An item in the Triad Business Journal caught my eye yesterday. There was apparently a meeting of people who were attempting to envision Greensboro’s future and what needs to happen in the city.
It was expressed that we need a convention center in the downtown area. But that is not all. In order for a convention center to be marketable, we would need more attractions in the downtown area to lure people.
The remedies? A soccer arena, or a music hall, or both.
I thought we already had music halls downtown with the Tanger Center and the Carolina Theater, but never mind.
So the sequence will be soccer arena and/or music hall followed by a convention center. Of course, those amenities will benefit those who own commercial real estate downtown, who tend to give heavily to city council candidates.
There has been a longstanding tendency in Greensboro to prioritize frivolous items at the expense of the most important service the city provides– police protection– and also to pay off political donors and patrons. That trend continues; and the taxpayers will always pay the price.
I have departed the Peoples Republic of Greensboro but I see things remain the same.
A Soccer arena… give me a break. What about a team? Who is going to invest in that. Risky business.
Nero fiddled while Rome burned.
Oh, they want soccer badly, Fred, because it is so… global. But whenever I flip the channels on TV, the soccer stadiums in the United States seem fairly empty of spectators.
Greensboro’s leaders have become caricatures of themselves.