Big Field Trip - Coming Full Circle

By looking all around the UNCG campus, as well as Greensboro, I have learned a lot about how cities grow and change over time. Over time the campus which we live on has grown as was needed, and is planned to continue growth along its fronts to become even larger. Different sections of campus have unique beats to them, and even individual buildings can have beats. There are areas of high activity, as well as places kept hidden because they are not that visually appealing, such as the smoke stack. Individuals can also view parts of the campus in their own unique ways, and vantages can still be up for personal interpretation. The buildings have changed in style in the more modern era, although some were designed to resemble the original campus buildings. It is interesting why some should be built to look more historic, and others more modern. It creates a bit of a hodge-podge of architectural styles across campus.

When looking around the rest of Greensboro there is a similar situation, but on a much larger scale. The city is also divided into even more different sections, each with their own aura. The college residential areas are different from the old mill villages, which are also very different from the apartment buildings downtown. Each retail section is set up in a different way. The mall is very different from the Friendly Shopping Center, and the strip malls along Lee St and Wendover Ave. As the town expanded values changed and old buildings were put to different uses. WAFCO mills turned into 28 apartments, and the old Presbyterian Church turned into a museum, the train station moved to The Depot.

All of these many changes are typical for any city that has grown and changed over the years. Values changes, the needs of citizens change, areas go from rural to industrial to residential. It is happening all over America and I am now able to see the signs of these changes while walking around town. Exploring some of the individual changes that are very influential to how the city functions today could be something I might include in my final project. It will be very interesting to see if when I go back to Jersey if I will begin to see my hometown in a new and different way from now on, without the old fixes.