tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159479.post16990408081558467..comments2023-10-10T03:39:50.342-05:00Comments on A Little Urbanity: Will Bellemeade Village Be An Urban Village Or A Suburban Development That Happens To Be Downtown?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159479.post-82102884932511356452014-08-11T13:48:52.344-05:002014-08-11T13:48:52.344-05:00Excellent thoughts. And the design factor isn'...Excellent thoughts. And the design factor isn't just about the length of the block, but how many points of interest you can pack into that block for a pedestrian. In some cases its storefronts, but as Charlotte has demonstrated, it is benches, concentrations of "green/flowers" fountains, sculpture, vistas, or as Mizner proved in Florida, squirrelly courtyards without a straight-line view that invited discovery, which is what we want visitors and residents alike to do? Discover Greensboro?Ginia Zenkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03260980145604311215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159479.post-62960981337332161592014-08-07T10:14:15.335-05:002014-08-07T10:14:15.335-05:00Blocks in NYC tend to have retail at street level,...Blocks in NYC tend to have retail at street level, which is one of the things that makes the city great. So if Carroll really wants his block to be like New York, he should get with the Wharton plan.Ed Conehttp://www.edcone.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159479.post-89150741558453315852014-08-06T21:50:50.389-05:002014-08-06T21:50:50.389-05:00Couldn't agree more, David. Thank you for bein...Couldn't agree more, David. Thank you for being one of the few voices of reason I've come across in this town. I had no interest in urban planning until moving to Greensboro for work and trying to figure out just what it was about the town that bothered me so much. Your blog makes Greensboro a less foreign & hostile place for those of us who appreciate responsible planning, sensible design, and strong civic leadership.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159479.post-1773018971335073262014-08-04T11:19:39.537-05:002014-08-04T11:19:39.537-05:00I wish I could disagree with your assessment of th...I wish I could disagree with your assessment of the situation, but we both can point to many examples where there were opportunities to rise above mediocre urban design. Until it changes, Greensboro will continue to be less competitive in the effort to attract and create the downtown they say they want. It also seems like a ripe opportunity for the revamped Downtown Greensboro, Inc. to engage with the entire City about what it thinks about the design. They don't need to have an opinion, but they could do a better job to share design sketches and plans in order to create a robust, albeit virtual, conversation about what people would like to see.<br />Brian Higginsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159479.post-21100144809871536582014-08-04T08:23:27.333-05:002014-08-04T08:23:27.333-05:00Brian -- I too would see Lindsay St. as an opportu...Brian -- I too would see Lindsay St. as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. I can imagine a lot of intimate street life on that little block -- sidewalk cafes and so on.<br /><br />I read in the Business Journal that Mr. Carroll would like Bellemeade Village to be like a block of New York City. I think that says a lot about what his urban vision is. Obviously, I don't think it's appropriate for a midsized city in the Southeast.<br /><br />There's now a large body of knowledge out there about how to make downtowns like ours succeed, but the culture of development and land-use politics in Greensboro is often hostile to it. The planners know this stuff, but planners' advice is always trumped by developers' dollars at the political level.David Whartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13251439852685796681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159479.post-44629131326650735152014-08-04T06:25:39.462-05:002014-08-04T06:25:39.462-05:00The plan is troubling to say the least. The plan ...The plan is troubling to say the least. The plan should embrace the interface with Lindsay and add commercial space that pedestrians can interact with. Why do we trust the transportation models that are used to predict little impact? Those same transportation models are what have lead to the overbuilding and oversizing of our streets. We have a very limited street grid downtown - one we should be expanding to create more frontage - and we should retain that frontage not for the benefit of Mr. Carroll but for everyone.<br />We need to move beyond being thankful that some brave soul is willing to invest downtown and begin demanding quality and smart design...less we repeat the mistakes of the new SECU branch, the Carolina Bank, and the ridiculous proposal for parking at the new PAC. It is time for people to begin the push back. Brian Higginsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159479.post-22743131499993455232014-08-04T01:49:05.909-05:002014-08-04T01:49:05.909-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12114777573518630599noreply@blogger.com