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One cannot lower the federal voting age, but for local jurisdictions one can lower it. Explain why it’s asinine? 16-yo’s probably wouldn’t vote still, but regardless us young folk make up a relatively large portion of the population yet we are represented. I am 24 years old, it should be embarrassing that Greenville doesn’t give a damn to hear the young population while boasting on about being a college town.
Because the majority of the students come through for 4 years, rent, and go back to NoVA or New England or wherever they came from. They have no stake in the long term health and direction of the city. Residents deserve a voice without being drowned out by what amounts to visitors.
Because the majority of the students come through for 4 years, rent, and go back to NoVA or New England or wherever they came from. They have no stake in the long term health and direction of the city. Residents deserve a voice without being drowned out by what amounts to visitors.
I have a hard time believing most ECU students are from outside of NC, and besides, most of these students are leaving because Greenville only offers opportunities for those interested in the medical profession and frankly, this is considered a boring place for us young folks —my agenda is to diversify our economy and make this place a more attractive place for our residents. Those who’s are 16-yo need to feel more invested in our counminty and made to feel this place is also for them. Our elected officials don’t give a damn about us young folk (but it defintely gives a damn about the ECU students bringing in their parents money) and don’t seem to give a damn about keeping us here, we must change our mindset to be more progressive in regards to making this great city a more inclusive community for all of us, and especially the upcoming generation.
I'm not as young as you, but I'm still young enough to be considered a millennial. But I've lived in Pitt County my entire life and though I love eastern NC, I'm just a realist about these things.
I've been to places like Columbia and Greenville where they have entertainment and vibrant downtowns.
1) they have the space for this; our downtown is tiny
2) they don't have Raleigh an hour away
We just got back from Raleigh, where we ate and did some shopping at Crabtree and a couple other places. Do you really think there is anything Greenville can do to revive it's mall to anywhere close to that level? Why would people stay here for mediocre shopping and entertainment when the Triangle is that close? Fayetteville is bigger than us but it's a dump too for the same reason. We also can't pretend we have the natural attractions a place like Wilmington does.
I have a salty attitude about students but like you said, so does the rest of the city and its leaders. We'd probably have a collective change if Greenville accepts that its a college town and not much else and then focuses on making that identity shine. Be like Charlottesville or Athens. Or Boone to an extent. When I was growing up Greenville and the university were more synonymous than they are now.
Boone has a hell of a lot more going for it than App but what do they promote when you enter the city from every side?
Here are some responses to this. I don't want you to think I believe all the ideas are bad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BMORE
Making Greenville A Leader
Social
•Setting an agenda to end long-term homeliness nobody has successfully done this. we have so many because Mayor Bloomberg sent them here.
•Creating a Pitt County resident only portal for the LGBTQ+ community to congregate and use available public spaces I fail to see the point of promoting this segment of the population exclusively
•Business grants to encourage healthy restaurants to open No for the simple fact that "Healthy" is a subjective thing
•Better Promoting our Annual Restaurant Week I don't see a problem with this since I didn't even know this is a thing
•Promoting grants to organizations that are working with the community As long as the money is federal this is great
•Lower voting age in local elections to 16 years old Put down the bong
Infrastructure and Transportation
•Review the feasibility of “Free Bus Days” for the “GREAT” bus system to promote ridership, reduce traffic throughout the city, and lower carbon-emissions I like riding the AppalCart in Boone. It's open and free. I know of no politically correct way to put this though: we have too many poor people who use the bus as their only transportation and others don't want to ride with them
•Expanding the “Greenway” bike-trail system I support this
•Connecting sidewalks throughout the city I support this
•Increase beautification throughout the city, and especially at city gateways I support this
•Review feasibility of an Inland Port in Farmville to transport locally made goods to the State Ports of North Carolina I see you picked the bong back up
•Commission study on a Uptown Convention Center or rather a “Uptown Annex” with a circulator bus running between the original and Uptown sites would be feasible The convention center was a mistake that we have to live with
Crime
•Within city-limits, employers are not allowed to ask for a credit-check nor do applicants have to inform employers if they’re felons or not. The first one is a necessity for a position involving managing money and the second is easily found in a background check... I'm fine with both of these being done
•Promoting additional grants and resources towards programs that advocate youth development This **** doesn't work and has never worked. Grassroots efforts work.
•Implementing a ‘Summer Youth Job Program’ Why?
Business
•In coordination with ECU, create more incubator space for small business (especially technology) This isn't a horrible idea
•In coordination with ECU and the State of North Carolina, advocate for ECU to create a concentration in aerospace engineering Don't really see the point in this specifically
•In coordination with the Global Transpark of Kinston and ECU, develop a special partnership between ECU, The global transport is another mistake we have to live with. Call it what it is. Kinston's airport.
•In coordination with ECU, create a Tax Increment Tax District in the “West End” to accelerate ECU development of the upcoming ‘Millennium Campus’ I don't even know what a tax increment district is but tax credits are a slippery slope and I don't like them
Government
•Create a regional government/authority between Pitt, Lenior, Wilson, and Beaufort County to address, as a collective, regional interests, business coordination between the counties, expense allocation towards building attractions, and creating a ‘common area’ for businesses Lenoir thinks it is still a thing and only wants to promote itself. Wilson is prime to be a bedroom community to Raleigh and has no reason to look to us for anything. Beaufort County is so vast in land area and so poor when you take that land area into consideration that maybe you should be using Washington solely as the partner
Revenue
•Increase Pitt County sales tax by .25 to bring it up to 2.50% No one wants this
Wellness
•In coordination with local businesses, set-up an annual drive to donate bikes to residents below the the poverty line I like this
•In coordination with Vidant and ECU/Brody Medical School, study the feasibility of a “Healthy Greenville” wellness and prevention program targeted at low-income families I guess I like this. It sounds good.
•In coordination with Vidant, seek to open another Wellness Center in Greenville Have you ever been to the Wellness Center? It's just a gym for old people and contains some Vidant Physical Therapy offices
I'm not as young as you, but I'm still young enough to be considered a millennial. But I've lived in Pitt County my entire life and though I love eastern NC, I'm just a realist about these things.
I've been to places like Columbia and Greenville where they have entertainment and vibrant downtowns.
1) they have the space for this; our downtown is tiny
2) they don't have Raleigh an hour away
We just got back from Raleigh, where we ate and did some shopping at Crabtree and a couple other places. Do you really think there is anything Greenville can do to revive it's mall to anywhere close to that level? Why would people stay here for mediocre shopping and entertainment when the Triangle is that close? Fayetteville is bigger than us but it's a dump too for the same reason. We also can't pretend we have the natural attractions a place like Wilmington does.
I have a salty attitude about students but like you said, so does the rest of the city and its leaders. We'd probably have a collective change if Greenville accepts that its a college town and not much else and then focuses on making that identity shine. Be like Charlottesville or Athens. Or Boone to an extent. When I was growing up Greenville and the university were more synonymous than they are now.
Boone has a hell of a lot more going for it than App but what do they promote when you enter the city from every side?
I think you're giving Boone a bit too much credit, and for the record Greenville SC's downtown area really isn't substantially larger than ours in terms of square footage if you will -- but they're obviously making much better use of it. You're overlooking the fact that all those empty and underutilized lots downtown are full-sized city blocks.
It's not totally unrealistic to make Greenville SC your overall goal. Their growth pattern was very abnormal but it took a lot of teamwork (namely the Tax Increment Financing that you weren't a big fan of a few posts back) and was very grassroots, so it proves that it's possible. With that said, it should be the goal not the expectation. The makeup of Greenville SC all things considered isn't much different than Greenville NC.
I also do agree with you that Athens should be a goal -- but see the thing about Athens is that it's really treated like Chapel Hill in Georgia. Atlanta wants Athens to be beautiful because it's where their state flagship university is located. Raleigh doesn't care about Greenville in that sense because Greenville doesn't hold any crown jewels.
Charlottesville is far too small for us to mimic realistically. It's a lot easier to stay beautiful when you have half the public works expense.
I do agree with you that Greenville needs to be the Home of ECU first and foremost. And I don't think that it does an overly poor job of that. What you see from leaders is a result of making Playboy Top Party School so many times..it's sexy to tell voters that ECU needs to tone it down. The reality is that the city and ECU work hand in hand in just about everything -- hell ECU strategically worked with the city to buy up 1/2 of downtown and an entire warehouse district for its vision.
I don't agree with you when you insinuate that we shouldn't work toward striking a more delicate balance that promotes all of those wealthy people not paying city taxes to come live in the city limits and/or head toward center city to eat and hang out. Shopping, no Greenville is never going to be a shopping destination, but it can be the cultural center of Eastern NC. The truth is we don't know what that entirely looks like yet because the word urban and Eastern North Carolina have never been near each other.
But, the Athens' of the world are what they are because they have a nice balance in place.
Last edited by PiratePanther189; 08-27-2017 at 04:04 AM..
So they want to still make a southern bypass south of ayden huh? I don't know what they were thinking... This beltline would look retarded when it's complete.
The northeast bypass is pretty good though.
Last edited by Slay The Great; 08-27-2017 at 01:59 PM..
I'm not as young as you, but I'm still young enough to be considered a millennial. But I've lived in Pitt County my entire life and though I love eastern NC, I'm just a realist about these things.
I've been to places like Columbia and Greenville where they have entertainment and vibrant downtowns.
1) they have the space for this; our downtown is tiny
2) they don't have Raleigh an hour away
We just got back from Raleigh, where we ate and did some shopping at Crabtree and a couple other places. Do you really think there is anything Greenville can do to revive it's mall to anywhere close to that level? Why would people stay here for mediocre shopping and entertainment when the Triangle is that close? Fayetteville is bigger than us but it's a dump too for the same reason. We also can't pretend we have the natural attractions a place like Wilmington does.
I have a salty attitude about students but like you said, so does the rest of the city and its leaders. We'd probably have a collective change if Greenville accepts that its a college town and not much else and then focuses on making that identity shine. Be like Charlottesville or Athens. Or Boone to an extent. When I was growing up Greenville and the university were more synonymous than they are now.
Boone has a hell of a lot more going for it than App but what do they promote when you enter the city from every side?
Raleigh has long neglected this part of the state, there is no denying that but to suggest that Raleigh is the reason Greenville cannot aspire to be more is short-sighted and an injustice to great citizens of our coumminty. Greenville, SC and NC share similar names but we are worlds apart, I’m not aiming to make our city like theirs when we have an urban population of approx 120k people compared to their 400k (our urban population compares more to their Golden Strip Urban Area consisting of Simpsonville, Mauldin, Etc). What I do want Greenville to be, again, is a place of bold ideas. Greenville Mall isn’t going to become Crabtree, and frankly I’ve long been a proponent of demolishing it in favor of a mixed-use development for its a prime location but I’m not advocating for intervening in the affairs of existing businesses but rather advocating we do more to attract business.
I think Greenville does embrace ECU pretty well. You enter Pitt County on 264 and the sign says something along the lines of “Welcome to Pitt County. Home to ECU.” The problem, in my view, is the community embraces ECU for sports and it’s medical program, everything else pretty much gets the middle finger. To suggest Greenville doesn’t have hometown pride for ECU would mean one is walking around oblivious — you cannot walk around without seeing an ECU shirt, hat, FIRETRUCK, statues, etc. but we must move beyond just being proud of the Pirates and rally behind what ECU ACTUALLY is — a research university.
The Trianlge has cultivated a relationship with its three major universities that has made attracting businesses from all corners of the globe relatively easy. I know ECU isn’t UNC, Duke, or even NC State for that matter but that doesn’t mean we cannot encourage more research here. I mean, ECU is a major institution for Marine Biology, Climate Change is a big deal — ECU could be a GLOBAL leader in reducing the harmful effects of Climate Change and especially in regards to Marine Biology. Of course that’s just an example but an excellent example of Greenville not using her tools to make ECU an even better school. Fortunately Chancellor Staton and I seem to be largely on the same page, we want to make ECU a great school nationally as opposed to just some school in Wast Carolina but that party relies on Greenville giving a reason for those who attend ECU to stay here.
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