Live in Guilford Hills
Small one-story houses built between 1948 and 1955 between Benjamin Parkway and Battleground Avenue, inside the city since 1957 for most of them, with a magnet elementary inside the line and the Grimsley High zone on the map.
Guilford Hills is a 346-acre area that the City of Greensboro's own neighborhood map draws between Benjamin Parkway and Battleground Avenue, and the 2020 census counted 1,841 residents in 977 housing units in the blocks inside it. A 2007 architectural survey prepared for the City and the State Historic Preservation Office describes modest one-story "shoe box" houses built in two phases between 1948 and 1955, and the City's annexation layer puts the land of 1,239 of those residents inside the city in 1957. General Greene Elementary, a district magnet school for science and technology, is inside the line, Gracewood Park is inside it, and the Benjamin branch library stands just across Benjamin Parkway. No historic district touches it, no 2020 resident lived in a mapped flood zone, and its price shows only in a ZIP-wide index.
Small postwar houses, one school zone, and a short drive to most things
This guide uses one feature of the City of Greensboro's neighborhood layer, Guilford Hills (object 80), 346 acres, wholly inside the City limits. The layer is the City's estimated neighborhood map, published on its ArcGIS Online organization for the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program and marked VERIFIED NO; the City says the centers of these areas should not be considered accurate. It is not an association's territory or a recorded plat. Read against the City's street centerlines, the line runs along Benjamin Parkway on the west and north, touches North Holden Road and David Caldwell Drive at the north end, Battleground Avenue, North Elam Avenue and West Cornwallis Drive on the east, and comes within a few meters of Bryan Boulevard at its southern tip. Gracewood Drive, Fernwood Drive, North Elam Avenue and Westmoreland Drive run through it.
Guilford Hills is an area the City of Greensboro's own neighborhood map draws: one of 335 polygons on a layer the City publishes for its Neighborhood Traffic Management Program, every one of them estimated by the City's own description and this one marked VERIFIED NO. It is not an association's territory or a recorded plat. Inside that line are 346 acres between Benjamin Parkway, which bends around its west and north sides, and Battleground Avenue and North Elam Avenue on the east. The 2020 census counted 1,841 residents in 977 housing units in the 33 blocks inside it, 1.88 people a unit.
The houses are small and of one period. A 2007 architectural survey prepared for the City and the State Historic Preservation Office describes Guilford Hills as modest one-story "shoe box" dwellings built in two phases between 1948 and 1955, and judged that it did not merit intensive survey. Garden Homes, to the north along Gracewood Drive, it dated to 1940 to 1951. No local historic district and no National Register district holds a single resident, so nothing beyond ordinary zoning governs what an owner does to the outside of a house. The land came into the city in pieces: 300 of the 2020 residents live on land inside by 1923, 302 on land annexed in 1955 and 1956, and 1,239 on land that came in with the 1957 annexation.
The position is the argument. By this guide's table, the Harris Teeter on Lawndale Drive is under a kilometer away, Friendly Center and Wesley Long Hospital about two, downtown's LeBauer Park about six and Piedmont Triad International Airport about fourteen. GTA's Route 8 stops at Battleground Avenue and North Elam Avenue, 0.43 km from the reference point in a straight line, every 30 minutes at midday on weekdays and hourly at weekends, for a $1.50 fare. No served stop lies inside the line. The census tract holding every resident counts 5.2% of its people as college students, with wide margins.
The tax bill follows the seller's assessment for now. Inside the city every house pays Guilford County's 78.95 cents per $100 and the City's 79.85, 158.80 cents in all for 2026-27, with no special district here. Both are charged on the 2022 revaluation's values, because Senate Bill 889 put off the County's 2026 reappraisal: the 2026 values go on the 2027 bills, at rates nobody has set. A buyer does not reset the assessment by buying, and North Carolina's relief programs reach only owners 65 or older or disabled, under an income limit, and disabled veterans, with applications due by 1 June. Stormwater and solid waste are billed on the City's water bill, at figures this site could read only secondhand, and no homeowners association dues were read for any part of the area.
What is not known is the price. No sale figure for Guilford Hills was readable. Zillow's typical value for ZIP 27408 was $346,268 in August 2026, against $263,264 for the city, but that ZIP held 17,896 people in 2020, condos included, and is not this area's figure. Flood is simpler: at the reference point FEMA maps zone X on panels that took effect on 10 June 2026, and no 2020 resident lived in a mapped flood zone, though about 1% of the area, along a creek, is in one. The citywide figures are on the Greensboro page.
- Look up the seller's 2025 assessed value, which sets the 2026 bill; the February 2026 reappraisal notice sets 2027's
- Ask for the seller's last City water bill, which carries the stormwater and solid waste charges
- Run the exact address through Guilford County Schools' locator, even though the whole area is in one zone at each level
- General Greene is both the zoned school and a magnet: the district guarantees a zoned family a seat at its neighborhood school, so no lottery stands between the address and it
- Pull the FEMA or state flood map at the address: a creek crosses a sliver of the area
How Guilford Hills got here
- 1923The southern streets are inside the city: the City's annexation layer puts the land of 300 of the area's 2020 residents in by 1923.
- 1948Building starts on the small one-story houses the City's 2007 survey dates to two phases between 1948 and 1955.
- 1955The building phases end; the City annexes land holding 148 of the 2020 residents in 1955 and 154 more in 1956.
- 1957The 1957 annexation brings in the land of 1,239 of the 1,841 residents counted in 2020, most of the area.
- 1982The David Caldwell Log College Site, between Cornwallis Drive, Hobbs Road and Holden Road just west of the line, is listed on the National Register on 13 January.
- 2007A survey update for the City and the State Historic Preservation Office records Guilford Hills as modest 1948 to 1955 houses and judges that it does not merit intensive survey.
- 2020The census counts 1,841 residents in 977 housing units in the blocks inside the line.
- 2026New FEMA flood maps take effect on 10 June; the County and the City raise their rates to 158.80 cents per $100 on the old 2022 values after Senate Bill 889 defers the reappraisal; the City's neighborhood layer, with Guilford Hills marked unverified, is created on 9 July.
Gracewood Park, the Bog Garden and the Bicentennial Garden
The one park inside the line is Gracewood Park, off Gracewood Drive; the City's park pages refused this site's requests, so what it holds was not read. West of the line, the Benjamin Park Bog Garden and the Tanger Bicentennial Gardens on Hobbs Road are about 2 km by road. The National Register has listed the David Caldwell Log College Site since 1982, on the corner of Cornwallis Drive, Hobbs Road and Holden Road where the gardens sit. Country Park and the Greensboro Science Center are about 4 km north.
What the map does not show: no greenway or trail was found inside the line, and the hazard area along the creek is a strip between houses rather than open ground.
23 places, with real drive times
Road-adjusted distance and drive time from the centre of the community to each destination, nearest first. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 23 places, nearest first.
Method: distances and drive times are computed from the OpenStreetMap place point for Guilford Hills, near North Elam Avenue, using straight-line distance multiplied by a road factor and a tiered speed model: honest ranges, not routed times. Bus distances are to the nearest served stop.
Every gym within reach
The nearest City building is Lewis Recreation Center on Forest Lawn Drive, north of the line, open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. by the City's facility layer. The Green Valley Swim & Tennis Club on Rutherford Drive, just west, is mapped as a club; its terms were not read. The City's indoor pool is the Greensboro Aquatic Center on West Gate City Boulevard, and the Kathleen Price Bryan Family YMCA downtown has an indoor pool and track.
- Lewis Recreation Center, 3110 Forest Lawn Drive: weekdays 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday to 1 p.m.
- Kathleen Price Bryan Family YMCA, 501 West Market Street: indoor pool, track and gymnasium
- Lindley Pool, 2914 Springwood Drive: the City's nearest outdoor pool; the season was not read
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Lewis Recreation Center open | The City's recreation center at 3110 Forest Lawn Drive, north of the line: Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the City's facility layer, closed Sunday. | 6–9 min |
| Green Valley Swim & Tennis Club open | A swim and tennis club at 2815 Rutherford Drive, just west of the line, as OpenStreetMap maps it; its membership terms and season were not read. | 3–5 min |
| Kathleen Price Bryan Family YMCA open | The YMCA at 501 West Market Street downtown: an indoor pool, an indoor track, a gymnasium and a cycling studio, open from 5 a.m. on weekdays. | 8–12 min |
| Greensboro Aquatic Center open | One of the City's two indoor pools, at 1921 West Gate City Boulevard. Pool hours and fees were not read. | 9–13 min |
| Lindley Pool and Recreation Center open | The nearest of the City's four outdoor pools, at Lindley Community Park on Springwood Drive. The pool season was not read. | 8–12 min |
The free option is the parkway itself and the gardens on Hobbs Road, about 2 km by road.
One zone at each level, and the elementary is a magnet
Every resident of 2020 sits in the same three Guilford County Schools zones on the district's 2026-27 locator layers, and the point is zoned for all three. General Greene Elementary, inside the line on Benjamin Parkway, is also the district's science and technology magnet, graded B for 2024-25 and C for 2023-24. Kiser Middle on Campus Drive was C both years, and Grimsley High on Josephine Boyd Street B both years.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| General Greene Elementary School | Guilford County Schools | General Greene Science and Technology Elementary, 1501 Benjamin Parkway, inside the line. The point is zoned for it on the district's 2026-27 locator layer, and so is every one of the 1,841 residents of 2020. It is also a magnet, the School of Science and Technology, which takes applicants from outside the zone. NC School Report Card grade B for 2024-25 and C for 2023-24. |
| Kiser Middle School | Guilford County Schools | 407 Campus Drive, about 1.6 km southeast in a straight line. The point is zoned for it for 2026-27, as is the whole area. Grade C for 2024-25 and 2023-24. |
| Grimsley High School | Guilford County Schools | 801 North Josephine Boyd Street, about 2.3 km southeast. The point is zoned for it for 2026-27, as is the whole area. Grade B for 2024-25 and 2023-24. |
| Grades for 2025-26 | NC Department of Public Instruction | The state's Annual Testing Report of 2 September 2026 says 2025-26 grades exist, but no school-level 2025-26 file was found, so the grades here are 2024-25 and 2023-24. Check the NC School Report Cards site. |
| Choice programs | Guilford County Schools | Families may apply in the fall to choice programs elsewhere; the district says most seats are filled by lottery and some need an application and acceptance. The 2026-27 deadline was not read. |
Check the exact address in the district's School Assignment Locator. The state released 2025-26 grades in September, but no school-level file was found, so these grades are a year old. Choice applications open in the fall, and most seats go by lottery.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel: the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- Highs near 9.6 °C and lows near -1.1 °C at the airport normal, with 19.5 nights at or below freezing
- The snowiest month on the 1991 to 2020 normal, 7.4 cm
- 86 mm of precipitation on the normal, some of it as ice
- Highs near 11.8 °C, lows near 0.4 °C and 5.1 cm of snow on the normal
- The district fills most choice seats by lottery: check the choice calendar if General Greene's magnet is the reason to buy
- The 2027 tax bills will carry the 2026 reappraisal values, at rates not yet set
- Highs near 16.3 °C, 2.3 cm of snow on the normal
- 8 freezing nights on the normal, down from 15 in February
- The Bog Garden's boardwalk on Hobbs Road is about 1.8 km away by road
- Highs near 21.7 °C and lows near 8.8 °C
- Showers on about 7 days a month, 96 mm in all, on the normal
- No 2020 resident lived in a mapped flood zone, though 1.0% of the area, along creeks, is in one
- Highs near 25.6 °C, with a day at 32 °C or more on the normal
- County tax relief applications for the next bill are due in June
- Highs near 29.6 °C and 6.6 days at 32 °C or more
- The fiscal year's tax rates are adopted: in 2026 the County on 25 June and the City on 16 June
- The City's outdoor pools open for the season; the dates were not read
- Highs near 31.4 °C, 13.7 days at 32 °C or more, and lows near 20.7 °C
- The Fun Fourth Festival runs along Elm Street downtown on 4 July
- The County's fiscal year, and the new tax rate, begin on 1 July
- Highs near 30.3 °C and 111 mm of rain, mostly in thunderstorms
- The 2026 tax bills went out by 15 August; paying by 31 August took 1% off
- The three summer months bring 104 to 111 mm of rain each on the normal
- 117 mm of rain on the normal, the most of any month, with highs near 26.9 °C
- The North Carolina Folk Festival fills downtown in mid-September; 2027 dates are not posted
- The 1% early payment discount ends with August
- Highs near 21.7 °C and lows near 9.7 °C
- N.C. A&T's homecoming week runs 25 October to 1 November 2026
- Choice program applications open in the fall
- Highs near 15.9 °C and 7.7 freezing nights on the normal
- Lows near 3.8 °C and 83 mm of precipitation on the normal
- Highs near 11.1 °C and lows near 0.6 °C, with 3.0 cm of snow on the normal
- Downtown's Festival of Lights is an early December Friday; the 2026 date was not posted
- Route 8 runs hourly on weekends; holiday service in 2026 cannot be read from GTA's feed, which carries only 2024's holidays
7 more photographs of Greensboro and the region
Drawn from the site's shared, freely licensed Greensboro photo library, not photographs of Guilford Hills itself. Filter by category.
Showing 1–7 of 7 photographs.
About these photographs. Openly licensed images from the site's shared Greensboro library, found on Wikimedia Commons and served from there with full attribution. None of them is presented as a photograph of Guilford Hills.