Southside, Greensboro, NC
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Southside is an urban community in the south-central section of the North Carolina city of Greensboro, in the United States. Historic Queen Anne homes and bungalows line the downtown Greensboro neighborhood streets along with new construction that has drawn a varied population. In 2005, the Sierra Club ranked the Southside Neighborhood in the top 12 of the United states of America greatest new developments.
The downtown neighborhood has also won numerous national honors, including the 2003 Outstanding Planning Award and the 2004 National Award for Smart Growth. Southside has also been referred to as the South Greensboro neighborhood, Asheboro Street neighborhood, Arlington Park, and Ol’ Asheboro neighborhood.
History
The substantial and intact clusters of late-19th- and early-20th-century homes found in South Greensboro and Arlington Park led to its inclusion as the South Greensboro Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. These residences, which sit on small city lots, feature a range of architectural designs that are popular across the city and North Carolina. The modest and big homes in the Italianate and Queen Anne styles, as well as the later bungalows, deserve special attention.
The Southside area was one of Greensboro’s premier districts at the start of the 20th century. It boasts expansive mansions along Gorrell, Murray, and McAdoo streets, and Asheboro Street, which has since been renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. However, the neighborhood declined over time as its character changed to include warehouses and light industrial uses, and once-owner-occupied residences were divided into shoddy rental units.
There was a thorough community planning process conducted following the approval of a bond package in 1996 by the Greensboro City Council, which included financing for the area’s reconstruction. The Southside Plan, a blueprint based on the ideas of “new urbanism,” is the consequence of this. Restoration work is ongoing on historic homes that are already standing for owner-occupied homes. In December 2007, CityView Apartments, an eight-building apartment complex saw the completion of construction on its first two buildings.
The Southside Neighborhood, Greensboro, North Carolina
The Southside district is now a melting pot, i.e., it has become a mixed-race, mixed-income area. The average monthly rent in Southside is $1,133, compared to $1,706 for rental apartments nationwide. The median home value in the Southside neighborhood is $258,074, more than the $229,800 national average.
The Southside is experiencing a lot of construction, including a collection of close-by small apartment buildings. The Southside plan calls for detached homes, duplexes, townhouses, shopfront live-work units, renovated historic homes, and studio flats on the 10-acre site. The live-work units cluster around a new neighborhood green.
Wide front porches and closely spaced, street-facing construction are common characteristics of new houses. Vintage streetlights, sidewalks, and other features enhance the turn-of-the-century atmosphere. The new structures also include residential and commercial buildings around a central park-like square.
The Skenes Chapel, originally known as the Asheboro Street Friends Meetinghouse, and other local architectural landmarks, including the William Fields House, are just a few of the institutions that call the neighborhood home.
