Page 30 - Greensboro, NC-GSO 2040 Comprehensive Plan

CREATING GREAT PLACES

Creating Great Places covers our need to create interesting
places and public spaces in neighborhoods across Greensboro, in
downtown, and with our historic resources. This Big Idea includes
strategies that improve livability, strengthen neighborhoods, and
increase our public safety, access to affordable housing, and public
amenities.
Why Create Great Places?
Greensboro understands the value of having healthy
neighborhoods and housing and is committed to enhancing the
quality of life for all its residents. Ensuring the stability and livability
of neighborhoods and housing in all areas of the City remain a key
factor in Greensboro’s future success.

Greensboro is also recognizing the importance of Placemaking, an
approach to creating vibrant communities with lasting appeal and
value. People are drawn to places that offer a range of features and
qualities, a wide variety of structured and spontaneous activities,
and most importantly, the presence of other people. The Project
for Public Spaces (PPS) provides an extensive array of research
and reference guides for advancing the Placemaking movement.
According to PPS, the key attributes of great places are simple and
intuitive:

• They are accessible and well connected to other important
places in the area;
• They are comfortable and project a good image;
• They attract people to participate in activities there; and
• They are social environments in which people want to gather
and visit again and again.

Greensboro’s architectural heritage has a significant impact on
both the city’s economy and its quality of life. Well-preserved
historic buildings and neighborhoods play a role in attracting new
businesses and industries. Residents point with pride to restored
homes in Fisher Park as well as to vintage storefronts on South
Elm Street that now house restaurants, shops, bars, and small
businesses, and to Guilford Battleground National Military Park and
Governor Morehead’s Blandwood Mansion.

27 |GSO 2040 Comprehensive Plan