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April 29, 2005
Big boxes and litter on a stick
Most likely, you've heard the term "sprawl." But you may not be sure what it is. Sprawling, you think, is what guys do on the couch all weekend. It brings to mind loose limbs dangling near remotes or half-empty beer cans.
That concept of sprawl is pretty similar to the one used by urban planners. "Sprawl" refers to seemingly careless development, spread out over a large area. It pretty much demands laziness because sprawl is designed for cars, not pedestrians.
A great introduction to sprawl is Dolores Hayden's "A Field Guide to Sprawl," available at the High Point Public Library (well, available as soon as I return it). It contains the often-amusing vocabulary of sprawl...Well, it would be amusing if sprawl didn't cause pollution due to increased cars and promote unhealthy lifestyles (also due to increased cars), among other problems.
In north High Point, you've seen many of the following...
"Big box." These are large, windowless buildings, usually made of concrete. Aesthetics? Fuhgeddaboudit. If you live in the 27265 zip code, your best bet for viewing big boxes is just over the line into Greensboro, at the intersection of Bridford Parkway and Wendover Avenue. The big-box smorgasbord includes Mega-Super-Giganto Wal-Mart, K-Mart and Home Depot.
"Category-killer." Think Home Depot. Think Barnes & Noble. Category killers dominate one part of the retail market, making it difficult for mom-and-pop shops to compete.
"Clustered world." Most likely, you live in one of these. I do. They're suburban neighborhoods filled with similar-looking houses sold at similar prices to families likely to buy the same kinds of goods.
"Edge nodes." These are growth areas of commercial real estate, typically outside of a city's traditional core and near an Interstate. A huge office park like north High Point's Piedmont Centre is a prime example.
"Greenfield." I also live in one of these. It's a neighborhood built on what used to be farmland, in view of a few remaining silos or tilled fields.
"Gridlock." 'Nuff said.
"Impervious surface." Parking lots and concrete drives keep stormwater from penetrating into the ground, and this can lead to the erosion of whatever ground manages to remain exposed.
"Litter on a stick." Thankfully, there's not a whole lot of this in north High Point. "Litter on a stick" is a colorful way to describe billboards.
"Power center." Let's return to Bridford and Wendover. "Power centers" are groupings of big-box stores designed to draw in people by offering a wide variety of goods. Of course, they also make it all-but impossible for small businesses in the area to compete.
Posted by at April 29, 2005 9:50 AM
Comments
Yawn.........
..................YAWN...................
............................Double yawn..........
Posted by: Sleepy at April 29, 2005 11:13 AM
Dear Justin "the lightning rod" hayes.
Sorry to see your blog has become a forum for anti-Grier sentiment. I think what the News and Record has done with blogging is incredible and it looked like you were trying to have a chance at developing a a proper high point forum for thought. Instead, it looks like your blog has become a haven for Grier bitching, which I'm not sure was the point of this grand idea.
On another note, perhaps this is just one of the stages blogs go through or can become victim to as we watch this wonderful N&R blogosphere evolve.
But -- sorry to proclaim -- it looks like the first casualty of the the News and Record's great experiment could be this blog.
Let the dull yellows of the GTGOH flags fly at half mast today. (cause they're sucking the life out of this blog)
RIP "North High Point and Jamestown Blog"
Born April 2005
Died April 2005
Posted by: Zatoichi at April 29, 2005 11:24 AM
Justin -- Haven't you heard? We're living in an era in which we have more storytelling tools than we could have fathomed 20 years ago -- but we're only allowed to talk about one story at a time!
It could be worse. You could be an international correspondent doomed to wander forever toward the ONE country CNN and company think we should care about at a given time. That's a combination of two things -- a shortened attention span and the fact that it's simply cheaper to have only enough reporters to cover one story at a time.
And we thought blogs were supposed to EXPAND news coverage to other topics? Ha!
Hey, if you want good public schools, come on up to Northern Virginia. $600K might get you a decent townhouse, at least until next month when you'll need $700K.
Posted by: Beau at April 29, 2005 11:31 AM
Sprawl: to grow, develop or spread irregularly and without apparent design or plan (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus)like the High Point Choice Magnet Plan spreading to all of Guilford County. Soon to become the Guilford Plan according to recent reports in the Rhino.
Posted by: ramblin man at April 29, 2005 12:36 PM
You have missed all the litter on a stick if you have not driven down Willard Dairy to read all the Save Our School signs. There is stick litter everywhere.
Posted by: Bill Bored at April 29, 2005 12:55 PM
Zatoichi and Beau...Nah, this blog's not dead. I'm gonna keep up the good fight and pursue all kinds of topics. I figure folks not obsessed with Terry Grier, or who are able to think about other things as well, will start to come around. If not, then again I say, my bad.
Posted by: Justin Hayes at April 29, 2005 1:16 PM
And to Bill Bored...
:-)
Posted by: Justin Hayes at April 29, 2005 1:18 PM
It's a little ironic to me that you would highlight sprawl in light of the News & Record's non-stop championing of development of every stripe and color out that way. Example, "Oh, please when can we get our own Fresh Market and Borders?" Plus, exactly how many articles did the paper do on the new movie theater? Plus, the paper hasn't exactly challenged the City Council, a group that has yet to find a housing development it won't approve. Davidson is at least considering impact fees. High Point just keeps rubber-stamping all these subdivisions and townhomes with no thought whatsoever to where all those kids are going to go to school. The city council, in my opinion, has as much responsibility for the choice plan as the school board.
Posted by: Sprawlcrawler at April 29, 2005 1:22 PM
Sprawlcrawler, you aren't crawling, you are smokin!
Multiple choice quiz:
A. I have not seen a city council member speak out at a sb meeting against the choice plan
B. I have not seen a city council member suggest impact fees
C. The City Council of High Point (if they had wanted to) could have been very influential in stopping the choice plan; they let it happen
D. They will lose the red light money
E. ALL OF THE ABOVE
(Hint: There is only one correct answer.)
Posted by: Nightcrawler at April 30, 2005 8:24 AM
