Piedmont Triad (original) (raw)

Region in North Carolina

This article is about the north-central Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point region of North Carolina. For the Raleigh–Durham–Chapel Hill region of North Carolina, see Research Triangle.

Place in North Carolina, United States

Piedmont Triad
Images from top to bottom Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point
Nickname(s): The Triad, PT, The 336
MapGreensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point, NC CSA Greensboro–High Point MSA Winston-Salem MSA Burlington MSA Mount Airy µSA City of Greensboro City of Winston-Salem City of High Point City of Burlington
Country United States
State North Carolina
Largest city Greensboro
Counties Alamance Caswell Davidson Davie Forsyth Guilford Montgomery Randolph Rockingham Stokes Surry Yadkin
Area
• Land 15,420 km2 (5,954 sq mi)
Population
• Total 1,705,315
GDP[1][2]
• MSA $89.968 billion (2022)
Time zone UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST) UTC-4 (EDT)
Area codes 336, 443

The Piedmont Triad (or simply the Triad) is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of North Carolina anchored by three cities: Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point. This close group of cities lies in the Piedmont geographical region of the United States and forms the basis of the Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point, NC Combined Statistical Area (CSA). As of 2012, the Piedmont Triad has an estimated population of 1,611,243 making it the 33rd largest combined statistical area in the United States.[3]

The metropolitan area is connected by Interstates 40, 85, 73, and 74 and is served by the Piedmont Triad International Airport. Long known as one of the primary manufacturing and transportation hubs of the southeastern United States, the Triad is also an important educational, healthcare, and cultural region and occupies a prominent place in the history of the American Civil Rights Movement.[4]

The Piedmont Triad is sometimes confused with the Research Triangle, an adjacent urbanized region of North Carolina that includes the cities of Raleigh, Durham and the town of Chapel Hill, among others. Both of them are part of the Piedmont Crescent, a heavily urbanized region of the state that includes the city of Charlotte.

As part of a redefining of metropolitan areas by the US Census Bureau, the old Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area was broken up in 2003 into five separate areas—three Metropolitan Statistical Areas and two Micropolitan Areas. In some ways, however, the region still functions as a single metropolitan area.[5]

County 2021 Estimate 2020 Census Change
Guilford County[6] 542,410 541,299 +0.21%
Forsyth County[7] 385,523 382,590 +0.77%
Alamance County 173,877 171,415 +1.44%
Davidson County 170,637 168,930 +1.01%
Randolph County 145,172 144,171 +0.69%
Rockingham County[8] 91,266 91,096 +0.19%
Surry County 71,152 71,359 −0.29%
Stokes County 44,553 44,520 +0.07%
Davie County 43,533 42,712 +1.92%
Yadkin County 37,192 37,214 −0.06%
Total 1,705,315 1,699,123 +0.36%

Definitions of the Piedmont Triad:

The name in italics is the county in which the city is located.

Secondary cities over 10,000 in population

[edit]

Other municipalities under 10,000 in population

[edit]

† Indicates municipalities in Montgomery and Caswell (counties usually locally included as part of Piedmont Triad)

The area is served by Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, Rockingham County Schools, Alamance-Burlington School System, Caswell County Schools, Davidson County Schools, Randolph County School System, Stokes County Schools, Surry County Schools, Yadkin County Schools, and Guilford County Schools. The area is home to a number of religious schools, as well as a number of independent schools including Wesleyan Christian Academy,[24] Westchester Country Day School, High Point Friends School, and High Point Christian Academy[25] in High Point, Summit School[26] in Winston-Salem, Bishop McGuiness Catholic High School and Forsyth Country Day School in Lewisville, Greensboro Day School, New Garden Friends School, Caldwell Academy, Vandalia Christian School, B'nai Shalom Day School, and Greensboro Montessori School in Greensboro.[27][28]

Educational institutions

[edit]

More than 20 institutions of higher education are located within the Triad, including:

Deese Clock Tower at North Carolina A&T State University

Cottrell Hall at High Point University

Wait Chapel at Wake Forest University

Three prominent boarding schools also call the Triad home: Salem Academy, Oak Ridge Military Academy, and the American Hebrew Academy.

Major art and historical museums contribute to the cultural climate of the region, including the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA), The Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Old Salem, High Point Historical Museum, Mendenhall Plantation, the Weatherspoon Museum of Modern Art (located on the campus of UNCG), Blandwood Mansion and Gardens, the Greensboro Historical Museum, Guilford Battleground National Military Park, and the Charlotte Hawkins Brown State Museum. The area also has its fair share of scientific museums, such as SciWorks, the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, the Wake Forest Museum of Anthropology, and the Greensboro Science Center. The North Carolina Zoo, the world's largest open-air natural habitat zoo, is located just outside the Randolph County city of Asheboro.

The economy in the Piedmont Triad is a mixed economy.[46]

Industry and manufacturing

[edit]

The Triad area is notable for large textile, tobacco, and furniture corporations. The Triad remains a national center for textile manufacturing, represented by corporations including Hanes based in Winston-Salem, Glen Raven, Inc. based in Glen Raven, and International Textile Group, based in Greensboro. Tobacco remains a prominent crop in the Triad's rural areas and many tobacco companies like Lorillard Tobacco Company of Greensboro and Reynolds American, based in Winston-Salem, call the Piedmont Triad home. Numerous furniture manufacturers are also headquartered in the Triad area, especially in the cities of High Point (deemed the "Furniture Capital of the World"), Thomasville (known as the "Chair City"), and Lexington. The furniture and textile industries have in turn spawned large trucking, logistics, and warehousing businesses in the area. Popular brands like "Thomasville" and "Lexington" are derived from the names of these cities. Recently, however, many furniture and tobacco factories have been closing and/or laying off workers across the region in response to escalating industrial globalization.

Technology and biotechnology

[edit]

After many of the old industries in the area began to die out, many Piedmont Triad cities began encouraging technological businesses to move into the Triad. Winston-Salem, for instance, founded within its downtown the Piedmont Triad Research Park, now known as Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, a highly interactive, 200-acre, master-planned innovation community developed to support life science and information technology research and development. Dell, Inc., in the early 2000s struck a deal with local officials allowing for the construction of a new computer assembly plant near the Triad city of Kernersville. Dell pulled out of its contract with the city, however, and left after only a few years. Additionally, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the largest institution of higher learning in the region, and North Carolina A&T State University have joined forces to establish the Gateway University Research Park, a technology-based entity that will focus its efforts on a host of biological, life, and environmental science research projects. Upon full build out of the project, it is expected to be housed by two 75-acre (300,000 m2) campuses, employ approximately 2,000 people, and generate $50 million per year to the Triad economy. LabCorp, one of the largest clinical laboratories in the world, has its corporate headquarters and several of its testing facilities in Burlington.

Other companies with a significant presence in the region

[edit]

The following are the most prominent regional shopping centers/malls in the Piedmont Triad region:

Major roads and cities in the Piedmont Triad and two other nearby counties. The blue triangle represents the three points of the "Triad".

The Triad is home to an extensive freeway network, which is in the process of undergoing a major expansion. Four major Interstate highways and numerous secondary Interstate routes and US routes serve the region:

Interstate highways

US highways

Other routes and highways

Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO)

[edit]

Mass transportation

[edit]

Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation (PART) is the Triad's 10-county regional organization with the goal of enhancing all forms of transportation through regional cooperation. PART Express Bus provides express service to each major Triad city from Piedmont Triad International Airport, while Connections Express connects the Triad to Duke and UNC Medical Centers. PART also has Express Bus service to outlying counties that surround the Triad including Surry, Stokes, Davidson, Yadkin, and Randolph Counties and soon to be Davie County. PART is also administering and developing several rail service studies that include both commuter and intercity rail.[60]

The region is served by the Piedmont Triad Regional Council (PTRC). The PTRC was formed by the merger of the Northwest Piedmont Council of Governments and Piedmont Triad Council of Governments on July 1, 2011. The PTRC is a membership organization of the 12 counties and 62 municipalities in the Triad region.[61]

The Piedmont Triad has several protected areas, which lay entirely or partly in the region:

The following are prominent newspapers in the Piedmont Triad region and the counties each newspaper covers.

Television stations

[edit]

All of the Piedmont Triad region belongs to the Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point television designated market area (DMA). The following are stations that broadcast to this DMA. These stations are listed by call letters, virtual channel number, network and city of license.

  1. ^ "Total Gross Domestic Product for Greensboro-High Point, NC (MSA)". Federal Reserve Economic Data. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
  2. ^ "Total Gross Domestic Product for Winston-Salem, NC (MSA)". Federal Reserve Economic Data. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
  3. ^ "Population Estimates 2012 Combined Statistical Areas: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on March 17, 2013. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
  4. ^ "Greensboro Sit-In". HISTORY. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  5. ^ Catanoso, Justin. "Commute patterns 'rescue' Triad MSA". Triad Business Journal. The Business Journals. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Guilford County (1771)". North Carolina History Project. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  7. ^ "Forsyth County (1849)". North Carolina History Project. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  8. ^ "Rockingham County (1785)". North Carolina History Project. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  9. ^ "Greensboro, NC Homepage". Greensboro-nc.gov. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  10. ^ "City of Winston-Salem, NC Official Website". cityofws.org. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  11. ^ "High Point, NC Official Website". highpointnc.gov. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  12. ^ "Burlington, NC Webpage". Burlingtonnc.gov. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  13. ^ "Thomasville, NC Homepage". Thomasville-nc.gov. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  14. ^ "Asheboro, NC webpage". Asheboronc.gov. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  15. ^ "Town of Kernersville – The Heart of the Triad". tokc.com. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  16. ^ "Clemmons, NC Official Website". clemmons.org. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  17. ^ "Lexington, NC Homepage". Lexingtonnc.gov. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  18. ^ "City of Eden, NC Homepage". edennc.us. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  19. ^ "City of Reidsville, NC Homepage". reidsvillenc.gov. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  20. ^ "City of Graham, NC Official website". cityofgraham.com. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  21. ^ "Town of Lewisville, NC". lewisvillenc.net. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  22. ^ "Archdale, NC Homepage". archdale-nc.gov. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  23. ^ "City of Mebane, NC". cityofmebanenc.gov. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  24. ^ "Wesleyan Christian Academy Homepage". wcatrojans.org. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  25. ^ "High Point Christian Academy Homepage". hpcacougars.org. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  26. ^ "Summit School Homepage". summitschool.com. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  27. ^ "Homepage – Greensboro Day School". Greensboroday.org. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  28. ^ "Greensboro Montessori School website". gms.org. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  29. ^ "Alamance Community College Homepage". alamancecc.edu. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  30. ^ "Bennett College Homepage". bennett.edu. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  31. ^ "Welcome to Carolina University". Carolinau.edu. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  32. ^ "Davison-Davie Community College Homepage". davidsondavie.edu. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  33. ^ "Elon University Homepage". elon.edu. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  34. ^ "Forsyth Tech Community College Homepage". forsythtech.edu. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  35. ^ "Greensboro College Homepage". greensboro.edu. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  36. ^ "Welcome to Guilford College". guilford.edu. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  37. ^ "GTCC: Homepage". gtcc.edu. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  38. ^ "High Point University: The Premier Life Skills University". highpoint.edu. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  39. ^ "North Carolina A&T State University". ncat.edu. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  40. ^ "About UNCSA". uncsa.edu. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  41. ^ "Welcome to Randolph Community College". Randolph.edu. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  42. ^ "Rockingham Community College Homepage". Rockinghamcc.edu. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  43. ^ "UNC Greensboro". uncg.edu. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  44. ^ "Wake Forest University". wfu.edu. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  45. ^ "Winston-Salem State University". wssu.edu. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  46. ^ Barron, Richard (December 30, 2021). "Greensboro and Triad mirror nation's mixed economy, with a positive outlook". Greensboro News & Record. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  47. ^ "The Biscuitville Story: Home of the Biscuit Window since 1966". Biscuitville.com. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  48. ^ "The History of Cook Out". Cookout.com. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  49. ^ Stradling, Richard (February 7, 2022). "FedEx, Honda, Now Boom; PTI is quietly becoming a true cluster of aerospace". Greensboro News & Record. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  50. ^ "K&W Locations". kwcafeterias.com. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  51. ^ "Company History". Lowes Foods. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  52. ^ "Contact Us". The Fresh Market. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  53. ^ "Toyota Selects North Carolina Greensboro-Randolph Site for New U.S. Automotive Battery Plant". Toyota. December 6, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  54. ^ "Volvo Group North America". Volvogroup.com. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  55. ^ Doyle, Steve (February 21, 2022). "Volvo bringing worldwide financial HQ to expanded facility in Greensboro". MyFox8.com. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  56. ^ "Four Seasons Town Centre: Shopping Mall in Greensboro, NC". shopfourseasons.com. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  57. ^ "Friendly Center – Greensboro". friendlycenter.com. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  58. ^ "Hanes Mall". shophanesmall.com. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  59. ^ "Asheboro Mall". shopasheboromall.com. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  60. ^ "About Us – Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation". partnc.org. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  61. ^ "Who We Are And What We Do – Piedmont Triad Regional Council". ptrc.org. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  62. ^ "Greensboro News & Record Homepage". Greensboro.com. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  63. ^ "The Carolina Peacemaker website". peacemakeronline.com. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  64. ^ "Hola Noticias: Homepage". holasnews.com. Retrieved October 17, 2023.

35°57′21″N 80°00′19″W / 35.9557°N 80.0053°W / 35.9557; -80.0053