On the Other Side of the Tracks

Overall the observations that we observed on South Elm Street, I noticed that there were more stores(on both sides of the street) back in 1925 than now. I noticed that there are currently a lot of vacant and non existing places. I am not surprised that there were more stores back then because currently, several of those old, or so called traditional stores, are either too old-fashioned or running out of business, due to the fact that this generation does not visit these type of stores very often. For example, The Princess Mary Shop(536 South Elm Street) probably didn't last very long because as the years went on, people were probably becoming less fund of the merchandise or the store itself.

After looking at the grid, I noticed a few stores that lasted for a long period of time. These stores probably didn't run out of business possibly because of the importance or the quality of the merchandise. These stores/places included the Southern Railroad, The Salvation Army, Southside Hardware Company, Coe Grocery, Kindley's Used Office Furniture, and Rhyne's Corner Cupboard Antiques. These stores are very important to several people such as The Salvation Army for the poor, Southside Hardware Company for car related places, and Coe Grocery for food supplies. The Southern Railway, of course, still exists today because Greensboro is known for traveling, especially on the train. This is something that was established a while back and will continue to progress because it has and always will help people to get to their destinations.

Tracing the Tracks:Opening the Gates

The train is very important to several people such as people without transportation or possibly high gas prices. The train was important to people in the past because back then, many people couldn't afford some vehicles and it wasn't that many vehicles available way back in time. The train was important to people in the present because recently we had problems with high gas prices. The train will probably be important in the future because gas prices will probably be extremely high.

*Flight Schedule to the Piedmont Triad International Airport*

http://www.ifly.com/piedmont-triad-international-airport/GSO-airport-flight-status-arrivals

Besides our community being one of the main places for immigrants, High Point is also another gateway for immigrants to come into the United States.

*Here are some instituitons where non-Western European culture is embedded:

http://www.unc.edu/depts/slavdept/ljanda...

http://www.neh.gov/news/awards/publicfeb...

http://oncampus.richmond.edu/faculty/ASA...

Guilford College

UNCG

Downtown Institutions

*Center City Park*

We discussed in class that there used to be buildings here where Center City Park is now located. They might have reserved this open space for this park because every city needs a spot for nature. People love to be able to come to a peaceful and nonbusy spot to relax. That was probably the purpose of saving that open space for that park. The fountains are the main quality of the park that makes it so comforting. So in other words the park symbolizes equity and peace.

*The Cultural Center*

The Cultural Center seems like a nice place to just come and enjoy yourself. The "avenue" of this building is like saying everybody is welcome to come and look at the performances or look at the beautiful art. I liked how the west exit ended up right where we started. This building gives me the sense of being free and just having fun however you please. It has that positive vibe in it!!! This is probably the reason why citizens feel free to just come there whenever they get ready. It makes your frown turn into a smile!! This building symbolizes happiness.

*The Central Library*

As we observed earlier, the main library used to be where Elon University is now located. They might have moved the library possibly because of space, traffic wise, or to feel the need of reorganizing. One thing that I noticed was the dome on the 2nd floor. In this building the dome means freedom. When I looked up at it, I could see myself flying freely through one of those windows. So can you imagine people who use to be in prison think of when they see that dome?

*The Greensboro Historical Museum*

We discussed earlier that the museum used to be a civic auditorium and a library in between. They might have let this building become a museum because of the importance of the civic auditorium and the library. They were probably also honored to make this building one that will always be remembered. The museum gives one the sense of being somewhat old! You don't even feel like you're in 2009! Some people may like that effect that the museum gives off on them so this is like an advantage.

*The Former Public Library*

As we observed earlier, Elon University used to be the library. I noticed that this library would have been alot smaller than the Central Library. This might have been the reason why they moved it. Both of them were two story but the former library looked more formal than Central Library. In my opinion, the Central Library seems like a library than the former one. The former library looks more like a business or bank complex.

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Back to the Center

*The Skyscraper*

Let's start with the skyscraper that we observed today.I figured that I could compare this building to the church located in College Hill because they have some similarities, but they also have several differences. The skyscraper and the church in College Hill are both "turfs". The skyscraper is like a turf because of the height and design of the building. It's like no other building in the city. The church is like a turf because of the long stairs that lead up to the church and the location. It's actually located on the corner of a street. The difference is that the skyscraper is more like an "epitome district", where the church i s more like one of the "fronts" of the neighborhood.

*The Alleys*

The center of downtown Greensboro and College Hill both have alleys, but they have different qualities and purposes. The alleys that we observed today in downtown Greensboro are more artistic and a little bit smaller than the ones in College Hill. The alley with the artistic water slide looking thing was so that the water would run down into a box when it rains and to cover up the other side. The other alley was so that the city could put a few little stores such as the bakery in it. The alleys in College Hill are more for parking and getting to the back of houses or apartments. Both of these alleys were like "strips" and possibly "infills".

*The KRESS Building*

We didn't talk about the KRESS building much but after observing it, I compared it to the caf on campus. Both of these buildings are like "beats" because this is where several people go often. The difference is that the caf is like a "sink" or a "stack", whereas KRESS is like part of a "strip". This is more like a strip because several people are walking or driving up and down this road everyday. It catches people's attention because it serves food and entertainment.

Blandwood

Today we looked at the Blandwood building on Washington St. This property has 100 acres and is the oldest standing of Italianate structure. It is very unique because it was once the Keeling Institute and it has very interesting decorations. To the left and right of the front room was the West parlor and the East parlor. The West parlor was more formal and known as the “king” parlor. The East parlor was less formal and known as the “queen” parlor. The chandeliers had a unique design from the circle that it was hanging from. They might have added a new face to the original house twice because maybe they wanted a new look or they may have been trying to keep up with the style of most houses in that time. The family probably found it necessary to continue updating the structure because it could have represented their wealth or their reputation.
The building had high ceilings to allow the heat to rise and flow out the open doors and windows of the house. The doors in the parlor had mirrors on the back of them to reflect light. In the other parlor, they had mirrors on the window doors. Their bedrooms were also kind of cool. They had three bedrooms upstairs and one downstairs. In one bedroom, they had sleigh beds and in the other they had decorative back boards. Many people in the past probably admired the Blandwood house because they were so wealthy and had nice things that many probably didn’t have. The building was probably a role model for how they would want their house to look like one day.