![]() Reynolds Building, there are reminders of the city’s illustrious history everywhere you turn.įor as long as I can remember, I’ve had an affinity for this Triad city with a deep appreciation for the arts and historic preservation. Whether strolling through Reynolda Gardens or sipping cocktails at The Katharine in the iconic R.J. Home to a half-dozen colleges and universities, including Wake Forest University and UNC School of the Arts, there’s a real sense of place here. ![]() While tobacco is no longer the celebrated industry it was a century ago, the same families that benefited from it - the Reynolds, Grays and Hanes, to name a few - also invested deeply in their community, with a lasting impact. Today, former downtown factories and warehouses have been transformed into offices, research labs, apartments, shops and restaurants. It’s dubbed the Coal Pit, a reference to the space’s former life as a coal-fired plant powering downtown factories.įor nearly a century, tobacco, textiles and banking were the lifeblood of Winston-Salem - which, it’s worth noting, is also the birthplace of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. A light rain is falling, but that doesn’t stop the crowd from the restaurant and the brewery from spilling out onto the patio outside. Next door at Incendiary Brewing, started by two locals in 2018, the crowd sways and sings along with the band playing in the corner - it’s standing room only at the bar, where patrons line up to order porters, pilsners and American IPAs. The line to order stretches about 20-deep, with customers scanning the busy warehouse-like space for an open table. ![]() On a Saturday night at Bailey Power Plant in downtown Winston-Salem, wide-eyed children watch as pizza chefs at Cugino Forno toss dough high in the air before turning their attention to the spinning rainbow of Italian gelato in the rotating freezer by the register. The city of Winston-Salem did not respond to our request for comment, and now groups like Arnita’s are trying to help people like John Swanson find shelter.A short drive north of Charlotte, Winston-Salem is rich with history, art and an emerging culinary scene.īy Cathy Martin | photographs courtesy visit Winston-Salem “The police department gave the residents 24 hours to vacate the property.” “Almost two weeks ago now, the city of Winston-Salem posted a no trespassing sign,” Miles says. “It was just us three for a little while, and then more started coming, and more started coming,” Swanson says.Īccording to homeless advocates like Arnita Miles, the city is trying to push people living in this tent city out. He says the encampment started with him and two others he met at a nearby hotel, and since then, it has grown to almost over 15 people. “I was in a federal halfway house, and I was sent there for three months, and we were supposed to work, but COVID came and broke out, and they wouldn’t let us work, so when I was released from there, I didn’t have no money or nothing,” Swanson says. The pandemic put him out of a job, and he’s been living in a tent since August. ![]() John Swanson is currently living in an encampment in a wooded area off of Akron Drive. Winston-Salem is seeing a big problem with homelessness as tent communities continue to pop up around the city. were experiencing homelessness, which increased by 2.2% over the course of the year. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about many issues, causing more and more people to become homeless.Īccording to the Kaiser Family Foundation, as of January 2020, approximately 580,000 people in the U.S.
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