Glenwood Plan Goes to City Council

Update: the Glenwood plan was approved by City Council on Feb. 5. Congratulations, Glenwood!

From an e-mail circulated to the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress:

The Greensboro City Council will hold a public hearing regarding formal adoption of the Glenwood Neighborhood Plan during its meeting next Tuesday, February 5. City Council meetings are held beginning at 5:30 pm in the Council Chambers (2nd Floor) in the Melvin Municipal Office Building (City Hall), 300 West Washington Street.

Anyone who lives in, works in, owns property in, attends school or church in, or has other ties to Glenwood is encouraged to attend! If you are unable to attend in person, but would like to watch the meeting as it happens, you can do so on both Cable Channel 13, and on the internet here.

If the City Council adopts the Plan during this meeting, the Plan will become
official City Policy for all matters affecting the Greater Glenwood Neighborhood. The Plan will function as an amendment of the City's "Connections 2025" Comprehensive Plan. This is the final step in developing the Glenwood Neighborhood Plan and the FIRST STEP in implementing the plan!

The Glenwood neighborhood is working really hard to keep it a livable place. It has a very active neighborhood association and lots of distinctive local culture. I hope the new council will reward their efforts.

Bito the Cat, RIP

Bito the Cat passed away yesterday at Greensboro's North Elm Animal Hospital after a lengthy and courageous battle with cancer. Diagnosed last May, he endured his illness in a heroic manner worthy of his namesake. He died while licking turkey puree off a tongue depressor, surrounded by his family.

An accomplished hunter, Bito was unloved by the small animals and birds in his neighborhood. He is pictured above engaging in his favorite activity, eating squirrel, though not in his preferred dining spot (under his owners' bed).

His gregarious and outgoing personality, combined with a high tolerance for vigorous patting and tail-pulling, made Bito popular with neighborhood children. His habit of draping himself over his owners' heads in the middle of the night, however, will not be missed, though his cheerful and insouciant manner will.

Office Depot Listened to the Neighbors

A year ago I groused about the way a new Office Depot store had been built, and even made a short video about one of its signs. The main idea was not that neighbors didn't want the store near their homes; it was that the design of the store and the sign weren't appropriate for their setting.

I didn't do anything more about it after that, but a bunch of my neighbors in both the Aycock and Fisher Park neighborhoods did. They kept writing and calling Office Depot, and organized a petition and neighborhood boycott.

Office Depot finally paid attention and removed the offending sign last week. That was a nice thing to do, since Office Depot was not legally obligated to do it. Thanks, Office Depot.

Just a thought: all the efforts of the neighbors, and the wasted expense for Office Depot in putting up then taking down the sign, could probably have been avoided if someone from the company had met with the surrounding neighborhood associations during the planning process.