| There is no well defined boundaries for the West End neighborhood but my sense is that it extents north of the highway, between Hanes Park and Broad Street, and south of Northwest Blvd. West End was planned as a picturesque streetcar suburb developed at the turn of the 20th century and including some structures from the late 19th century. Because of its mixed-use character, multi-model transportation, and access to Dwtn, this is by far Winston-Salem’s best urban community. Yet like most southern urban neighborhoods West End also has a lot of urban deficiencies including a low density, limited bike infrastructure, hit or miss urban massing in the biz districts, and lack of important amenities such as a supermarket or drug store. Hopefully West End will continue to densify with quality urban form. Still plenty of lots to build on. |
Click here to view my West End Flickr Album
URBAN STRENGTHS:
| * Great access to Dwtn via all moods of transportation. * ADA ramps are consistant in commercial districts but largely missing in residential areas. Sidewalks are consistant though. * Great economic diversity and decent racial diversity. * Nice diversity is size and price for for-sale options. Plenty of 1 &2 bedroom condos selling for around 200K and 300K, respectively. Large SF homes selling in between 400K-650K, small SF homes selling in the 200Ks. *Very nice Park along Peter’s Creek, a multi-functional park with lots of rec fields. Also a nice neighborhood park (Grace Court). * Culturally a decent # of restaurants bars, & breweries, a cafe, a couple live music venues. Convenient access to all the cultural amenities Dwtn as well. * Several public schools with decent ratings line the western edge of the West End. * This appears to be a very safe community with limited blight. * Good array of historic architecture. Also pretty decent modern infill. |
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
| * Density is pretty poor for an urban district. * Bike infrastructure is pretty weak. There is a dedicated bike lane on Northwest but that’s the northern edge of the neighborhood. No dedicate bike share stations, although there may be dockless bikes available. * Family households make up less than 25% of the population. Most residents are young adults here. * Rentals are pretty limited. Seems to be a nice price diversity of 2-bedrooms but limited 1-bedroom options. * Other than restaurants and bars retail amenities are a bit light. There are several banks, salons, and a nice array of home goods, furniture stores, & consignment stores. Good amount of services close by in Downtown but no supermarket or major retail. * Urban massing of commercial district is a mixed bag. Limited investment in streetscaping. |
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 