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Historic Development Trends
The Legacy Toolkit has been developed to illuminate various concepts of planning and zoning, and Legacy, our comprehensive plan. Legacy stresses concepts of sustainability and growth management as tools for ensuring quality future development. The Legacy Toolkit materials reinforce this underlying concept with easy-to-understand supplemental materials.
Development Prior to 1950
Historically, development that occurred in Winston-Salem (prior to 1950) was predicated on the practical constraints of building in accordance with natural systems, such as stream networks and geographic features. When the Wachovia Tract was first identified as an ideal place to settle by the Moravians in 1753, certain physical features of the landscape stood out as more supportive of development than others. Upland areas had good soils and were generally easier to develop than the steep slopes or floodplain land found elsewhere in the region. In effect, these natural systems also served as the blueprint for built infrastructure, such as sewerage systems and roadways.
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1920s Urban Development
1920s Residential Development
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The urban core of what is today Winston-Salem started out as the town of Winston. Winston developed in the mid 19th century on a ridgeline adjacent to the historic Moravian settlement of Salem. When the two cities joined in 1913 and later became the largest city in the state in the 1920s, Winston-Salem’s existing development patterns continued to expand. Dense commercial and retail development occurred downtown, surrounded by compact, walkable urban neighborhoods at its fringe. Some of these neighborhoods were connected to downtown by streetcar, which supported the compact urban core. Additionally and unique to Winston-Salem, access to downtown occurred at critical creek crossings which served as de-facto gateways to the urban area. Visitors were drawn through these gateways, through the ring of urban neighborhoods, until they arrived at the commercial center of downtown Winston-Salem. This commercial core served the residents of the city’s urban neighborhoods as well as the agricultural communities that existed well beyond. During this period, the various functions of residential and commercial land uses were incorporated into one cohesive pattern of urban settlement. This land use pattern was popular for several decades, and can still be seen in areas of the “old city.” |
Development Post 1950
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1960s Suburban Subdivision
(Photo Courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection)
Thruway Shopping Center (1950s)
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As the Interstate Highway system began to develop in the postwar era, auto-dominated development began to override existing, pedestrian-oriented patterns. As a result, the Winston-Salem urban area began to expand outward into the rural parts of Forsyth County. While the advent of the Interstate Highway system provided benefits such as increased access to previously remote areas and regional interconnectivity, its development had unintended consequences as well. Advances in construction methods meant that development became less constrained by physical and environmental factors. Thus, the focus of development shifted from supporting the compact urban core to creating scattered, low density, auto-oriented areas separated according to their use.
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Auto-Dominated Residential Street
"Big Box" Commercial Development on Hanes Mall Blvd
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Consequently, like most other parts of the country, scattered suburban development became the dominant development pattern in Forsyth County. This pattern works well when there is abundant cheap land and energy. Recent higher fuel prices have made some people reconsider the benefits of less auto-dependent development patterns that encourage a more compact mix of uses. Mixed-use developments have gained popularity across the country in the past decade and provide an appealing alternative to conventional suburban sprawl development.
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Future Development
| Sustainable future development must take into account the relationship of the built and natural environments as our early development patterns demonstrated. |
The Urban to Rural Transect
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| This pattern, known as urban to rural transect zoning, appropriately guides development from dense urban cores to a less developed rural area. However, future development must also take into account the specific environmental and economic reality of our region. If these factors are not taken into account when planning for future development, the community will be left with an increasingly suburban county with little distinction between urban or rural character. |
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Pedestrian-Oriented Mixed-Use Development
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The Legacy Toolkit not only outlines the reasons why development in Forsyth County has happened the way it has, but also the underlying principles that make sustainable development successful in achieving a livable community. Concepts of sustainable development such as walkability, connectivity, mixing of uses, and incorporation of natural features are explained in greater detail in the Legacy Toolkit materials.Our community’s ability and willingness to make use of these practices will determine whether we can retain our distinctive qualities or become just “anywhere USA.” |
rev 3/17/2008
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