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I do not subscribe to the notion that Greenville will only ever be a college town. If it is so be it, that isn't a bad thing. ECU is a huge piece of Greenville always will be but the viability of the city would be buoyed from non-ECU things. The irony in that is that ECU can be a catalyst for creating those non-ECU draws (see culinary discussion below)
I also disagree with the mere premise that Greenville will never be Asheville from earlier. Of course it wont they are entirely different cities/regions/cultures making the comparison is erroneous from the beginning. Greenville can absolutely be a vibrant, bustling small city with an identity and brand of its own.
Some of the answer will be organic and happen naturally some other things I believe that Greenville can develop to collectively be its "thing" are
Food - we already embrace BBQ, but be the culinary capital of the east and celebrator of food from the state and region. ECU should partner with should partner in culinary programs through the region (possible the state); Carterete, CofA, and Cape Fear. Design a program that combines culinary and hospitality management and make Greenville to epicenter of food culture in the east.
The River - we're already on to this one but there is serious room and need for growth. Featuring the river for SUP, kayak, fishing, and other non-motor/small-motor adventures. Being ourdoorsy isn't limited to mountains, just embrace what we have and celebrate it. I believe developing a section of the river front is essential. Either East or West of Uptown, whichever is most viable. Also developing neighborhood access along the river. there are plenty of neighborhoods but is there an ability to or culture of accessing and utilizing the river. Something like this
Put the GREEN in Greenville - I would love to see Greenville become a small city model for new/clean energy, conservation, transit, and environmentally friendly practice.
Regarding the last point, I’ve quite literally used the phrase “Put the Green in Greenville” many times before yet, people I met aren’t receptive of the idea of making Greenville a model community for green technologies, conservation, and etc. For instance, I’ve spoke with a great deal of people about creating a $.05 plastic bag tax in order to finance clean energy sources — I was met with resistance.
“We are taxed enough!”
Well, having these clean energy sources are an investment and will lower not only our carbon footprint but also our power bill, yet people still don’t agree with it.
Back in 2006, they were planning to widen Memorial to eight or even ten lanes along with the southwest bypass. and even widening Stantonsburg to six lanes. But that's never gonna happen IMO.
According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Brody School of Medicine is now ranked 1st in the state and 2nd in the US for sending graduates into family medicine.
The transportation hub expected to serve as new transfer point for the city’s bus system and better connect residents to points beyond is quickly rising in a downtown area that already is bustling with development.
Construction of the $8.4 million Greenville Transportation Activity Center, or GTAC, is progressing at the corner of Pitt Street and Bonner’s Lane, near the Greenville Fire-Rescue and Police Department Headquarters. Much of the building’s shape and design is now visible to passersby.
State and federal grants will pay for 90 percent of work, and the city is paying about $900,000. Kevin Mulligan, director of the city’s Public Works Department, said construction of the nearly 10,000-square-foot facility should be complete by late spring.
“The vision for many center city locations is to be a place where you live, work, shop and dine. Transit-oriented development is a key component to making those visions a reality,” Mulligan said. “GTAC is among the first of these steps in Greenville and the revitalization of the entire Dickinson corridor is following. It will ultimately make a tremendous difference in the transportation needs for many of the city’s residents.”
Construction is ongoing between Pitt and Clark streets, south of Bonner’s Lane and the Nathaniel Village housing development. It lies between University Edge, a $32 million mixed-use development under construction at Dickinson Avenue and Reade Circle, and the Imperial Tobacco site, for which the city has received several bids for multi-use development.
Mulligan said the central location of the facility, adjacent to west Greenville, the Uptown district and the Dickinson Avenue corridor, will be an asset to city residents and help to both improve accessibility to central Greenville and provide convenience to residents who want to use the GREAT bus system and connecting transportation modes.
Once completed, the terminal will feature 12 bus bays, which will be the start and end point for all GREAT bus routes, and where residents can transfer from one route to another. Mulligan said GTAC also will have Greyhound service and shuttle service to the Amtrak station in Wilson. It also will be a stopping point for East Carolina University buses to serve students who live nearby and want to visit the area.
Mulligan said as the area continues to develop, he would not be surprised to see increased service to the terminal. He said taxi services, airport, hospital and hotel shuttles all are possible developments for the site. He said the Greyhound and Amtrak offerings give students the ability to travel to and from remote locations like Washington, D.C., and New York City without a car.
The project also is reconstructing Pitt and Clark streets and Bonner Lane and overhauling of the streets’ water, sewer, electric and stormwater infrastructure. A new portion of Eighth Street also will be constructed to run beside the terminal, eventually connecting to Atlantic Avenue from South Pitt Street, Mulligan said.
The building is constructed with bus bays located to the north of the terminal. The terminal features a large lobby and ticket counter, surrounded by glass so residents can more easily identify when their buses have arrived.
The facility will feature public bathrooms and rest areas and a break area for transportation workers. The upstairs will house mostly administrative offices for transportation staff.
The new Central City police unit will be located on the west side of the facility. It will feature storage for police bicycles and Segways, a conference room and a public sergeant’s desk. Mulligan said that the facility will not be another substation, just an additional facility to help police work in the area.
Construction of the project was awarded to TCC Enterprises Inc. of Louisburg, which submitted the lowest bid at $7,194,300. Jamison Dean, the site supervisor for TCC, said construction has been going largely on schedule, although the large number of construction projects in the city have created challenges.
In addition to University Edge, Gather Uptown, a $30 million student housing project, is underway at West Fifth and South Greene streets. Work on the 10th Street Connector project also is progressing nearby the site.
Campus-Edge, a $54 million student housing project, is underway at 10th and Charles streets, and work on a new student center and parking deck is progressing nearby on East Carolina University’s main campus.
The GTAC has been in the works for more than a decade. The City Council in 2008 selected a site bounded by Evans, Cotanche, Eighth and Ninth street but suspended property acquisition and development there in 2011. The location was later privately developed as a student housing project, The Boundary @ West End.
A site at Dickinson Avenue and Bonners Lane also was considered. The city secured funding in 2014 and settled on the final site in 2015.
The city of Greenville has unveiled a new pair of interactive websites to help the public to track development in the the city.
The websites were designed by the City’s Planning Division. In a Friday news release, Planning GIS Technician Patrick House said the websites are a new way for residents in the city to stay informed about what type of growth is happening around them.
"We feel like this is a good way to track growth in the city," House said in the release. "So many people ask, ‘What is going on here?’ or 'What is being built there?’ They can now go to these sites and get the answers. It tells the story of the city's growth and activities from the Planning Division's perspective. We have taken what used to be paper-based reports and transformed them into an interactive web application."
According to the release, the Development and Activities Report provides data from annexations, population density, site plans, preliminary plats, building inspections, rezoning applications, zoning patterns, historic preservation, and more in a user-friendly story map format. The site also feature maps and links to detail recently completed and future development in the city.
The Interactive Map of Non-Residential Projects, allows users to navigate through site plans for non-residential projects that recently were completed, are under construction, or are coming soon within a distance of a user-selected location. The information available includes names, types, and acreage for site plans in Greenville, along with the year a project was approved, directions, and its character and land-use designation in the Horizons 2026 Community Plan.
The release said the sites can be viewed through browsers on desktops, mobile phones, and tablets. They can be accessed on Planning Division’s page the city’s website at Planning Division | Greenville, NC.
For more information about the sites and how to use them, contact GIS Technician I Patrick House at 329-4236 or phouse@greenvillenc.gov.
The River - we're already on to this one but there is serious room and need for growth. Featuring the river for SUP, kayak, fishing, and other non-motor/small-motor adventures. Being ourdoorsy isn't limited to mountains, just embrace what we have and celebrate it. I believe developing a section of the river front is essential. Either East or West of Uptown, whichever is most viable. Also developing neighborhood access along the river. there are plenty of neighborhoods but is there an ability to or culture of accessing and utilizing the river. Something like this
Put the GREEN in Greenville - I would love to see Greenville become a small city model for new/clean energy, conservation, transit, and environmentally friendly practice.
I agree with this as a boardwalk on the river would totally change the downtown landscape. I would like to see a waterfront restaurant/bar that would be accessible by boat as well. Also a new boat ramp could be placed across the river since I believe the one downtown is closed. That area across the river floods as we all know and development is limited but a full size boat ramp with lots of parking could be good and would increase use of the river.
On top of a waterfront restaurant Id also love to see a brewery on the river similar to New belgium that is in asheville.
I've been following y'all's forum for almost 6 years now trying keep up with all that's coming to Greenville. However, I just recently finished grad school at ECU and am now a Raleigh resident. I was wondering if y'all knew of any development forums comparable to this one for the Raleigh area (specifically downtown and North Raleigh) since I'd like to keep up with Raleigh just as much as Greenville. I've done some research and can't seem to find a forum as good as this one anywhere. Anything helps, thanks!
P.S. I apologize for abandoning ENC. I have every intention on making my way back sometime in the future
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