We locals can tell you that even though Wendover and Battleground Avenues, Holden Road, Gate City Boulevard and Market Street are definitely power players on the commercial thoroughfare scene, the real "Main Street, USA" of downtown Greensboro is Elm Street. It extends all the way from I-85 to Lake Jeanette, where it gets spun into oblivion by a traffic circle that magically turns it into Bass Chapel Road (with a side of Lake Jeanette Road), but the section that runs through downtown is the main drag (sorry, Davie, Friendly and Eugene--you know it's true!)
Fairly recently, new streetlights were installed in the "shopping district" of Greensboro (I'm gonna say "fairly" because I noticed them last year and I think they were pretty new, and I am unwilling to pester the nice folks at the Streetlight Department to demand details). These nicely compliment all the cool little stores and restaurants that are enjoying a resurgence of popularity. These lights have a charming, decorative feel, especially when their hanging planters are attached and full of flowers, thus:
See how nicely that goes with the old brick building behind it?
Now, if you go a few blocks up the street--north of Market, say--you will be in the "business district", where there are a preponderance of banks, attorney's offices and suchlike. There, you will find the "serious" streetlights:
They aren't plain, but they certainly aren't "quaint"! They have a much more architectural feel.
At first I thought it was a little weird, like changing horses in midstream, that the streetlights on Elm Street suddenly changed "personalities". But now, I think it's just part of our charm, here in Greensboro!
You can also find What's Good in Greensbroro? on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Whats-Good-in-Greensboro-848569635208317/ . See you there!
Images are my own. They were taken with a prehistoric cellphone out my car window as I was driving, and they are just barely sufficient to illustrate this story. Thank you!
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