Greenville's Downtown neighborhood was a close-knit African American community of homes, businesses, and Sycamore Hill Missionary Baptist Church, remembered by descendants as thriving, vibrant, and offering a high quality of life. After the Housing Act was amended in 1949 to promote decent living environments through funded slum clearance, urban renewal projects, and national public housing programs, the City Council created the Redevelopment Commission of the City of Greenville in December 1958. The commission's first task was the Shore Drive Redevelopment Project N. C. R-15 in February 1960, intended to revitalize Greenville's downtown area.