OUR WAY FORWARD

Strategic Initiatives

Strengthen the Sense of Place and Economic Vitality of Downtown

icon_Strengthen the Sense of Place and Economic Vitality of Downtown

1. Focus public and private investments near the stadium area (Social District) and along the N. Main Street corridor

Strategy Actions

icon_Strategic Initiatives Economic Vitality Downtown

Momentum and energy downtown is in the vicinity of the stadium, and the Social District. It’s important to build on that energy by focusing public investment to leverage and maximize private investment. A mistake many cities make is to sprinkle investments across several downtown locations rather than focusing investments near core assets and market energy, which helps to build critical mass and greatly increases chances of long-term success. Major connecting corridors including N. Main Street should be a priority and sufficient parking and/or the construction of a parking deck will be important factors  to ensure a viable district.

Key objectives and policy revisions include but are not limited to:

  • Create great streetscapes - careful attention to the relationship between public streets and built environment - along key corridors including all of  N. Main Street, Church Avenue, N. Elm Street between W. English Road and Sunset Drive and W. English Road between N. Main Street and Lindsay Street will send strong signals of a special downtown district.

 

  • Develop N. Main Street as High Point’s premier signature street to send clear signals as a major gateway to High Point.

 

    • Create a balanced street that treats all users equally - pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, and motorists.

 

    • Special attention should be made to creating a quality streetscape with street trees, pedestrian scaled lighting, and furnishings in key locations.

 

    • A comprehensive theme and wayfinding system, which must be coordinated with the overall downtown branding.

 

  • Utilize incentives to encourage mixed-use development with a strong housing component as well as housing only projects (see 1 on pg 62)

 

  • Consider refining the Municipal Service Districts to support the new development in and around the social district.

 

  • A hop-on-hop-off downtown circulator should be considered for the downtown, specifically in the “Social District”.

The purpose of the graphic above is to identify and emphasize the relationships between existing assets and key opportunities in the stadium vicinity and Social District. The Focused Investment Area comes from the Downtown High Point Strategic Plan and is not intended to be a rigid or legal boundary, although it could be. It’s rather a compact area to focus resources to leverage and build upon the internal assets. Once the market energy is maximized within the Focused Investment Area, it could be expanded slowly. The idea is to grow the assets and energy from the inside outward.

Connections to other planning efforts

icon relevant plan

Implementation Timeline for this Strategic Initiative

Success Measures

Target Year/Range

Development incentives created to encourage mixed-use development

2025

Streetscape improvements projects implemented along key corridors, including N. Main Street

2025-2040

The existing Municipal Service Districts are refined to support development in the Focused Investment Area

2025

Strategic Initiatives for this Priority

Strategic initiatives refer to carefully planned actions or projects that the city will need to undertake to achieve this plan’s desired outcomes for each of the Big Things.

Learn more about these and other Strategic Initiatives in Our Way Forward