Winston-Salem is dedicated to preserving its green space. But it also knows that smart growth opportunities are just as vital to the protection of the natural environment as park maintenance. The community's award-winning Legacy Comprehensive Plan provides a prescription for new growth and development patterns in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. Like other communities, Winston-Salem has recognized that past development patterns, dominated by what some people call sprawl, do not contribute to a high quality of life. So this new comprehensive plan, adopted in 2001, embraces the principles of what has come to be called smart growth.

Legacy's Growth Management Plan provides the framework for combating sprawl and thereby reducing the pressure to develop farmland, environmentally sensitive areas, and open space. The plan directs future growth to Winston-Salem and the central portions of Forsyth County, and it calls for a more compact, dense urban development pattern. Smart growth recommendations in the plan include creating more pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods, mixing land uses, focusing on commercial development, and providing for transportation choices including pedestrian facilities, bicycle, and transit. It also calls for a system of relatively narrow, interconnected streets that reduce traffic speeds, plus sidewalks, bikeways, and transit offering multiple routes for motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists.

A study by the city recommended reviving streetcars to connect downtown with residential areas, tourist locales, universities, medical facilities, and job centers. This modern-day system would be built in phases and cost an estimated $130 million. The rail lines would be part of an effort to revitalize the city center with more retail outlets, upscale restaurants, trendy clubs, and apartments.