Uptown residents and business owners have long wondered how the Uptown
area became what it is today-- a vast block of empty business locations
and older homes where many of Greensboro's poorest working class
residents live. The Executive Summary of the Tabb Report:
"East Greensboro is a vibrant community with a strategic proximity to
Downtown Greensboro and a major source of employment, education and
African American history. While the community has managed to sustain
itself over the past few years of economic decline, it has compiled a
series of issues that will challenge the area over the next decade. The
primary concern are high poverty rates, low median household income
rates, declining home ownership levels and prices, and the below average
performance of public schools.
These are conditions that cannot be ignored and have set the foundation
for the area’s lack of retail and service amenities. E. Lee Street’s
highest daytime population (57,175) is offset by the fact it also has
the lowest number of households and household incomes. These two points
greatly hinder East Greensboro’s
attractiveness to retailers. Understanding what drives these low
household numbers is the key to finding the solutions. In order to
increase the presence of services and retail, the number of households
must increase and the income levels within those households must
increase. This means a focus on jobs, schools and the quality of housing
stock. Household median income projections are a very important part in
determining consumer expenditure projections. Researchers have
determined that people spend a set percentage of their income on retail
purchases; therefore, the higher your median income level, the higher
the consumer demand is projected to be.
A review of the demand projections for Greensboro shows that only E. Lee
St. and Burlington have lower projected consumer demands than E.
Market, and all three are in the East Greensboro study area. On the
other side of this issue is expenditures. Only Wendover, Lawndale and
Green Valley have higher actual sales
than East Greensboro. Lowest demand, yet highest sales? This is a
contradiction that would often be explained by the presence of quality
retailers that are the beneficiary of other areas retail expenditures
(the recipient of leakage). Clearly this is not the case in East
Greensboro. So why does this contradiction exist? Three reasons:
1. the residents of East Greensboro spend a disproportionate portion of their income.
2. the research is simply wrong. Lower income areas spend more than
researchers believe and there are many more residents in the trade area
than researchers account for.
3. Transportation from the study area to other trade areas is very difficult, meaning more dollars stay in the trade area.
Our recommendations for improving parity in the study area are based upon the ability to address four major points:
1. the number of households in the study area
2. the household median incomes in the study area
3. road access in the study area
4. increased support for the public schools in the study area
Ultimately, the goal is to see household incomes in the area grow to the
point that there begins to be an increase in the projected Consumer
Expenditures. To accomplish this goal, we addressed the study area in
four separate opportunity gateways.
First, University Gateway, anchored by Bennett College, North
Carolina A&T and the United House of Prayer, including a modified
traffic pattern along E. Market and Friendly Blvd, and creating a
signature gateway into the Downtown; a new select service or boutique
hotel on the current bus depot site and incorporated into the
surrounding adaptive reuse projects located off Murrow Blvd.; a new
mixed use retail and destination venue located on the site of the former
post office.
Second, Gateway Gardens, anchored by the Gateway University
Research Park and the Hayes Taylor YMCA, including a new mixed use
retail and residential project along the E. Lee Street corridor from I -
40/85 to E. Florida Avenue; incorporating the new Hayes Taylor YMCA,
Barber Park, Gateway Park and new athletic facilities, greenspace and
trails into Greensboro’s finest recreational area.
The third, Gillespie Gateway, anchored by Gillespie Golf Course
and Gillespie Elementary, including an updated golf course and tennis
park that anchors a new charter elementary school at Gillespie Gateway
Elementary and the redevelopment of Ray Warren Homes on E. Lee Street in
a manner similar to Willow Oaks.
The fourth, Summit Gateway, anchored North East Plaza (Compare
Foods) and Summit Shopping Center (Maxway) retailers should including
the expansion of North East Plaza through the assemblage of adjacent
property to add an additional anchor tenant."
As you can see, the study takes in much more than Uptown Greensboro and
resistance from Greensboro's more well off, western residents is already
high. Downtown resistance is lower as Downtown residents and business
owners fear a spill over effect of the problems that haunt East
Greensboro. If and when the necessary changes take place are anyone's
guess.
To be continued...
