Page 26 - Greensboro, NC-GSO 2040 Comprehensive Plan

FILLING IN OUR FRAMEWORK

Filling in Our Framework is about land use and development:
the pattern of buildings, roads, and other manmade parts of a
city. It includes both what buildings are used for, from residences
to businesses to large institutions such as hospital and college
campuses, as well as how buildings are placed in relationship to
each other and to the street. It addresses Greensboro’s land use
and development patterns with the intention to create mixed-use
activity centers and build on and strengthen our existing mixed-use
neighborhoods.

Why Fill In Our Framework?
To create the type of Greensboro envisioned in this plan, and to
accommodate the future growth of the city, we will need to create
opportunities for a wider variety of neighborhoods, in particular
more mixed-use areas and areas with greater density. If done in
accordance with the plan’s policies this will result in a healthier,
more prosperous, and more interesting Greensboro. All cities and
neighborhoods change over time, and healthy cities evolve and grow
with development that adds value and benefits to its surroundings.
Some areas need reinvestment more than others, and some are better
able to incorporate new growth, and planning for change takes this
into consideration.

Infill is development of vacant, abandoned, passed-over, or
underutilized land that occurs where a city has infrastructure such
as roads, water, and sewer in place. Each site’s context and unique
circumstances will suggest a different suitable approach within a
broad set of parameters, as described in the Plan’s Anticipated Growth
Maps. When done well, infill development reflects the character of the
surrounding area and enhances nearby properties.

Greensboro’s previous comprehensive plan, Connections 2025, had
goals stressing infill, but programs have been difficult to design
and implement. Infill goals and strategies help to create distinctive,
walkable, mixed-use areas that can support a more robust transit
network.
Creating well-defined opportunities for infill will help preserve and
improve the quality of adjacent neighborhoods and greenspace
and relieve pressure to develop at the edges of the city, which is
significantly more expensive for the City over the long run.

23 |GSO 2040 Comprehensive Plan