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Absolutely. There will always be the immediate needs on which the city should spend money, but every now and then, we should do something as a results of vision of Greensboro that we want to live in 10 years from now. This is indeed a step in that direction.

It would be nice, but the current Bicentennial Greenway plan is not a real greenway. It isn't going to be like the pretty drawings they show you either. In reality it will be a signed route on streets and sidewalks through some of the worse parts of town. How often do you take a stroll along Bragg St. ? People and Downtown Greensboro Inc. don't understand what it really takes to have joggers, baby strollers, bicycles and skaters sharing a thoroughfare that intersects with regular streets. You're trying to combine a park with a highway.
If you want to see what it will look like in 10 years go look at the trails along Battleground or any other paths in our parks. They don't take care of anything here, and they let a group of business people dictate what gets done. The rest of us get to pick up the tab.
A real greenway would be nice. It should be designed for everyone, not just the downtown. A greenway loop with connections to the suburbs would be a good thing. Whatever it is or called it should be safe and allow connections to real destinations.
Right now, with a hiring freeze on city government and a mandate to eliminate one position per department so we can fund safety while the City Manager who decided on the freeze and mandate creates new positions in his department and hires people for it without opening the job to the public, we could spend our money on better projects. How about repairing some of the great ideas of the past?

The Downtown Greenway is a good idea for Greensboro.


This decade has seen a cultural, physical, recreational, and economic revitalization throughout the central business district of downtown Greensboro: from entertainment and leisure venues such as Triad Stage, Center City Park, and NewBridge Baseball Park to new residential opportunities at Governors Court, Southside, and Center Point. The sixteen square blocks that once defined the new city of Greensboro in its inception in 1808 have experienced new life by day and by night. Expanded and renovated restaurants, museums, cafes, and nightspots have drawn citizens and travelers of all ages and walks of life not just to come visit, but to live in and around the vicinity. Greenway efforts elsewhere have proven to be sound investments in expanding public policy efforts toward the encouragement of sustained economic growth and dynamic energy.

A four-and-a-half mile urban recreational loop will traverse through over a dozen of Greensboro's neighborhoods. The loop itself will provide opportunities for these diverse and historic areas to grow together even as Greensboro has grown and expanded away from its geographic origins. The footprint of the Greenway has already been adopted in principle by local governing authority when the Bi-Ped long-range plan was enacted by the City Council, and the Greenway will become the vibrant hub of the interwoven and connected range of walking and riding paths, trails, and nationally recognized system of municipal parks.

The Greenway is ever so much more than "just another park." It represents THE commemorative project of the City's Bicentennial to be celebrated this spring, a symbol of permanence, a commitment to investment in a balanced quality of life, with opportunities not only for health and fitness, but for historical education and honor. Walking the Path of History will be an experience to behold, to be repeated, and to share with family, friends, guests, and newcomers for decades to come. At any point in our city's history, or in years to come, arguments have been made and will be made as to why Greensboro could not afford to undertake such large and bold steps; our history, however, reflects the legacy that when those steps have been taken, we in future years have come to see that Greensboro could not afford not to.

Robby Hassell and Cathy Levinson
Co-Chairs, Greensboro Bicentennial Commemoration Committee

This decade has also seen a decline in the economy and an increase in taxes. The near future holds more of the same.
Note that all of the sound investments you mention were from private enterprise, not government. City government always picks up where sound investment leaves off. Greenway efforts elsewhere, on average, have proven that a bad idea implemented results in the obvious. The only successful greenways were enhancements to existing features of interest. You can't create a greenway around connecting the projects on Murrow Blvd. to the projects on S. Eugene St. and expect a boost in the CBD economy. You can expect a boost in the gang income from connecting their hoods to the historical neighborhoods.
The greenway will be the hub of what? Without spokes and a rim there is no hub. Where are these "interwoven and connected range of walking and riding paths, trails" you speak of? We don't even budget money for sidewalks!
Our history shows us that we build great stadiums to honor our veterans and then we let them fall apart.
So, Robby and Cathy are you guys gonna meet me by the RR underpass on Bragg St. tomorrow night for a stroll along the greenway? It will be an experience to behold.
The Bicentennial Committee made a bad decision, and in historical Greensboro fashion they are sticking to it.

Hey! Where were you guys? I waited for as long as I could, then the ambulance came for me.