L I F E S T Y L E & L I V I N G M A G A Z I N E N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 2

L E G A C Y

P L A C E S T O T O U R H A R V E Y G A N T T C E N T E RC h a r l o t t e , N C

CONTENTS

IN EVERY ISSUE 7 Editors Notes 8 Parks 14 Gardens

About the Cover 18 Harvey Gantt Center

Feature

8 Greensboro Center City Park 31 Engines of Communities

26 Ihe International Civil Rights 22 Greenways and Spaces

20 The Rich and the Rest of Us - Poverty Design 25 Greensboro Arbortum

Seasons

14 Gateway Gardens

CONTENTS

WHAT ARE THE BEST NEIGHBORHOODS

CENTER CITY PARK

What are the best neigh-borhoods? The best neighborhoods are where neighbors serve, share and care. To share illus-trates, for example, the time, effort, compassion neighbors have for each others. For example the time neighbors give to neighborhood organiza-tions, schools, churches, and others to make their communities better.

Clean up America would be a good volunteer group to support; when, Amer-ican all over the United States pick up paper in their communities.

Next, the effort that is made when neighbors work together to help each other. The job re-quires a lot of effort, es-pecially when others take their time to help.

Many neighborhoods have found achievement in helping one another.

Finally, you need com-passion to help your neighbors. When you show others you are con-cern, they know how much you care, and usu-ally will do the same for others.

EDITORS NOTES

PARKS

Greensboro Center City Park The 1.9-acre Park opened in De-cember of 2006 in downtown Greensboro.The website states that the Center City Park incorporated themes and details inherent to Greensboro’s history and culture and to repre-sent the city. Some of the history of Greensboro Center City Park is that the park is built on northeast corner of Friendly Ave, including the land that German and Quaker settlers immigrants began in 1809.

A place to serve Greensboro’s

Park and recreation areas can serve different uses, may be spe-cialized in their function, or can simply provide visual appeal for residents. However they work, parks shapes the feel of a city and its neighborhoods and they can also function as a tool for revital-ization.Also parks and recreations areas has a positive economic benefits. They can enhance property values, increase municipal revenue, bring in homebuyers and workers, and attract retirees.

For residents and visitors. When next to residential areas, green spaces or parks have shown to create neighborhoods with few-er violent and property crimes and where neighbors tend to support and protect one another. The factors that explain these find-ings emphasize the importance of greenery in community and personal wellness. Parks can help Children to have an alternative, hands-on learning environments.

A place to serve Greensboro’s

FoSpaces for residents and visitors.

....... Garden, Lanscapes, Green Spaces

SEASONS

Gateway Gardens

.....a playful and interactive gar-den, and a horti-cultural oasis

FEATURE

For parks and open spaces, this allows citizens in the ongoing design, planning. This process results in informed and engaged residents that feel better connect-ed to their community. People value the time they spend in city parks, whether walking a dog, playing basketball, or having a picnic. Along with these expected leisure amenities, parks can also provide measurable health bene-fits, from providing direct contact with nature and a cleaner environ-ment, to opportunities for physi-cal activity and social interaction

Public parks are often the "engine" that drives tourism in many communities. In a simpli-fied tourism model, visitors use some mode of transportation to leave their homes and travel to attrac

t

ions, which are supported by various kinds of services, such as hotels/motels, restaurants, and re-tailing. Parks can also have many musical and art events that people value.

Some parks and opens spac-es parkland, plazas, landscaped boulevards, waterfront prome-nades, and public gardens, sig-nificantly define the layout, real estate value, traffic flow, public events, and the civic culture of our communities.

All of these upgrades of roads, sewers, and utilities, and the need to upgrade and expand their green infrastructure, natural ecosystem values and functions, sustains clear air and water, can provides a wide array of benefits to people and wildlife.

Public parks are often the "engine" that drives tourism in many communities.

Harvey B. Gantt has distinguished himself as a designer of structures and a builder of communities

The theme of the Harvey B. Gantt Center is where you belong.

Since its founding in 1974, the dream of the first visionaries has elevated to unforeseen levels

H A R V E Y THE COVER

Harvey B. Gantt has distinguished himself as a designer of structures and a builder of commu-nities

LLocated in the heart of Uptown Charlotte, Octo-ber 2009 marked the opening of the Afro-Amer-ican Cultural Center as the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture.

G A N T T C E N T E R

Poverty, was taken on by the award-winning broadcaster Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West,

one of the nation’s leading dem-ocratic intellectuals, co-hosts of Public Radio’s Smiley & West. Some of the topics were “record

unemployment and rampant corporate avarice, empty houses but homeless families, dwindling opportunities in an increasingly paralyzed nation—these are the realities of 21st-century America, land of the free and home of the new middle class poor.”

“There are nearly 150 million poor and near poor people in America who

are not responsible for the damage done by the Great Recession. Yet theypay

the price. The poor did not create the deindustrialization of America, un-

matched corporate profiteering and greed, more than a decade of foreign wars, and unregulated tax benefits for the wealthy. When the largest economic institutions in the world were brought to their collective knees, they went crawling to the government’s doorstep in search of salvation. The government obliged, allowing Wall Street to socialize its failure on the backs of Main Street Americans. The housing and jobs crisis they created fostered a poverty unseen in genetions—not just in inner-city ghettos and barrios, but also in suburbs and rural areas crossing racial, age, and gender lines. Nearly one-third of the American middle class—mostly families with chil-dren—have fallen into poverty.”

—Tavis Smiley and Cornel West

The Rich and the Rest of Us is the next step in the journey that be-gan with “The Poverty TourA Call to Conscience.” Smi-ley and West’s started with a 18-city bus tour to show how Americans of all races, colors, and creeds live. There are150 million Amer-icans who are poor or near poor.

The number of poor are the

highest numbers in over five decades. Smiley and West arguethat now is the time to con-front the underlying condi-tions of systemic poverty in America before it’s too late.”

The spot light is on ending poverty is sure to emerge as the defin-ing civil rights struggle of America’s 21st cen-tury .

According to the Rich and the Rest of US website says, “as

the middle class disappearsand the safety net is shredded, Smiley and West, building on the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., ask us to confront our fear and complacency with 12 poverty changing ideas. They challenge us to re-examine our assumptions about poverty in America—what it really is and how to eliminate it now.”

POVERTYCornel West & Tavis Smiley

Gardens Trails

GATE WAY

Gateways Green-spaces

The East Greensboro needs assistance in improving condi-tions for neighborhoods in the east Greensboro area. As a result, the City of Greensboro Planning and Community Development De-partment works the community in developing a neighborhood project.

There are in close proximity-schools, colleges and universities Guilford Technical Community College, GTCC-East, North Caroli-na Agricultural & Technical Uni-versity,

Some of the lacks in the neighbor-hood are side walks, housing is not very inviting. One student jessica says, I think a lot more college students would like to live in the neighborhood, but by the neighbor-hood structure is not very inviting.

The Greensboro Arbore-tum features several dis-plays with garden, plants de-signs, and structural designs. The gardens are open year round fea-tures from the R.R. Allen Family Butterfly Garden; The Arboretum Education Building; The Butterfly Garden Fountain; The Landmark Arbor; Kaplan Rose Arbor; Tan-ger Family Wedding Gazebo.

The Greensboro Arbore-tum is a part of Greensboro Beau-tiful and Greensboro Public Gardens. The garden is a portion of Lindley Park and over 17-acres. A host of activities are hosted at the garden every year, including the Sum-mer Solstice, which is a family annual event that brings 5,000 citizens togeth-er on the longest day of the year. There are faerie wings, glitter and meander, face painting, musical performances, hooping, drums and dancing will be displayed.

Also every December there is an event called the Candlefest. The Candlefest is a holiday stroll through the garden, where there are 4,000 Luminaries, music, carriage rides, and snacks for purchased. Finally, there is the Tanger Family Wedding Gazebo for an natural beautiful surrounding.

l

Greensboro Arboretum

WEDDING EVENTS

DESIGN

T h e c e n t e r p i e c e o f t h e M u s e u m w i l l b e t h e h i s t o r i c l u n c h c o u n t e r a n d t h e o r i g -i n a l s t o o l s w h e r e f o u r N . C . A & T f r e s h m e n E z e l l B l a i r J r . , F r a n k l i n M c -C a i n , D a v i d R i c h -m o n d a n d J o s e p h

M c N e i l ) s a t d o w n i n n o n v i o l e n t p r o t e s t

o n F e b . 1 , 1 9 6 0 , a n d t h a t b e c a m e t h e s i t -i n m o v e m e n t . A c -c o r d i n g t o t h e w e b -s i t e t h e M u s e u m i s h o u s e d i n t h e o r i g i -n a l 1 9 2 9 F . W. Wo o l

w o r t h r e t a i l s t o r e i n d o w n t o w n G r e e n s -b o r o , N . C . , w h i c h w a s s a v e d f r o m d e -s t r u c t i o n b y t h e M u -s e u m ’ s c o - f o u n d e r s , M e l v i n “ S k i p ” A l s t o n a n d E a r l J o n e s .

T h e O . H e r n y w e b -s i t e s a y s t h e M u s e -u m ’s e x h i b i t s p a c e w i l l s p a n t w o f l o o r s a n d c o v e r 3 0 , 0 0 0 s q u a r e f e e t .

A e d u c a t i o n a l e x h i b -i t s , p e r i o d a r t i f a c t s a n d s t a t e - o f - t h e - a r t t e c h n o l o g y w a s f e a -t u r e d , t a k i n g v i s i t o r s

o n a j o u r n e y t h r o u g h t h e c h a l l e n g e s A f r i -c a n A m e r i c a n s f a c e d i n t h e s t r u g g l e f o r e q u a l r i g h t s .

T h e M u s e u m a l s o h i g h l i g h t s k e y c o n -t r i b u t o r s i n t h e c i v -i l r i g h t s m o v e m e n t a n d c e l e b r a t e s t h e i m p a c t o f t h e s i t - i n m o v e m e n t o n c i v i l a n d h u m a n r i g h t s i s -s u e s t h r o u g h o u t t h e w o r l d .

THE INTERNATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM

T h e n a t i o n m a r k o n F e b . 1 , 2 0 1 0 , 5 0 t h a n -n i v e r s a r y o f t h e s i t -i n m o v e m e n t w i t h t h e g r a n d o p e n i n g o f t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l C i v i l R i g h t s C e n t e r & M u -s e u m i n d o w n t o w n G r e e n s b o r o .

T h e c e n t e r p i e c e o f t h e M u s e u m w i l l b e t h e h i s t o r i c l u n c h c o u n t e r a n d t h e o r i g i n a l s t o o l s w h e r e f o u r

N . C . A & T f r e s h m e n E z e l l B l a i r J r . ,

F r a n k l i n M c C a i n , D a v i d R i c h m o n d a n d J o s e p h M c N e i l .

T h e c e n t e r p i e c e o f t h e M u s e u m w i l l b e t h e h i s t o r i c l u n c h c o u n t e r a n d t h e o r i g i n a l s t o o l s w h e r e

HISTORICALPLACES

The Gateway Gardens is a beautiful garden with stun-ning attractions. Gateway Gar-dens provides a stunning entryway into the City of Greensboro, a playful and interactive garden, and a horticultural oasis integrating elements of history, movement, discovery, and community.Over 11 acres, Gateway Gardens rep-resents the biggest project ever under-taken in the 40 year history of Greens-boro Beautiful.

The garden is strategically located on one of the City’s major entryways. It includes includes the Michel Family Children’s Garden, the Heritage Garden, Rain Garden, Gateway Plaza & Icon, and the Great Lawn.The planning for Gateway Gardens began in 1999. Phase I con-struction began in 2009. The garden was formally opened to the public in 2011. Visit our Facebook page to see more photos of Gateway Gar-dens.

This phase includes the Main Entrance, parking, Michel Family Children’s Garden, Rain Garden, Greensboro Heritage Garden, public artwork and special features. Future development includes a Visitor Center, Wedding and Special Events Garden, Japanese Garden, and White Oak For-est.

ENHANCEMENTS TO THE COMMUNITY

A PLACE FOR CHILDREN

Some of the auto me-chanics businesses have abandoned cars on their lots, which could be a health risk, and in violation of city codes. This have become an eye sore for the Heath Community.Many of the members of the community shared feedback.

Rose who attended the community meeting said “I am glad to attend the plan-ning meetings for the neigh-borhood. This is needed for some improvements.”

Jessica adds, “It would keep out drug dealers and random people in the neigh-borhood. I think having more sidewalk would make you feel secure when you walk down on the streetwalking on the you will not feel like someone will side swipe you or you don’t feel safe.”

Mrs. Sims who lives near a corner street said that her street needed sidewalks because the children their bus stop is on a busy street without a safe place to really stand. The neighbors has petition

for improvements in the neigh-borhoods. The neighborhood is surrounded by some industrial areas, and hous-es that are needs repair, and streets that need curbs, gutter, and side-walks, and businesses that are in code violations.The neighborhood plan is a lengthy process. The pre-planning stage began in 2004 and the members of the community were excited to be involved in the first planning meeting.

The City of Greensboro adopted a Walkability Policy in 2002 adopt-ed by the City Council to

promote the development of a safe, convenient, and attrac-tive pedestrian facilities in Greensboro.

Jessica says, “We as students want a more protected neigh-borhood, we want to feel like we are in a safe environment. By providing secure neigh-borhoods it will bring more college students and I believe other people will come as well.”

“By adding lighting I would feel more secure as well I only have lighting around my apartment we do have cameras, but down the street from my apartments

there is no lighting. I feel that the neighborhood plan will help us in a big way,” says Jessica. Another community member stated that the meeting was in-formative and may motivate more residents to get involved in the planning process in hopes of seeing their input materialize into valuable improvements for the Heath Com-munity.

The neighbors has petition for improvements in the neighborhoods.

Many of the members of the community shared feedback.

CHILDREN LEARNING VALUES CULTURE

NEIGHBORHOODS - ENGINES OF COMMUNITIES

DESIGN