Page 73 - Greensboro, NC-GSO 2040 Comprehensive Plan

Map 8: Future Built Form

The Future Built Form Map illustrates how areas of the city are envisioned to
develop in ways that can help create a more desirable and sustainable Greensboro. PLACE TYPES
Areas were designated based on a variety of considerations including historic and
current development conditions, the function of roadways that serve them, their Much of Greensboro is composed of areas that have a consistency of character,
overall location in the city, and other nearby land uses. In addition to the more identity, or purpose, and that are most often bounded by corridors, natural features,
universal development review considerations of the Future Land Use Map, the or parks, that create transition or separation from other neighborhoods that may
Future Built Form Map is used to identify specific evaluations for each district. not share the same characteristics. Place types can be predominantly residential,
institutional, educational, industrial, or planned mixed-use.
The Plan focuses most new growth into Activity Centers. Incremental growth
is what will create the Greensboro that this Plan envisions. The Place Type These areas do not have to be uniform in land use or intensity to create and
designations help assure that this incremental growth fits in with and strengthens maintain a recognizable identity, but deviations from the basic pattern should
the existing context. not be abrupt or visually disruptive. Neighborhoods within them should have
sufficiently identifiable character and edges so that it is obvious what is included
The Downtown place type is Greensboro’s urban core, historically designed to be within them.
the center of town from which the growth and expansion of Greensboro radiates.
The Urban Core remains the civic, cultural, and economic central place. Its diversity Place Types with a mix of uses or densities have the greatest capacity to absorb
and vibrancy accommodates an array of building types, bulk, and mix of uses and development that is not disruptive of the existing pattern. This ability to absorb
intensities. It is large enough to encompass multiple sub-districts with individual new development is also found along neighborhood edges separating one
character and activity centers, such as residential, commercial, transportation, community from another, and seams, which are the lines along which two
entertainment, or government, while not being so large as to dilute its collective neighborhoods are related and joined together.
identity as a destination and the “face” of Greensboro.
Downtown should reflect these characteristics:
The Urban Central place type has a base of mixed-use development and a more
complete sidewalk network. New development will incrementally add to the 1. Development is respectful and reflective of the history of Greensboro.
existing mixed-use, walkable environment with a mix of housing types and small, 2. First floor business uses contribute to the vitality and diversity of the land-use
neighborhood-serving and pedestrian-friendly commercial areas. This context mix.
was created as Greensboro grew outward in the mid and late 1800s. The pattern
of development reflects the horse-drawn carriages, rectilinear grid of local streets 3. Podiums of tall buildings incorporate design elements and features that reflect
with small lots, laid within a network of non-rectilinear roads and rail lines that the human scale.
connected us to other towns. Expansion of Greensboro in the early twentieth 4. Buildings and building entrances are oriented to the sidewalk and street.
century was spurred by the extension of this street grid and the introduction of 5. Building design is responsive to the human scale.
trolleys and electric streetcars.
6. High-density housing in and near the central business district results in
The Urban General place type encompasses the largest area of physical increased housing choice and supply.
development in Greensboro, which occurred post WWII and reflects the national 7. Vibrant public spaces are fostered.
trends in development patterns of that time. The growth of middle-income
families, automobile ownership, single-family home ownership, and changes in 8. Increased and improved transit and mobility options within, to, and around
retail patterns to shopping centers and malls has contributed to the characteris- downtown support commerce and increased density.
tics of conventional neighborhoods. New growth in this area will be focused in
Activity Centers; some of this growth will continue to be car-oriented, but there
are opportunities for walkable, mixed-use development on larger sites by creating
more access from surrounding neighborhoods and increasing development
intensity along existing corridors, which will strengthen transit service and other
transportation options.

GSO 2040 Comprehensive Plan|70