Action Greensboro to begin on phase 2

[cityboi]

Action Greensboro met with hundreds of volunteers last night in downtown Greensboro to begin phase 2. The first phase included the new ballpark, center-city park and the support of new businesses opening up in downtown Greensboro. But now Action Greensboro wants to focus on improving the education in the city. Three of those projects include:

1) Guaranteeing that Guilford County's high school graduates receive funding for two years of college.

2) Requiring high school graduates to be fluent in a second language.

3) Embracing the development and expansion of Gateway University Research Park, a joint effort between N.C. A&T and UNCG.

Other focus areas include improving the highway approaches to the city, downtown greenway, and Action Greensboro has three options on a performance art center/concert hall.

1) renovating War Memorial Auditorium at the coliseum (voters rejected a bond to renovate)

2) refurbishing the Carolina Theatre downtown to make it a state-of-the-art concert hall

3) building a new concert hall in the cultural arts district downtown

Honestly, whether they bring the Carolina Theatre up to date or build a new concert hall, I want to see it downtown. I think it would be great to have those Broadway shows that are performed at War Memorial Auditorium come downtown.

Action Greensboro has other plans for phase 2 but will not be announced til spring. Origionally the idea was for Action Greensboro to phase out 3 years after it started but instead the organization continues to move forward. Action Greensboro was started in 2001.

[uptownliving]

Those are all good things for them to move towards...but I was surprised that they have no goals related to improving mass transit in Greensboro. Is there another group that is spearheading that?

I would note that the Mayor of Greensboro was in Charlotte for the ribbon cutting of the LYNX Blue Line yesterday. So there is obvious interest from at least one elected official.

[cityboi]

Those are all good things for them to move towards...but I was surprised that they have no goals related to improving mass transit in Greensboro. Is there another group that is spearheading that?

I would note that the Mayor of Greensboro was in Charlotte for the ribbon cutting of the LYNX Blue Line yesterday. So there is obvious interest from at least one elected official.

[coastalmindset]

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...RSTAFF/71121026

I'd suggest they work on retaining some of the retail downtown after seeing another popular retailer close. I know the owner said he was closing to do something else with his life not because the businesses was doing poorly but the fact that he could find someone to take over a high profile corner like that is concerning.

I was also downtown last Saturday night and most restaurants were very empty for a Saturday night at 8PM. The one I ate in only had 5 tables of people. Could be a sign of the economy (casual dining in down 11% over same time last year) but either way it is not a good sign for these struggling businesses.

[nowensone]

Need more residents first, right now the only kind of retail doing great is bar/food/cultural/sport related. I'm surprised that any shopping related businesses are able to stay in the black.

[cityboi]

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...RSTAFF/71121026

I'd suggest they work on retaining some of the retail downtown after seeing another popular retailer close. I know the owner said he was closing to do something else with his life not because the businesses was doing poorly but the fact that he could find someone to take over a high profile corner like that is concerning.

I was also downtown last Saturday night and most restaurants were very empty for a Saturday night at 8PM. The one I ate in only had 5 tables of people. Could be a sign of the economy (casual dining in down 11% over same time last year) but either way it is not a good sign for these struggling businesses.

[coastalmindset]

when the weather gets chilly, you arent going to see too many people out. But 8:00 was early anyway. The biggest crowd of the night doesnt come in til about 2 or 3 hours later.

[luvdowntowngso]

I am discouraged to hear that O'Kennedy's is closing early next year. It seems downtown Greensboro takes one step forward and two backwards. We can not relax just because of our success over the past decade. Economic development is an ongoing task. Even in the best of times, a city can't stop working to grow.

The new DGI President Ed Wolverton will start his new position on December 3rd. I have heard good things about him. He seems agressive. We shall see!

I strongly suggest he "hit the ground running"! Round up the troops and get to work! I agree our ailing economy is a big factor. This fact should work to only make economic developers even more agressive.

The math seem simple to me: (Downtown Job Growth)=(Downtown Residential Growth)=(Retail/Restaurant Growth)

Example: I know of two people who have bought at Arbor House. Both will be working in managment positions across the street at the new Carolina Bank HQ.

[nowensone]

Our dinner started at 8 and we where in this restaurant until 10, the tables didn't fill up. Then we went to a downtown bar until 1 am that was fairly empty as well for a Saturday night. These were both fairly popular establishments. I am quite familiar with the downtown "scene" and when things get going. This was a huge drop off in people from a usual weekend. Maybe it was the upcoming holiday or maybe it was the economy. With many businesses downtown depending on weekend traffic every weekend, just to make it, this was not a good sign. Something I think Action Greensboro should watch carefully, especially with a business like O'Kennedy's closing.

If people are willing to brave the weather this time of the year to shop at Friendly or if they go out in places like Charlotte and Raleigh why would they not be willing to do the same in downtown Greensboro? It's not as if we live in a climate where it is 10 degrees below and snowing in the winter.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[coastalmindset]

I head DT around twice a month on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night, and at least another 2-3 times during the day for lunch, what you are saying just doesn't gel AT ALL. Sounds like you are describing a different place all together. There is a restaurant at the very end of Elm where it forks that sometimes looks like it might be light on customers, but then that is not really "downtown" any more. Not only are most establishments jam packed, there are throngs of people out and about on the streets. I'm not piping up here to reflexively defend the 'boro btw, it's just that what you are saying doesn't sound like you are describing the same place I frequent. Perhaps it is a matter of where we are [respectively] going.

[nowensone]

It might've been the particular evening then, McCoul's is one of my favorite places to both eat and drink, I've never really seen the place not packed, you pretty much have to get there by 9 to get a table, though tonight it will of course be very cold, I think it's getting down into the 20's. So you'll definietly find vacant outside seating.

[cityboi]

definately as its gets colder, you'll see fewer people on the streets. Its been cold in the evening and you dont see all those people sitting outside at Natty Greenes. Downtown will still be packed but I think you'll find that alot of people migrate indoors because of the temperature so it can gives the appearance that things are slowing down.

[coastalmindset]

I didn't get downtown until about midnight on Friday so all the restaurants were closed up and we only went to Churchills which had a smaller crowd than I expected, although it wasn't empty by any means. I just expected to see more people being that it was a holiday weekend.

Well I just hope that Action Greensboro put some of their attention into job growth, as luvdowntowngso mentioned, and into retaining the businesses they already have before putting all their resources into another downtown growth idea. I think that in order for the growth to continue there needs to be a better concentration of jobs in the downtown area. I guess it would be helpful if the retailers stayed open later than 6PM as well.

[cityboi]

one solution is providing incentives for companies to move downtown the way we do with attracting them to the area. Some cities actually do this. That would help since its more expensive to operate in a downtown location than a suburban location.

[JerseyBoy]

Good idea, but what if Greensboro put more money into its downtown to make it the place to be without having to get into financial agreements with greedy companies?

[cityboi]

Good idea, but what if Greensboro put more money into its downtown to make it the place to be without having to get into financial agreements with greedy companies.

[krazeeboi]

^Greensboro is obviously moving in the right direction with that, with the addition of the ballpark, Center City Park, and the new carousel that's planned. All of those things add to the livability of downtown, which is crucial. Downtown can't survive over the long run if it's nothing but a place for people to simply visit.

The first three points dealing with education are very significant, and it's great that Greensboro is wanting to create a more educated population from the secondary level. A&T and UNCG raising their academic profiles would also go a long way to attracting and retaining college-educated individuals, and supporting GURP represents a wise step in that direction.

[cityboi]

^Greensboro is obviously moving in the right direction with that, with the addition of the ballpark, Center City Park, and the new carousel that's planned. All of those things add to the livability of downtown, which is crucial. Downtown can't survive over the long run if it's nothing but a place for people to simply visit.

The first three points dealing with education are very significant, and it's great that Greensboro is wanting to create a more educated population from the secondary level. A&T and UNCG raising their academic profiles would also go a long way to attracting and retaining college-educated individuals, and supporting GURP represents a wise step in that direction.