Ryan Saunders's Washington Street Alley

IncDev alumni Ryan Saunders is spearheading the development of an alley on Washington Street in Greensboro, NC.

From Ryan: “This project involves participation from 14 different buildings and owners and this is a master plan…that I designed and concepted…We are still lobbying the building owners and trying to get grassroots support from community members to help motivate the building owners and the city to participate to make it happen.

I first became aware of incremental development through listening to a podcast from the Switchyards team in Atlanta on which they interviewed Eric Kronberg. He was discussing human scale design and breaking the city down into micro economies. I had the pleasure of spending some great quality time with Jim on a couple occasions when he visited Greensboro, and he said no one should have to go outside of their neighborhood to get essentials: Basic groceries, coffee, a meal, a beer, or a place to meet friends. I have also had great contact with Susana Dancy, and she further indoctrinated me in these practices. Everything combined to look at this alley and understand not only its direct impact but also the radius of impact it has on the city acting as an amenity for potential office users in the area, the ability to springboard from small startup spaces to larger brick and mortar locations, and on turning a dead alley into a river for surrounding property values.”

To learn more about the project, click here.