WSTB

The reason I ask this is because of how much the city has changed in the last decade or so. I'll say it like this, the Winston-Salem in 2021 is not the same "small town" feel city that is was. I LOVE PROGRESS!

Good!

For me the "small town feel" largely has to do with getting to know the businesses, their owners, and their personnel. The fact that I regularly see and interact with a relatively small number of folk who are actively invested in our city makes it feel personal and friendly.

What I'd hate to "gain" with progress would be the impersonal, cookie-cutter dynamic you get in larger cities. When you start to have chain stores, more franchises, and corporatized business models, the customer becomes a faceless commodity.

Especially during the plague years, it has been satisfying to know that we could invest in particular businesses by giving them repeat business and knowing who we are supporting and what they are trying to achieve. We try to 'vote with out dollars' for small businesses trying to keep downtown vibrant.

So here's to "small town" or at least "small city" vibes!

Well stated, and exactly how I feel. I have lived in Winston Salem pretty much my entire life, in downtown for the last 15 or so years. I have heard many, many people say essentially the same thing regarding relationships built with not only businessowners but with people in general. One tends to see and interact with many of the same folk in a city our size, especially downtown. I do not think Winston-Salem is losing this "feel", but maybe I wouldn't see it as readily as someone who doesn't live here full time..

I think it feels like a small city still, partly because it still is rather sleepy and slow. Downtown is growing in vitality, but still needs more street life.