Greensboro

Greensboro (/ˈ ɡ r iː n z b ʌr oʊ / ( listen ) ;[4] formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina, the 70th-most populous city in the United States, and the largest city in the Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. At the 2020 United States census, its population was 299,035.[3] Three major interstate highways (Interstate 40, Interstate 85, and Interstate 73) in the Piedmont region of central North Carolina were built to intersect at this city.

In 1808, Greensborough (the spelling before 1895) was planned around a central courthouse square to succeed Guilford Court House as the county seat. The county courts were thus placed closer to the county's geographical center, a location more easily reached at the time by the majority of the county's citizens, who traveled by horse or on foot.

In 2003, the previous Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point metropolitan statistical area was redefined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. The region was separated into the Greensboro–High Point metropolitan area and the Winston-Salem metropolitan area. The 2010 population of the Greensboro–High Point metropolis was 723,801. The combined statistical area (CSA) of Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point, commonly called the Piedmont Triad, had a population of 1,599,477.

Among Greensboro's many notable attractions, some of the most popular are the Greensboro Science Center, the International Civil Rights Museum, the Weatherspoon Art Museum, the Greensboro Symphony, the Greensboro Ballet, Triad Stage, the Wyndham Golf Championship, and the headquarters of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, which hosts various sporting events, concerts, and other events. Sports teams in Greensboro include the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the South Atlantic Baseball League, the Carolina Dynamo of USL League Two, the Greensboro Swarm of the NBA G League, and the Greensboro Roller Derby. Annual events include the North Carolina Folk Festival, First Fridays in Downtown Greensboro, Fun Fourth of July Festival, North Carolina Comedy Festival and Winter Wonderlights. From 2015 to 2017 Greensboro hosted the National Folk Festival.

At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of the area that became Greensboro were the Saura, a Siouan-speaking people.[5]: 7  Other indigenous cultures had occupied this area for thousands of years, typically settling along the waterways, as did the early settlers.

Quaker migrants from Pennsylvania, by way of Maryland, arrived at Capefair (now Greensboro) in about 1750. The new settlers began organized religious services affiliated with the Cane Creek Friends Meeting in Snow Camp in 1751.[6] Three years later, 40 Quaker families were granted approval to establish New Garden Monthly Meeting.[6] The action is recorded in the minutes of the Perquimans and Little River Quarterly Meeting on May 25, 1754: "To Friends at New Garden in Capefair", signed by Joseph Ratliff.[7] The settlement grew rapidly over the next three years, adding members from as far away as Nantucket, Massachusetts.[6] It soon became North Carolina's most important Quaker community and the mother of several other Quaker meetings established in the state and west of the Appalachians.[6]

After the Revolutionary War, the city of Greensboro was named for Major General Nathanael Greene, commander of the rebel American forces at the Battle of Guilford Court House on March 15, 1781.[5]: 20  Although the Americans lost the battle, Greene's forces inflicted heavy casualties on the British Army of General Cornwallis. After the battle, Cornwallis withdrew his troops to a British coastal base in Wilmington.[8][9]

Greensboro was established near the geographic center of Guilford County, on land that was "an unbroken forest with thick undergrowth of huckleberry bushes, that bore a finely flavored fruit."[10] Property for the future village was purchased from the Saura for $98. Three north–south streets (Greene, Elm, Davie) were laid out intersecting with three east–west streets (Gaston, Market, Sycamore).[5]: 171–174, 21  The courthouse was built at the center of the intersection of Elm and Market streets. By 1821, the town was home to 369 residents.

In the early 1840s, the state government designated Greensboro as one of the stops on a new railroad line, at the request of Governor John Motley Morehead, whose house, Blandwood, was in Greensboro. Stimulated by rail traffic and improved access to markets, the city grew substantially, soon becoming known as the "Gate City" due to its role as a transportation hub for the Piedmont.[11]: 66  The railroads transported goods to and from the cotton textile mills. Many of the manufacturers developed workers' housing in mill villages near their facilities.

Textile companies and related businesses continued into the 21st century, when most went bankrupt, reorganized, and/or merged with other companies as textile manufacturing jobs moved offshore. Greensboro is still a major center of the textile industry, with the main offices of International Textile Group (Cone, Burlington Industries), Galey & Lord, Unifi, and VF Corporation (Wrangler, Lee, The North Face, and Nautica). ITG Brands, maker of Kool, Winston and Salem brand cigarettes and the nation's third-largest tobacco company is headquartered in Greensboro. Rail traffic continues to be important for the city's economy, as Greensboro is a major regional freight hub. Four Amtrak passenger trains also stop in Greensboro daily on the main Norfolk Southern line between Washington and New Orleans by way of Atlanta.

Though the city developed slowly, early wealth generated in the 18th and 19th centuries from cotton trade and merchandising resulted in owners' constructing several notable buildings. The earliest, later named Blandwood Mansion and Gardens, was built by a farmer in 1795. Additions to this residence in 1846, designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, made the house influential as America's earliest Tuscan-style villa. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark.[12] Other significant houses and estates were developed, including Dunleith, designed by Samuel Sloan; Bellemeade; and the Bumpass-Troy House. Since the late 20th century, the latter has been adapted and operates as a private inn.

In the mid-19th century, many of the residents of the Piedmont and western areas of the state were Unionist, and Guilford County did not vote for secession. But once North Carolina joined the Confederacy, some citizens joined the Confederate cause, forming such infantry units as the Guilford Grays to fight in the American Civil War. From 1861 to March 1865 the city was relatively untouched by the war, although residents had to deal with regional shortages of clothing, medicine, and other items caused by the US naval blockade of the South.

In the war's final weeks, Greensboro played a unique role in the last days of the Confederate government. In April 1865, the commanding officer of the Army of Tennessee, General Joseph E. Johnston, instructed General P. G. T. Beauregard to prepare to defend the city. During this time, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and the remaining members of the Confederate cabinet had evacuated the Confederate Capital in Richmond, Virginia, and moved south to Danville, Virginia.

When Union cavalry threatened Danville, Davis and his cabinet managed to escape by train, and reassembled in Greensboro on April 11, 1865. While in the city, Davis and his cabinet decided to try to escape overseas in order to avoid capture by the victorious Union forces; they left Greensboro and separated. Greensboro is notable as the last place where the entire Confederate government met as a group; some consider it the Confederacy's final capital city.[13]: 101 

At nearly the same time, Governor Zebulon B. Vance fled Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, before the forces of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman swept the city.[14] For a brief period beginning April 16, 1865, he and other officials maintained the state capital in Greensboro.[5]: 395  [15]: 177  Vance proclaimed the North Carolina Surrender Declaration on April 28, 1865.[15]: 182  Later, he surrendered to Union officials in the parlor of Blandwood Mansion. Historian Blackwell Robinson wrote, "Greensboro witnessed not only the demise of the Confederacy but also that of the old civil government of the state."[13]: 101 

Once surrender negotiations were completed at Bennett Place (in present-day Durham) between General Johnston and General Sherman on April 26, 1865, Confederate soldiers in Greensboro stacked their arms, received their paroles, and headed home.

After the war, investors worked to restore the textile mills and related industry. In the 1890s, the city continued to attract attention from northern industrialists, including Moses and Caesar Cone of Baltimore.[5]: 171–174  The Cone brothers established large-scale textile plants, changing Greensboro from a village to a city within a decade. By 1900, Greensboro was considered a center of the Southern textile industry, with large-scale factories producing denim, flannel, and overalls.[11]: 59  The resulting prosperity was expressed in the construction of notable 20th-century civic architecture, including the Guilford County Courthouse, West Market Street United Methodist Church by S. W. Faulk, several buildings designed by Frank A. Weston, and the Julius I. Foust Building of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, designed by Orlo Epps.

During the 20th century, Greensboro continued to increase in population and wealth. Grand commercial and civic buildings, many of which still stand today, were designed by local architects Charles Hartmann and Harry Barton. Other notable industries became established in the city, including Vicks Chemical Co. (known for over-the-counter cold remedies such as VapoRub and NyQuil), Carolina Steel Corporation, and Pomona Terra Cotta Works.[13]: 220  During the first three decades, Greensboro grew so rapidly that there was an acute worker housing shortage. Builders set a construction goal of 80 to 100 affordable housing units per year to provide homes for workers.[13]: 209  Greensboro's real estate was considered "the wonder of the state" in the 1920s. Growth continued even through the Great Depression, as Greensboro attracted an estimated 200 new families per year.[13]: 210  The city earned a reputation as a well-planned community with a strong emphasis on education, parks, and a profitable employment base.

Greensboro has two major public research universities, North Carolina A&T State University, a historically black college established in the late 19th century, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. During the height of the civil rights movement in the early 1960s, students from A&T were the major force in protests to achieve racial justice, desegregation of public facilities, and fair employment, beginning with the Greensboro Four, who sat in at the segregated lunch counter at Woolworth's in 1960 to gain service. The largest civil rights protests in North Carolina history took place in Greensboro in May and June 1963. In the 21st century, the universities are leaders in new areas of research in high tech and science, on which the city hopes to build a new economy.

Wartime and postwar prosperity brought development, and designs commissioned from nationally and internationally known architects. Walter Gropius, a leader of the German Bauhaus movement in the United States, designed a factory building in the city in 1944.[16] Greensboro-based Ed Loewenstein designed projects throughout the region. Eduardo Catalano and George Matsumoto were hired for projects whose designs have challenged North Carolinians with modernist architectural concepts and forms.

In 1960, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Greensboro's population as 74.0% white and 25.8% black.[17] As in the rest of the state, most blacks were still disenfranchised under state laws, Jim Crow laws and customs were in effect, and public facilities, including schools, were racially segregated by law. This was after the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Facilities reserved for blacks were generally underfunded by the state and city governments, which were dominated by conservative white Democrats.

In the postwar period, blacks pushed in North Carolina and across the South to regain their constitutional rights. College students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College (A&T), a historically black college, made Greensboro a center of protests and change. On February 1, 1960, four black college students sat down at an "all-white" Woolworth's lunch counter, and refused to leave after they were denied service. They had already purchased items in other parts of the store and kept their receipts. After being denied lunch service, they brought out the receipts, asking why their money was good everywhere else in the store but not at the lunch counter.[18] Hundreds of supporters soon joined in this sit-in, which lasted several months. Such protests quickly spread across the South, ultimately leading to the desegregation of lunch counters and other facilities at Woolworth's and other chains.

Woolworth's went out of business due to changes in 20th-century retail practices, but the original Woolworth's lunch counter and stools are still in their original location. The former Woolworth's building has been adapted as the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, which opened on February 1, 2010, the 50th anniversary of the sit-ins.[19] A section of the counter is on display at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. to mark the protesters' courage.[20]

The white business community acceded to the desegregation of Woolworth's and made other minor concessions, but the civil rights movement had additional goals, holding protests in 1962 and 1963. In May and June 1963, the largest civil rights protest in North Carolina history took place in Greensboro. Protesters sought desegregation of public accommodations, and economic and social justice, such as hiring policies based on merit rather than race. They also worked for the overdue integration of public schools.

Each night more than 2,000 protesters marched through Greensboro's segregated central business district. William Thomas and A. Knighton Stanley, coordinators of Greensboro's local CORE chapter, invited Jesse Jackson, then an activist student at A&T, to join the protests. Jackson quickly rose to prominence as a student leader, becoming the public spokesman of the non-violent protest movement. Seeking to overwhelm city jails, as was done in protests led by Martin Luther King Jr. in Birmingham, Alabama, the protesters invited arrest by violating segregation rules of local businesses; they were charged with trespassing and other nonviolent actions. College and high school students constituted most of the protesters, and at one point approximately 1,400 blacks were jailed in Greensboro. The scale of protests disrupted the business community and challenged the leadership of the mayor and Governor Terry Sanford.

Finally, the city and business community responded with further desegregation of public facilities, reformed hiring policies in city government, and commitments to progress by both Sanford and Greensboro's mayor. Sanford declared, "Anyone who hasn't received this message doesn't understand human nature." Significant changes in race relations still came at a painfully slow pace, and the verbal commitments from white leadership in 1963 were not implemented in substantial ways.[21]

In May 1969, students of James B. Dudley High School were outraged when the administration refused to let a popular candidate, Claude Barnes, run for student union class president, allegedly due to his membership in Youth for the Unity of Black Society.[22] After their appeals to the school were rejected, the students asked activists at North Carolina A&T State University for support in a protest.[23][24][25] Protests escalated and after students at A&T had thrown rocks at police, they returned on May 21 armed with tear gas canisters, using them against the crowds. The uprising grew larger, and the governor ordered the National Guard to back up local police.

After there were exchanges of gunfire, the governor ordered the North Carolina National Guard into the A&T campus, in what was described at the time as "the most massive armed assault ever made against an American university".[26] The North Carolina National Guard swept the college dormitories, taking hundreds of students into "protective custody". The demonstrations were suppressed. The North Carolina State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights investigated the disturbances; its 1970 report concluded that the National Guard invasion was a reckless action disproportionate to the danger posed by student protests. It criticized local community leaders for failing to respond adequately to the Dudley High School students when the issues first arose. They declared it "a sad commentary that the only group in the community who would take the Dudley students seriously were the students at A&T State University".[25]

While making progress, African Americans in Greensboro continued to suffer acts of prejudice. On November 3, 1979, members of what would become the Communist Workers Party (CWP) held an anti-Ku Klux Klan rally at the black Morningside Homes public housing project.[27] Four local TV news stations covered it. During the protest, two cars containing Klansmen and neo-Nazis arrived.[28] After a confrontation, the KKK and CWP groups exchanged gunfire. Five CWP members were killed. Eleven CWP members and one Klansman were injured.[29] Television footage of the actions was shown worldwide, and the event became known as the Greensboro Massacre. In November 1980, six KKK defendants were acquitted in a state criminal trial by an all-white jury after a week of deliberation. Families of those killed and injured in the attack filed a civil suit against the city and police department for failure to protect the black citizens. In 1985, a jury in this case found five police officers and two other individuals liable for $350,000 in damages; the monies were to be paid to the Greensboro Justice Fund, established to advance civil rights.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 131.8 square miles (341.4 km2), of which 126.5 square miles (327.7 km2) is land and 5.3 square miles (13.7 km2), or 4.01%, is water.[30]

The city of Greensboro lies among the rolling hills of North Carolina's Piedmont, midway between the state's Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains to the west and the Atlantic beaches and Outer Banks to the east. The view of the city from its highest building—the Lincoln Financial tower (commonly known as the Jefferson-Pilot Building after its previous owner)—shows an expanse of shade trees in the city. Interstates 40, 85, and 73 intersect at the city. Greensboro is 29 miles (46 km) east of Winston-Salem,[31] 54 miles (86 km) west of Durham,[32] 77 miles (177 km) northwest of Raleigh,[33] and 90 miles (144 km) northeast of Charlotte.[34]

Downtown Greensboro has attracted development investment in recent years with such new construction as First National Bank Field, residential construction, and offices.[35] The Southside neighborhood downtown exemplifies central-city reinvestment. The formerly economically depressed neighborhood has been redeveloped as an award-winning neotraditional-style neighborhood featuring walkability, compact blocks and local amenities and services.[36] It has active nightlife, with numerous nightclubs, bars and restaurants.

The redevelopment of the downtown was stimulated by the 2006 opening of the Elon University School of Law. The law school is credited with attracting student dollars to the downtown.[37]

The Four Seasons Town Centre, at 410 Four Seasons Town Centre, is a three-story shopping mall with 1,141,000 square feet (106,000 m2) of shopping space developed by the Koury Corporation. It is adjacent to the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center and Sheraton Hotel. With over 250,000 square feet (23,000 m2) of flexible meeting space, the Koury Convention Center is the largest convention center in the Southeast between Atlanta and Washington, D.C. The hotel has more than 1,000 rooms.[38][39]

The Greensboro Coliseum is at 1921 W. Gate City Boulevard. This multipurpose complex consists of the 22,000-seat Greensboro Coliseum, the 300-seat Odeon Theatre, and the 167,000-square-foot (15,500 m2) Special Events Center, which includes three exhibition halls, a 4,500-seat mini-arena, and eight meeting rooms. The 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) Pavilion is adjacent. The complex hosts "a broad range of activities, including athletic events, cultural arts, concerts, theater, educational activities, fairs, exhibits, and public and private events of all kinds including conventions, convocations and trade and consumer shows".[40] The Greensboro Aquatic Center, which hosts national swimming and diving events, is also in this complex.[41]

In 1998, FedEx built a $300 million mid-Atlantic air-cargo and sorting hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport, after an intensive competition for the hub among other regions of the state, as well as locations in South Carolina. The project was challenged in court based on the quality of planned noise and pollution abatements from neighborhoods near the site. The hub opened in 2009. Originally projected by FedEx to employ 750 people in its first two years of operation and eventually 1,500, local FedEx employment has been nearly the same as before the facility was constructed.[42][43]

In March 2015, HondaJet, with a manufacturing facility in Greensboro, announced that it had received provisional type certification (PTC) from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This achievement indicates the FAA's approval of the HondaJet design based on certification testing, design reviews, and analyses completed to date.[44]

Like much of the southeastern United States, Greensboro has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), with four distinct seasons. Winters are short and generally cool, with a January daily average of 38.9 °F (3.8 °C). On average, there are 75 nights per year that drop to or below freezing,[a] and 4.3 days that fail to rise above freezing.[45][b] Measurable snowfall occurs nearly every winter, and accumulates to 7.5 inches (19.1 cm) on average, usually in January and February and occasionally December and March; the amount varies considerably from winter to winter.[c] Cold-air damming (CAD) can facilitate freezing rain, often making it a more pressing concern than snow. Summers are hot and humid, with a daily average in July of 78.5 °F (25.8 °C). On average, 32 days per year have highs at or above 90 °F (32 °C), but, as in much of the Piedmont South, 100 °F (38 °C)+ readings are uncommon.[45] Autumn is similar to spring in temperature but has fewer days of rainfall and less total rainfall. Extremes in temperature have ranged from −8 °F (−22 °C) on January 21, 1985, to 104 °F (40 °C), on June 12, 1911, June 12, 1914, and July 17, 1914.

Thunderstorms are common during the humid spring and summer months, some severe. On April 2, 1936, around 7:00 pm, a large, F-4 tornado cut a seven-mile (11-km) swath of destruction through southern Greensboro. 14 people were killed and 144 injured by the tornado, which moved through part of downtown. The storm was part of the 1936 Cordele-Greensboro tornado outbreak.[46] Strong tornadoes have struck the Greensboro area since then, notably Stoneville on March 20, 1998; Clemmons and Winston-Salem on May 5, 1989; Clemmons and Greensboro on May 7, 2008;[47] High Point on March 28, 2010; and Greensboro on April 15, 2018.[48]

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 299,035 people, 118,046 households, and 69,420 families residing in the city. At the 2019 U.S. census estimates, there were 296,710 people living in the city, up from the 2019 American Community Survey's 291,303.[53] At the 2010 U.S. census, there were 269,666 people; 111,731 households; and 63,244 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,131.7 people per square mile (822.9/km2). There were 124,074 housing units at an average density of 980.8 per square mile (378.6/km2).

Of the 124,074 households in the city in 2010, 30.1% included children under age 18, 35.5% were headed by married couples living together, 16.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.4% were classified as non-family. Of the total households, 33.8% were composed of individuals, and 9.0% were someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.31, and the average family size was 3.00.[54] In 2019, the average household size was 2.37.[55]

The 2019 American Community Survey determined Greensboro had a median age of 35.1,[53] up from 33.4 in 2010. Approximately 6.0% of the city's inhabitants were under 5; 78.2% of the population was 18 and older, and 13.7% 65 and older. The age distribution in 2010 was 22.7% under 18, 14.5% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who 65 or older. The median age was 33.4. For every 100 females, there were 88.7 males, and for every 100 females 18 and over, there were 84.6 males.[54]

In 2011–15, the estimated median annual income for a household was $41,628, and the median income for a family was $53,150. Male full-time workers had a median income of $40,143 versus $34,761 for females. The per capita income was $25,929. About 14.6% of families and 19.3% of the population were living below the poverty line, including 25.9% of those under 18 and 10.5% of those 65 or older.[56] From 2015 to 2019, the median household income increased to $48,964 with a per capita of $29,628.[55] The median earned income for males was $44,974 and $37,937 for females.[53] An estimated 18.5% of Greensboro residents lived at or below the poverty line in 2019.[55]

The racial composition of the city was 48.4% White, 40.6% Black or African American, 4.0% Asian American (1.6% Vietnamese, 0.7% Indian), 0.5% Native American, 0.1% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 3.8% some other race, and 2.6% two or more races. Non-Hispanic whites were 45.6% of the population in 2010, compared to 70.9% in 1970.[17] People of Hispanic or Latin American heritage, who may be of any race, in 2010 were 7.5% of the population (4.6% Mexican, 0.7% Puerto Rican).[54]

In 2019, the racial and ethnic makeup of Greensboro was 47.3% non-Hispanic white, 41.4% Black or African American, 0.5% American Indian or Alaska Native, 5% Asian alone, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 2.7% from some other race, and 3.0% multiracial.[53] Hispanics and Latin Americans of any race made up 7.9% of the local population.[57] At the 2020 census, 41.42% of the population was Black or African American, 38.6% non-Hispanic white, 0.33% Native American, 5.04% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.4% mixed or some other race, and 10.17% Hispanic or Latin American of any race.[52] This reflected the national demographic shift and growth of nonwhite-identifying Americans.[58]

In Greensboro, Sperling's BestPlaces determined that 48.33% of the population was religiously affiliated as of 2017. The largest religion in Greensboro is Christianity, with the most affiliates being either Baptist (11.85%) or Methodist (10.25%). The remaining Christian populations are Presbyterian (3.97%), Roman Catholic (3.71%), Pentecostal (2.61%), Episcopal (1.17%), Latter-Day Saints (1.02%), Lutheran (0.96%), and members of other Christian denominations (11.03%) including Greek Orthodox, Quaker, Moravian, Church of Christ, and non-denominational churches. After Christianity, the largest religion in Greensboro is Islam (0.82%), followed by Judaism (0.60%). Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism were the least common in Greensboro (0.34%).[59]

In 2010, the Association of Religious Data Archives reported Protestantism was the largest form of Christianity practiced in the city and metropolitan area. Evangelical Protestantism dominated religious society alongside conservative, primarily African American churches.[60] Most of the Baptist community were and continue being dominated by the Southern Baptist Convention,[61] National Baptist Convention (USA), American Baptist Churches USA,[62] Progressive National Baptist Convention, and Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship. Methodists have been primarily divided among the United Methodist Church and African Methodist Episcopal Church.[63] In the Presbyterian community, many affiliate with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Pentecostals have been divided among the Assemblies of God USA,[64] Church of God in Christ, and Oneness Pentecostal denominations including the United Pentecostal Church International.[65]

Greensboro's economy and the Piedmont Triad area's have traditionally centered around textiles, tobacco, and furniture. Greensboro's central location in the state has made it a popular place for families and businesses, as well as more of a logistics hub, with FedEx having regional operations based in the city.[66] In December 2021, it was announced that Toyota Motor North America, a subsidiary of Japanese automaker Toyota, would operate a $1.3 billion battery plant in Greensboro.[67][68]

Notable companies headquartered in Greensboro include the Honda Aircraft Company, HAECO Americas, ITG Brands, Kayser-Roth, VF, Mack Trucks, Volvo Trucks of North America, Qorvo, the International Textile Group, NewBridge Bank, The Fresh Market, Atlantic Coast Conference, Cook Out, Ham's, Biscuitville, Fusion3 3D Printers, Tripps, Wrangler, Kontoor Brands and Columbia Forest Products.[69][70][71][72][73][74][75] Greensboro is a "center of operations" for the insurance company Lincoln Financial Group.[76]

City leaders have been working to attract new businesses in the nanotech, high-tech, aviation and transportation/logistics sectors. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina A&T State University opened a joint research park, Gateway University Research Park.

According to the city's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[77] the largest employers in the city are:

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:[78]

Greensboro is home to an active and diverse arts community.

Greensboro is home to a variety of retail shopping, from well-known national chains to local boutiques and galleries. Four Seasons Town Centre, on the city's southwest side off I-40, is a three-level regional mall. Friendly Center, off Friendly Avenue, is an open-air shopping complex featuring the nation's largest Harris Teeter supermarket and a multiplex cinema.[104] The Shoppes at Friendly Center, adjacent to Friendly Center, is home to many upscale retailers and restaurants, such as Brooks Brothers and The Cheesecake Factory.[105] Around the corner on Market street is Fanta City International Mall, a mini-mall dedicated to foreign exchange, containing a Super G Market. This is a broad international supercenter combined with a flea market, offering European and East Asian specialties. Traditional shopping centers are primarily found on the West Wendover corridor near I-40 and on Battleground Avenue on the city's northwest side. Big-box retailers have clustered at the site of the former Carolina Circle Mall on the city's northeast side and far south along the newly completed urban loop (I-85, I-73). On New Garden Road, a large shopping area has popped up.

Greensboro is not home to any top-level professional sports teams. The National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes moved to Raleigh from Hartford, Connecticut in 1997, but the team played its first two seasons at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex while its home arena, Raleigh's Entertainment & Sports Arena, was under construction. During the late 1990s, the Minnesota Twins almost relocated to the city, even receiving league approval, but the deal collapsed after local voters refused to fund the proposed ballpark.[106]

The Greensboro Grasshoppers (formerly the Greensboro Bats and the Greensboro Hornets) are a minor league baseball team in Greensboro.[107] They are a Class High-A team in the High-A East and a farm team for the Pittsburgh Pirates.[108] The Grasshoppers play at First National Bank Field.

Greensboro's North Carolina Fusion U23 play in the Premier Development League, the nation's top level men's amateur soccer competition. It has 63 teams competing in four conferences, split into ten regional divisions. It is considered the fourth tier of competition, behind the United Soccer League. The team plays its home games at Macpherson Stadium in nearby Browns Summit, where it has played since 2003. PDL seasons take place during the summer, with the player pool drawn mainly from elite NCAA college soccer players seeking to continue playing high level soccer during their summer break, which they can do while still maintaining their college eligibility.

On October 27, 2015, the Charlotte Hornets officially announced that Greensboro would host an affiliate NBA Development League team, beating out other considered cities like Columbia, Asheville, Fayetteville, and Charleston. The Greensboro Swarm began playing in fall 2016 at the Greensboro Coliseum Fieldhouse.[109]

Greensboro is home to the headquarters of the Atlantic Coast Conference, despite having no school in the league.[110] The Greensboro Coliseum Complex has hosted the Men's ACC Tournament 23 times since 1967 and the Women's ACC Tournament 12 times since 2000. Greensboro has also hosted the NCAA Men's Basketball Regionals three times, and the Final Four once.

The PGA Tour holds a tournament annually in Greensboro. The Wyndham Championship is held at Sedgefield Country Club and is the last PGA Tour event before the Playoffs for the FedEx Cup.[111] The tournament was founded in 1938 as the Greater Greensboro Open and one of the oldest events on the PGA Tour.[112]

Greensboro nicknames itself "Tournament Town" due to the many sports tournaments it hosts. In addition to the ACC Basketball Tournament and NCAA basketball games, the city has hosted the ACC Baseball Tournament, the 2011 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and a number of national competitions at the new Greensboro Aquatic Center. In 1974 Greensboro hosted the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four championship game. It was the first time the Final Four was held in North Carolina.[113] Charlotte hosted the Final Four in 1994.

Greensboro Roller Derby was founded in 2010 and has been a member of the WFTDA, Women's Flat Track Derby Association, since 2013.[114] The league comprises three intraleague teams, named after prominent streets in the city, as well as interleague all-star and b-level teams, each featuring skaters from the three intraleague teams. The league is run by the skaters, who all have ties to the community, and is a not-for-profit organization. Roller derby bouts are held at the Greensboro Coliseum from March to November.

Greensboro has a council-manager government with nine members; all seats, including the mayor's, are up for election every four years. Five of the council seats are district representatives and three are citywide representatives elected at-large.

As of October 2015, Nancy B. Vaughan is the mayor.

Greensboro is the first city in the South to run a participatory budgeting (PB) process, whereby the city's residents decide how a portion of the city budget is spent. The first cycle was for $500,000, ran through April 2016, and was incorporated into the 2016–17 budget, with projects like murals, bridge improvements, and a citywide bus tracking app voted on by residents.[116]

Greensboro has many major institutions of higher education. Universities and colleges are Bennett College (liberal arts, four year, 650 students);[117] Elon University School of Law; Greensboro College (private, liberal arts, four year, 1300 students);[118] Guilford College (private, liberal arts, four year, 2100 students);[119] North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (public, four year, 12,500 students);[120] and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (public, four year, 20,000 students).[121] Greensboro and Guilford County are served by the two year Guilford Technical Community College (15,000 students), which is between Greensboro and High Point.[122]

The Greater Greensboro Consortium was established to allow college students enrolled in one Greensboro-area institution to cross-register at other institutions in the same area. Students are also allowed to join certain student organizations at other institutions in the consortium not present at their home institution.[123][124][125]

Greensboro's public schools are operated by Guilford County Schools, the state's third-largest school system, with about 71,000 students. Greensboro has one of the oldest public high schools in the state, Grimsley High School, established in 1899 as Greensboro High School. It is also home to Weaver Academy for the Performing and Visual Arts & Advanced Technology, an arts high school. Greensboro has the state's first early college, The Early College at Guilford, ranked by U.S. News & World Report in 2021 as North Carolina's best public school and the #2 STEM school in the country.[126][127]

The state-operated Central North Carolina School for the Deaf was formerly in Greensboro.

Greensboro is home to many private day schools, including Greensboro Day School,[128] Our Lady of Grace Catholic School,[129] New Garden Friends School,[130] Caldwell Academy,[131] B'nai Shalom Day School,[132] Canterbury School,[133] Greensboro Montessori School, Triad Math and Science Academy,[134] Noble Academy,[135] Vandalia Christian School,[136] Shining Light Christian Academy, Saint Pius X Catholic School, Napoleon B. Smith SDA Academy and Covenant Christian Day School. The area has two boarding schools: the American Hebrew Academy and the Oak Ridge Military Academy, in nearby Oak Ridge.[137][138]

The Greensboro News & Record, part of the newspaper group owned by Lee Enterprises, is the daily newspaper.[139] The Triad Business Journal, part of the American City Business Journals chain of business weeklies owned by Advance Communications, is based in Greensboro and covers business across the Piedmont Triad metropolitan region.[140] The Carolina Peacemaker is a newsweekly that covers the African-American community. Yes! Weekly and Triad City Beat are free weekly alternative newspapers, founded in 2005 and 2014 respectively.[141] The Rhinoceros Times, a conservative free weekly newspaper, temporarily went out of business on April 30, 2013, but returned several months later.[142]

Greensboro is a part of the Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point television designated market area and includes the following commercial broadcast stations (listed by call letters, channel number, network and city of license):

Greensboro is home to the Triad bureau of News 14 Carolina. BNT 20.2 is North Carolina's only black-owned TV station.[clarification needed ]

Greensboro is served by Piedmont Triad International Airport, which also serves the nearby cities of High Point and Winston-Salem as well as the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. Piedmont Triad International is North Carolina's third-busiest airport, averaging 280 takeoffs and landings a day. PTI was a hub for the now defunct Skybus Airlines.[146]

Amtrak's daily Crescent, Carolinian and Piedmont trains connect Greensboro with New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Richmond, Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans.

Amtrak trains, taxis, local and long-distance buses arrive and depart from the J. Douglas Galyon Depot, also known as Greensboro station, at 236-C East Washington Street. Originally constructed in the early 1920s, the station and depot were renovated in 2004.[147]

The Greensboro Transit Authority[148] offers public bus service throughout the city, including Higher Education Area Transit, or HEAT, which links downtown attractions to area colleges and universities. Regional public transportation throughout the metropolitan area is coordinated by PART, Piedmont Area Regional Transportation.

The Greensboro Greenway is a bike trail that is being constructed to encircle downtown Greensboro. It will connect to other trails and lead out to the Bur-Mil Park area and further.[149]

Interstate 40 and Interstate 85 Business share the same freeway facility for several miles in south/southeastern Greensboro. The consolidated highway, which is now the Interstate 40/Business 85 junction, is just south of downtown and forms the western end of a stretch of freeway known throughout the region as "Death Valley", a congested and accident-prone stretch of roadway where six major federal and Interstate routes combine into a single freeway facility.

Construction is underway on the Greensboro Urban Loop, a freeway that, when complete, will encircle the city. Sections of this beltway may form the future alignment of Interstate 73. U.S. Highway 29—which travels through the southern, eastern and northern sections of the city before heading northeast toward suburban Reidsville—is a major route in Greensboro and offers freeway access to its more urban and central areas.[150][151]

Greensboro has a sister city relationship with three cities to foster international friendship and cooperation:[153]