How Tarboro Won the Public/Private Game

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Faust, Ginny
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of City and Regional Planning
Jones, Susan
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of City and Regional Planning

Abstract

A walk in Tarboro is not what you'd expect. No decaying, rundown downtown in this small southern community. It has its empty storefronts, but a poster on the door of one vacant building is indicative of the real story in this town. The poster announces a candlelight tour of the community's historic homes followed by a special concert of seasonal music, and asks interested residents to call Watson or Phil at Tour Headquarters. Tour Headquarters turns out to be the Tarboro Planning department, and Watson Brown and Phil Guy are two of the planning staff. They're the same people who helped purchase that vacant building, along with several other downtown properties, with a $2.7 million Urban Development Action Grant for downtown revitalization projects. Another sign announces "The Great Downtown Tarboro Attic Sale," which was held to raise money for restoring the Blount-Bridgers House, a historic landmark. It will contain an art gallery and community center. Interested in further information? Once again, the sign tells you to call the planning department. Caroling Planning traveled to Tarboro to interview planning director Watson Brown about Tarboro 's transition from reliance on federal funding to experimentation with public/private ventures.

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Thumbnail	Title	Date Uploaded	Visibility	Actions
	18howtarboro.pdf	2019-04-23	Public	Download