Downtown Greenway

Brian Heagney Talks About the Neighborhoods Around the Greensboro Downtown Greenway

admin — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:00:06 +0000

Bike to Work Week Challenge Sunday May 12 – Saturday May 18

content-editor — Mon, 06 May 2013 16:27:16 +0000

To help promote Bike to Work Week, and National Bike Month, the Trek Bicycle Store in Greensboro and The Sales Factory have issued a challenge to all Greensboro area businesses to see whose staff can log the most miles commuting to work by bicycle.

Teams will be competing throughout the week in multiple categories. The winning teams will be announced at the Bike Movie Night event at Geeksboro Coffeehouse Cinema, on Thursday, May 22nd. Details forthcoming!

Bicycling in Greensboro Bike to Work Week
Add this event to your Google calendar
Learn more at www.bikegso.com

Need some pointers? Hit up at Matt Leighton, pictured here, in this photo by Alex Pegg Photography (check her out on facebook, too). Matt is Team Manager at UNCG Cycling and bartender at Mellow Mushroom on Elm Street.

Need to convince the boss? Infographic round-up of the bottom-line bennies to biking to work on Huffingtonpost.com

Don’t know what to wear? Ivajean.com blogs about bike style and sells skirts and shirts you can traverse from the greenway to the boardroom.

Bri Simpson Talks About Community Support for the Greensboro Downtown Greenway

admin — Thu, 02 May 2013 15:28:04 +0000

My name is Bri Simpson and I’m originally from Seattle, Washington – actually a little bit south of Seattle in Tacoma. I moved out to North Carolina about 18 months ago initially to Ashville for work. I work with REI. Then just recently, about two months ago, to Greensboro for REI to take the store manager position at our store here. I did a lot of research on Greensboro when I applied for the job here. I have seen Greenways, but I’m really, really impressed with the Greenways here. I think that they have a great long term plan and they have groups and organizations in place to make that plan a reality, and a reality in a pretty reasonable amount of time. I think when you get the community involved in a project like this – and that’s probably one of the reasons why these Greenways that they’re looking to connect and this master plan that they have is going to become a reality – is it’s not just one or two people that have really invested in it. It really seems to be that a lot of the community has been invested in it with the art pieces and just with the excitement around it. You talk to anybody in the area and they are familiar with the Greenway. They know the Greenway. They know the downtown Greenway and they’re excited for it to be completed and I think a lot of people are already using it prior to completion. I think when you get the entire community involved in a project like this, and local businesses, then it is going to be successful and you know it’s going to be successful because it’s not just one or two people with a big idea. It’s a lot of people that are in this idea.

The comment period has ended– however, you can still view the plans for Phase 2 and the Tradition Cornerstone!

admin — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:41:54 +0000

The comment period has ended, however, you can still view the plans for 50% design of Phase 2 and the Tradition Cornerstone.

To review the 50% design plans for Phase 2, please click each document below:

Phase 2 Plans-Exhibit 1

Phase 2 Plans-Exhibit 2

Rendering of Phase 2

To view the design of the Tradition Cornerstone by Harries & Héder, click here.

If you have questions, please contact Dabney Sanders, Project Manager, at dsanders@actiongreensboro.org.

Sustainable Signs: Tree Wells

content-editor — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:38:57 +0000

David Phlegar

Stormwater Manager for the Divisions of Water Resources
City of Greensboro

No more gutters here. Tree boxes, also known as tree wells, installed on the Downtown Greenway sidewalk near the Greenway at Fisher Park Apartments contain a special soil treatment to treat the dirty rainwater coming off Smith and surrounding streets, says David Phlegar, Stormwater Manager for the Division of Water Resources in Greensboro, NC.

“It’s one of the first places downtown you’ll see an example like this,” Phelgar says. “It’s a lot easier to come in up front in the planning and construction stages to do this, as opposed to after-the-fact. We worked with the Downtown Greenway in order to comply with some of the future Jordan Lake Rules for nutrient management, as well as our regular stormwater regulations to improve our water quality.”

More tree well projects and others, such as creating alternatives to impervious parking lots, will be appearing more around town. To learn more, visit the city’s Water Resource Web site at www.greensboro-nc.gov

Q & A: Learn how changing rules at Jordan Lake are affecting Greensboro’s stormwater management program.

Put a little Downtown Greenway in your garden

content-editor — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:46:19 +0000

With April coming to a close, this weekend is a good time to sneak in some last minute plants and flowers. Greensboro’s permaculture expert and Downtown Greenway consultant Charlie Headington offers a few ideas to “feed the thieves” and other beneficial insects needed to maintain a healthy organic garden.

“Some for the thieves, some for the birds, and some for us,” Charlie says. “By attracting beneficial insects, they in turn manage the not-so beneficial or insects that we don’t want. In an organic garden you let insects manage other insects.”

Butterfly garden

Butterfly Bush attracts the yellow swallowtail butterfly.
Butterfly Weed, a bright orange flower which attracts monarch butterflies.
Pawpaw tree produces edible fruit, which attracts the zebra swallowtail butterfly.

Groundcover plants to attract beneficial insects

Ajuga
Stonecrop
Strawberry
Pennyroyal
White clover attracts honeybees for clover honey

Hide a fence or garden wall

Trumpet honeysuckle for the hummingbirds

Charlie Headington’s plans for the West Smith and Prescott streets cornerstone orchard.

These plants and flowers will be included in the proposed orchard and garden design Charlie created for the West Smith and Prescott street area near the Downtown Greenway. Read the News & Record article on the garden’s planned design for more information about the planned sculptures and seating area, designed by Boston, MA architects Mags Harries and Lajos Héder.

Learn more about Permaculture Gardening with Charlie Headington. Charlie is hosting a Permaculture Gardening Workshop Sat. April 27. To register, email charlie.headington@gmail.com.

Get ready for Tuesdays at the Trailhead– FREE Fitness Classes starting May 7!

admin — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:04:43 +0000

Cardio, Zumba, African Dance… and other fitness classes will be offered every Tuesday from 6:00-7:00 pm at the Spring Garden Street trailhead parking area on the Downtown Greenway. Classes will begin on May 7 and run through September 24.

To see the complete schedule of classes at the Spring Garden Trailhead and also the Monday and Wednesday fitness classes at Center City Park, click here.

Parking during the classes will be located across the street from the Downtown Greenway in the parking lots between Edgeworth Street and Blandwood Avenue on the north side of Spring Garden–look for parking signs.

Bring yourself, comfortable attire, and a water bottle– no prior experience is needed for any free fitness class! See you there!

Bri Simpson Talks About Benefits of Living on the Greensboro Downtown Greenway

admin — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:59:52 +0000

My name is Bri Simpson and I’m originally from Seattle, Washington – actually a little bit south of Seattle in Tacoma. When I moved out here I was looking specifically for an apartment building of some kind. I really wanted some of the amenities so not just the location was important to me, but I wanted to make it really feel like home and be in a place that I could live in for not just a year or a couple of years, so I could really establish a home here. This location has all sorts of things, the pool. It has the stadium really close by. It has workout facilities. To have activities for residents, but in addition it’s a little bit out of downtown so I still get to go downtown and have the downtown vibe. I like the Fisher Park neighborhood. It offers a little bit more nature than being right downtown. Over my 11 years with REI, I’ve pretty much tried everything that we have to offer being out west with people who do mountaineering and a lot of the snow sports. Then moving out here I got really into biking in Asheville. Asheville is a huge bike community so when I moved to Greensboro there were some things that I really looked at. The trails are close by. It has a lot to offer as far as mountain biking trails, hiking trails and then also the Greenway was something that I really appreciated. Being able to really go out my backdoor and jump on the Greenway for a ride or for me to be able to commute to work.

One of the things that really drew me to this location was being literally right on the downtown Greenway. It’s also very, very close to the green that went to REI so essentially I can ride my bike or run to Friendly Center and be right at work in a really easy amount of time. It makes the commute a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable than my commute in Nashville.

We want your input on the 50% Design of Phase 2 and the Tradition Cornerstone!

admin — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:18:01 +0000

If you were unable to attend the Public Meetings on April 10 and 11, you still have a chance to share your thoughts about the 50% Design Plans for Phase 2 (Murrow Boulevard and Lee Street to Fisher/Greene) and on the proposed design of the Tradition Cornerstone by Harries & Héder. Click here to go to the survey. Comments can be submitted on-line through Friday, April 26. We appreciate your input!

To review the 50% design plans for Phase 2, please click each document below:

Phase 2 Plans-Exhibit 1

Phase 2 Plans-Exhibit 2

Rendering of Phase 2

To view the design of the Tradition Cornerstone by Harries & Héder, click here.

If you have questions, please contact Dabney Sanders, Project Manager, at dsanders@actiongreensboro.org.

Scott Neely Talks About Storm Water on the Greensboro Downtown Greenway

admin — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 16:15:21 +0000

My name is Scott Neely and I live in downtown Greensboro in the south side district. I’m a youth and arts director and on the side from being a youth and arts director, I’m finishing up my post-graduate certificate in Sustainable Community Planning and Design from Boston Architectural College. One of the things that caught my eye with the Greenway project was along Smith Street I was seeing the Greenway at Fisher Park, these condominiums or apartments being developed. I noticed the curbs and the sunken area and I thought that looked a little different than what we normally see. Putting two and two together with what I’ve been studying and seeing that design, I immediately thought that it had to be a rain garden type of sustainable design and I was really excited about that. Storm water, say a heavy storm, heavy rain comes down and what happens is we are really good at paving things. We actually need to have a little bit of a concrete diet in our lifestyle. The importance of something like this rain garden is that it catches the water without being runoff into the storm drains. Storm drains can overflow in major rains, so when it overflows it can create flooding and water pollution. Also when water hits on an impervious surface it can run for miles, I guess, and collect a bunch of pollutants along the way. Sustainability is not just a trend. It’s here to stay and it’s what we all need to start thinking about as we move forward in the future.