Page 13 - The City of Greensboro Conditions and Trends

CITY OF GREENSBORO COMPREHENSIVE PLAN CONDITIONS & TRENDS

Fresh Food Access

The Greensboro/High-Point Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) has ranked high in a poll as part of the Gallup-Healthways
Well-Being Index survey conducted by the Food Research and Action Center that asked “Have there been times in the past
twelve months when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed?” The MSA ranked
second in 2011-2012 with a positive response rate of 23%, first in 2014 with a 27.9% positive response rate, and improved
to ninth in 2015 with 22.2%. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) qualifies areas as “low-access”
communities when at least 500 people and/or at least 33% of the census tract's population reside more than one mile
from a supermarket or grocery store. There are a number of census tracts in Greensboro where residents live farther than
one mile from access to healthy food, but the greatest proportion of “low-access” communities are in tracts to the south
and northeast of Downtown, which reflects a lack of sustainability and balanced growth.

Infrastructure

Greensboro’s relatively slow growth rate has meant that infrastructure costs are generally manageable and traffic
congestion and other consequences of rapid growth have for the most part been avoided. Greensboro residents
generally pay less for water and sewer service than other top ten North Carolina cities.

In recent years, however, the need for basic maintenance and repair of the City’s streets, bridges, water and sewer lines,
sidewalks, etc., has increased significantly, and Greensboro’s prevailing pattern of low-density, unconnected development
has contributed to higher infrastructure costs.

One way to reduce infrastructure costs and create healthier, more sustainable neighborhoods is to encourage development
with more transit options. Coordinating development with public transportation, and designing streets that safely
accommodate walking and bicycling, can reduce dependence on automobiles, lower infrastructure costs, and foster healthy
lifestyles.

In general, residents near the City limits have greater commute times then residents nearer the downtown area, with the
exception of two census tracts just south of Downtown. Use of public transportation is more common in the eastern and
southeastern parts of the City, with a high concentration of ridership in tracts east of Highway 29 that include the Willow
Oaks and Eastside Park neighborhoods. The greatest concentration of biking commuters is in proximity to UNCG and in
neighborhoods just west of the university.

DRAFT -13- March 15, 2018