Happy meetings

Just about every minute that I wasn't in class today, I was in meetings with planners, developers, and preservationists. Heaven!

I'm not being ironic. I really do like these meetings.

This morning Aycock neighborhood president Betsey Baun and I met with city staff to interview one of the firms that's bidding to do the Summit Avenue corridor study. All of the finalists seemed highly qualified, and that makes me hope for real improvements in the Summit corridor sometime soon.

Mid-day, Betsey and I met with owners of a substantial chunk of property in Aycock who are planning a major development there. Greensboro architect Jerry Leimenstoll is their lead designer. Jerry has a sterling reputation among local preservationists, and although everything is still in the preliminary stages, prospects are good for a very exciting urban infill project just around the block from my house. Timeline for completion: 24-36 months.

Late in the afternoon, at the Greensboro Historic Preservation Commission meeting, we gave John Stratton the final go-ahead on his excellent infill project in Fisher Park. He seemed happy to have successfully navigated the treacherous waters of historic district development.

Elsewhere, and at the same time, some of my other neighbors were meeting with the developers of the North State Chevrolet property adjacent to the new First Horizon Park to help plan whatever will be built there. (My wife is hoping for a Trader Joe's there.) I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot about it soon.

Still other neighbors will be meeting next week with still more developers regarding still another project involving my neighborhood. Could be big.

Finally, I had a chance meeting on South Elm Street with Ed Cone and Luna. They showed me around Ed's spacious and sunny office in the Old Greensborough building. I'm envious. But Ed usually says nice things about me, so I'm not holding it against him.