A New Era: Downtown Era

Welcome back to another exciting episode of the Amazing Journeys of HSS 105! Today, we leave the College Hill and College Park area and we go to our new area: Downtown!! This is considered the center of Greensboro itself because this was the road to where the market was. Hence the name of the street that bisects it: Market St. Downtown Greensboro has some great history behind it. Still, what fun would the blog be without Clay's wonderful vocabulary to define the city and its elements? Also, another thing we will look at how the vocabulary changes from an older time to a more modern time.

First, let's begin with our obvious beat. The obvious beat of Downtown is right near the center of downtown. It is the intersection of Elm St. and W. Market St. Many people cross through here because it leads to many different areas like UNCG and A&T State University. It also is a merge point for the 4 districts of downtown, which we will get to later. Therefore, this is the beat of downtown. Now, the beat desn't really change. The definition still is the same, really, but a change I would say is the fact that not only is it a crossing point, it becomes the point where two or more districts meet and form a mutual point.

Next, we have our stack. Our stack is the County Jail. This jail has no more use for the community except to keep the inmates in and away from society. Also, it is a huge stack that might grow taller if the inflow of inmates continues to grow. Side note! Why would the people of Greensboro put a jail in what was once a growing part of Greensboro? Isn't that a safety hazard if an inmate escapes? Well, I believe that this jail was built around the time where people began to live over around Friendly Ave. instead of downtown, so people were not as affected. Also, it could serve as a reminder to people in the business side of downtown that crime will not be tolerated and this is where you will go if you do not follow the law. It becomes a menacing tool to control downtown. Now, a stack has changed from its definition of useless junk. I believe it changes to an area where it will be useful but there's no area to expand except up. Thus, a stack is usually very tall.

Next, we have our sink. Now, the sinks change into a treasure that is hidden behind the drabs of the city life. My sink is actually multiple parts of the area. It is the art hidden in the alleys of the downtown area. These are hidden treasures placed by the city to revive the artistic values of downtown. They are hidden in areas where they could fins it, like alleys or in a traffic circle. Something like that.

Next, we have our strip. The strip represents the most developed area in an area now. Not exactly a developed area, but the most developed area. My strip is Elm St. Sadly, I did not get the street sign, but I got the developments along Elm St. What you see here is a few general stores and a theater of sorts. You only see a few of them, but there's actually tenfold. There's also a lot of historic aspects to this street. Woolworth's (the bottom picture) was actually where the first Civil Rights Sit-in took place. It was one of the birthplaces of the Civil rights movement. Amazing history on a strip of Downtown!

The districts are numerous in this area. In downtown, we have 4 big districts that resonate from one big merge point. It all begins at our beat, the intersection at the top. On West Market St. which lead to UNCG is the government district. This area consists of Guilford County Courthouse, the city hall, and numerous other government facilities.

On West Market St. going towards A&T University is the more residential and parking district. This area consists of more of the apartments and parking lots. This would be a more popular area for the downtown area. One special area is the big parking lots that decorate the area.

Next, we have to the left of Elm St., our arts and humanities district. This is where the artisitic areas are and even the human rights areas are. It represents our artistic interests and our city's values in art. Presently, this has begun to spread into the other districts, so tis district could get bigger.

Finally, there is the right side of Elm St. This district is called the business-oriented district. We have our strip here. Also, we have our banks, general stores, and even some bakeries too. Through here, you will rarely see an apartment complex or anything like that. This is what I would also call a "money" district.

Finally, we have our fronts. Our fronts are actually two streets that create the boundaries for downtown. First, there is Davie St. Davie St. marks the street that cuts the downtown from the area with A&T University. It serves as a boundary for this area because on one side, you see a lot of businesses and apartment areas. On the other side, you see clearing that soon lead to the university. Interesting, huh? Then, there is Cedar St. Cedar St. spits downtown from Greensboro College. Also, it marks the barrier for the College Hill neighborhood which doesn't look a thing like downtown.

Well, that's it! I hoped you enjoyed my ideas and give me as much feedback as possible. Thanks for listening!!