don't even run on sundays. People still travel on Sunday's don't they? I know Greensboro has included Transit requests in its request for stimulus funds. I can't speak for Winston or High Point. But I can say that while Winston-Salem only lags behind Greensboro by 30 or 40 thousand residents, it makes more than 1 million less trips with its transit service.

I don't really feel like typing anymore. The moral of the story is this: More cooperation and less rivalry will lead to a greater and more prosperous Triad. And remember, its called the Triad for a reason. So the next time you think about belittling Winston, High Point, or Greensboro, think about how your home region got its namesake. The end.

[twincity]

Get two similar sized cities in the same metro, and there WILL be competiton. Some Triad issues are being tackled as a group but there will always be an underlying rivalry between the 2 largest. We are no different than, Dallas/Fort Worth, Baltimore/Washington, Kansas City MO/Kansas City KS, Minneapolis/St. Paul.

As for the board's behavior, as you said, this thread was created forever-ago. We've moved passed this since then. However, I wouldnt mind another friendly feud in exchange for UP being so dead.

http://cbs11tv.com/local/Fort.Worth.Dallas.2.493056.html

http://minneapolisversusstpaul.blogspot.com/

[cityboi]

Unfortunately there will be fueding in a mutli city metro where there are cities of similar size . Twin city mentioned Dallas/Ft Worth and Minneapolis/St Paul. This rivalry also exists between Tampa/St Petersburg and from what I have heard Greenville/Spartanburg. So this is pretty common around the country. Greensboro competes against Winston-Salem for companies and vice versa. Both cities want to make their mark and dont want to be shadowed out by the other city. Neither city wants the other to get too far ahead. But I think there has been some progress. Its not like it was 10 years ago but the region still has a long way to go. The truth is one city will always edge out in population, number of jobs, name recognition, ect. But does it really matter? They are just titles. Does it really matter where the airport is? The fact is that both Greensboro and Winston-Salem are beautiful cities with prosperous futures ahead and no titles or lack of titles can take that a way.

[DCMetroRaleigh]

I agree. I would like to stoke up a little sibling rivalry on this board if it meant awakening it from its current moribund slumber.

[triadguy37]

I agree. I would like to stoke up a little sibling rivalry on this board if it meant awakening it from its current moribund slumber.

[cityboi]

Lets see maybe a new blog on Greensboro Verses Winston. You think that will do it.