Jun 4
Stronger neighborhoods by design
Posted by AG under: Community; Green; Urban livability .
Each of Greensboro’s neighborhoods can identify physical characteristics that make it different from others. For the most part, these characteristics aren’t written down or talked about much. You and your neighbors just know them. They are what attracted you to live there in the first place.
In April 2007, City Council approved a process that allows neighborhoods to specify some of those unique characteristics and seek an ordinance – called a Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District (NCO) – to preserve them. Cities as diverse as Raleigh, Boston, Atlanta and Bozeman, Montana, have found NCOs to be a flexible method balancing concerns of preservation and growth.
City Council on Tuesday approved Greensboro’s first NCO, which was sought by the Westridge Neighborhood Association. The NCO covers properties facing about six long blocks of Westridge Road, a largely residential street of single-family homes that runs between Friendly and Battleground Avenues.
Homes along Westridge Road range from 1930s-era farm houses to new houses under construction. Some are modest; some are expansive. No two are alike, but many enjoy large lots, extensive tree coverage and generous front yard setbacks.
The Westridge Neighborhood Association, with guidance from the city Planning Department, crafted guidelines designed to preserve the look and feel of the neighborhood in the decades ahead. The process took nearly a year of community meetings, discussion and consensus building. Supporters believe the NCO will preserve the character of the neighborhood while encouraging that future development be compatible.
More than 90 percent of the affected homeowners signed a petition in support of the NCO. City Council approved the NCO by a vote of 8-0.
Councilwoman Goldie Wells noted that the NCO effort has had an unexpected benefit: it has introduced neighbors to one another, sparked regular potluck social gatherings, and strengthened community bonds.
Westridge was the first neighborhood to seek an NCO. Others soon will follow. If the Westridge experience can be replicated, we can all look forward to stronger neighborhoods and a stronger Greensboro.
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