Our distant next-door neighbor
This week's column:
Make no mistake, I'm a Greensboro guy born and bred. But I'll always hold a special fondness for Winston-Salem.
I lived in Winston for nearly 10 years before returning home to Greensboro.
I like a lot about that town … the rolling hills, the little big-city skyline that hovers impressively over Business 40, historic Old Salem on the southern doorstep of downtown and colorful citizens such as the late legendary Winston-Salem State basketball coach Clarence “Bighouse” Gaines; mayors Wayne Corpening and Martha Wood; and former Black Panther turned city council member Larry Little.
I've continued to follow developments there and still treasure the friendships I made there.
Most recently, Winston-Salem's planned downtown ballpark caught my interest. It should be a welcome addition to a center city that's making similar strides to Greensboro's.
Impressed by the success of First Horizon Park in Greensboro and hopeful of revitalizing a craggy corner of downtown, the owners of the Winston-Salem Warthogs plan a 5,500-seat ballpark that they hope will see its first pitch in 2008.
The $189 million project calls not only for baseball, but for a second phase consisting of a multiplex theater, offices, stores and residences.
Winston leaders toured the stadium here before proceeding with plans for their own. But there are some significant differences.
Greensboro's ballpark was, by and large, a private endeavor. In Winston-Salem, owners of the Warthogs want $29 million in incentives from the city and another $14 million from the Forsyth County commissioners.
No way that would fly in Greensboro or Guilford County.
The sweeping effort seems in part an attempt to resuscitate a development that would have been anchored by a new Krispy Creme corporate headquarters before the doughnut maker's fortunes suddenly turned sour.
It's certainly a more appealing concept than original plans for a downtown pro soccer stadium in Winston, which predictably went nowhere. (What a dumb idea.)
As for how the two cities compare, they aren't all that similar, as I see it. Each has a distinct culture and a unique feel to it.
Which is a better place to live?
That's tough. Each city clearly has something the other doesn't.
Folks in Winston-Salem won't shy away from a debate (for instance, over the name of Joel Coliseum) but Greensboro is more argumentative (it's in our DNA).
Winston has an ACC school in Wake Forest, Winston-Salem State and the N.C. School of the Arts. Greensboro has Bennett College, Elon Law School, Greensboro College, Guilford College, N.C. A&T and UNCG.
Winston has trouble holding conversations about race. Greensboro has even more trouble. But I was impressed that Winston-Salem handled the aftermath of the wrongful conviction of a black man, Darryl Hunt, so gracefully and forthrightly.
Greensboro has better roads. It's still a pain getting from east to west in Winston-Salem, and many of the thoroughfares have nightmarishly short entrance-exit ramps.
Winston has a better skyline. Greensboro has a better coliseum.
Greensboro has Johnnetta Cole. Winston has Maya Angelou.
Winston-Salem's city council is traditionally more combative than the county commissioners (Vernon Robinson was a councilman there), and of course in Greensboro it's the other way around.
Both cities have made overtures to collaborate, but they still don't mind sticking it to one another every now and then.
But both clearly make the Triad a more vibrant place to be.
They are so similar but so different. So near but yet so far.
So important to one another's future, but too often out of sight from one another — and out of mind.
Comments (10)
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One other difference in the two Cities,,,
Cost of new high School in Winston Salem is Approx. 25 Million.
Cost of new high school in Greensboro is 81 million.
Posted on January 7, 2007 10:48 AM
Yes, it seems like Forsyth takes care of the Tax payers money better and for the life of me I just dont understand why we cannot build High Schools here for anything near the Forsyth cost.
I wish someone would answer us Tax payers on this one.
Posted on January 7, 2007 12:05 PM
Allen, you better watch those off-cuff-comments trivializing soccer as a sport no one in his right mind would attend. The soccer Nazis are pretty bad around here. I think the official position is that soccer is too good a sport to interest lowclass Americans.
In the meantime, I think we should designate all high-crime areas in Greensboro as "professional soccer fields," thereby ensuring that no one will go there any more.
Posted on January 7, 2007 6:32 PM
Brian:
I wasn't disparaging soccer; I was disparaging the idea of a sucessful pro soccer team and stadium in downtown Winston-Salem.
Or Greensboro. Or High Point.
People play soccer in big numbers around here. But they don't pay in big numbers to see games.
I apparently was right. Sales of permanent seat licenses in Winston never got off the ground.
Posted on January 7, 2007 6:48 PM
Sour doughnut fortunes? That sounds terriblely unappetizing. Kind of like the aftertaste from that Krispy Kreme stock I owned.
Greensboro is a great place to live. Kind of reminds me of Lexington, Kentucky because (with Bryan Boulevard and the other recent construction) you can get most anywhere in 30 minutes or less. All the local colleges are a plus, there is plenty of shopping and entertainment, and housing is still reasonably affordable.
Winston-Salem has alot going for it as well. I think they made a list this week as one of the top places on the East Coast to retire too. Some people wouldn't think that's a goal to aspire too, but it shows how affordable the region is. Yep, we're pretty lucky around here.
Posted on January 7, 2007 7:35 PM
You're right, Allen, that "people play soccer in big numbers around here." Until they turn 10 and get interested in sports that require opposable thumbs.
Posted on January 7, 2007 11:38 PM
I am glad Dudley finds the colleges a plus. Winston's NCSA has some of the best fare to offer. There's plenty of games to attend in Greensboro, though. I wish both places had more free lectures/presentations, though.
Posted on January 8, 2007 10:15 AM
There is a forum call www.urbanplanet.org which discusses urban issues of cities around the world. There is a Triad section with quite a few Triad members and they discuss whats good about Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point and all the developments taking place in those cities.
http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php?showforum=224
Posted on January 8, 2007 10:59 AM
Thanks, Tim. That sounds well worth checking out.
Posted on January 8, 2007 12:58 PM
Forsyth County also have a real choice plan in their School system. It works because its the same for the whole County.
Posted on January 9, 2007 7:05 PM