Spartanburg City News

  Note: Later this year, the Northside Development Group will mark its 10th year since it was founded to be a land bank to guide development and protect the community’s interests on the Northside. The NDG partnered with the Northside Voyageurs, Northside residents and the City of Spartanburg to launch the Northside Initiative, the most comprehensive neighborhood revitalization effort in the city’s history. To mark this moment, the City has been sharing a series of stories and podcasts about the Northside Initiative. You can check out part one of our podcast series  and part two .   If you've driven down Howard Street lately in Spartanburg's Northside neighborhood, you've undoubtedly seen a lot of construction. How did all of that happen and what does it mean for the neighborhood and the people who live there?   Well, it starts with a plan, takes a detour with a legal tussle with a billionaire NFL owner over control of one of Spartanburg's most challenging substandard apartment complexes, and ends with an incl

At their meeting on August 23, , during which time the City will engage in a community-led planning process to consider more permanent physical changes to the space. The move came after Council heard an overview of downtown data collected by city staff, including an increase in City Hospitality Tax revenue, increased pedestrian activity, and cell phone carrier data showing increased downtown visits this spring and summer over the same time period in 2019, signs which point to a Downtown Spartanburg economy resurgent after weathering worst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. With the decision being made to continue Morgan Square's expanded outdoor dining and pedestrian space for another year, and with staff tasked with beginning a process to consider a rethinking of the space, today we're talking with City Manager Chris Story to get his perspective on Morgan Square as it fits currently in the Downtown Spartanburg landscape and how residents and stakeholders from all across our community will come together to dec

Nowhere in any community redevelopment expert's notes will you find "bring a medial college to your neighborhood" listed as a strategy to spur a holisic rethinking of an area plagued for decades by depopulation, decaying housing stock, concentraitions of generational poverty, and lack of investment, but on Spartanburg's Northside, that's exactly what happened. On today's second part of our Northside Rising podcast series, we're taking a look back at how public investment, private philanthropy, and sustained community engagement came together to create the most ambitious community-led neighborhood transformation initiative in Spartanburg history. Listen below for more, and be on the lookout for more from our Northside Rising series next week!

Following on the heels of last week's release of the , where we take a look back at the story of Spartanburg's Northside neighborhood, today on the City Podcast, we're delving deeper into the history of the Northside before the decision by the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine to build their Carolinas Campus in the neighborhood became a catalyst to galvanize the largest community redevelopment effort in Spartanburg's history.

It's a year when the word "unprecedented" became commonplace. Beginning with a February tornado that cut a swath through the heart of our city and followed shortly by the COVID-19 global pandemic that still rages as the year comes to a close, 2020 is a year most of us would likely rather forget, though none of us ever will. Through it all, signs of our community's continued strength were abundant, whether in our leadership's and residents' equity-focused response to this summer's protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd or in the continued resiliency and dynamism of our local economy.   Today on the podcast, we're talking with City Manager Chris Story to get his thoughts on 2020 in Spartanburg and how the lessons of this year will serve us going forward.

Today on the podcast, we've got details on our "Snowman Scramble" scavenger hunt and downtown business spotlight giveaway, both of which will be kicking off soon!

  It's not the easiest route to satisfy a state requirement, but here at the City of Spartanburg, we don't shy away from big challenges and we're never afraid to be innovators. That's why when discussions around racial equity in our community were given new urgency on the heels of  showing large racial disparities in practically every area of our residents' lives, our City Council and City Staff understood that in order to do our part to correct those imbalances, our City's most important guiding development document should reflect our commitment to ending those disparities and increasing racial equity for our residents.   It was with that in mind that the nation's first citywide comprehensive planning process focused around racial equity was born. Created with the help of those who call Spartanburg home,  will ultimately guide the city's growth for the next decade to come, and will have an impact long after that, informing strategies on areas as wide-ranging housing, economics, health and wellness, parks and

At their , City Council approved the creation of the Spartanburg Housing Fund, a special fund to be used exclusively to fill gaps in development projects that build, preserve, or improve affordable housing units in the city. Initially capitalized with $750,000 as , the fund will be used to provide loans to for gap financing to developers to help make affordable housing developments more financially feasible and may also be used to provide grants or even a limited number of equity investments.    Today on the podcast, we're talking with City Manager Chris Story to get details on how the new fund will provide another tool to help our community address its supply of affordable housing.

Today on the podcast, we're sitting down with City Manager Chris Story to get an update on the impressive list of major projects in the works for Downtown Spartanburg and our city's Northside.

Late last year, the City was awarded a $1 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create a new City initiative, "Lead-safe Spartanburg." Funding will be used to remove lead-based paint hazards and reduce other health hazards in the home for families with children under the age of 6 and safely improve the housing stock of pre-1978 homes in our community. Both owner-occupied and rental units in the city are elegible, and all applicants must meet the following requirements: Home must be located within the City of Spartanburg A Child under the age of 6 must reside or regularly spend time in the home (over 60 hours per year), or a pregnant woman must reside in the home Household income must be less than 80% of Area Median Income Home must be built prior to 1978 All property tax payments and homeowner’s insurance must be current   Today on the podcast, we're giving you details on the program and how the process works.

As COVID-19 continues to imact our community and we're all doing our part to flatten the curve by staying home when possible, when in public, and , we wanted to offer a way to both share our own tips on how you can get through these challenging times and to offer our residents the chance to share their tips with us as well. So today we're kicking off our #SafeInSpartanburg campaign!

Today on the podcast, we're talking with City Manager Chris Story about the Governor's "Work or Home" order, requiring all people in South Carolinians to stay at home unless reporting to work, traveling for essentials, visiting relatives, or engaging in individual recreation. We also have an update on current City operations and a look forward at the weeks ahead.

One of the most critical ways for our community to ensure that it gets the critical Federal resources it needs depends on all of us, and in 2020, it's never been easier to do your part. Today on the podcast, we're talking with Kathryn Harvey of Neue South Collective and Andy Flynt, Director of Information Services with Spartanburg County Public Libraries about the Census, which you can .

Today on the podcast, we're talking with City Manager, Chris Story about the latest on COVID-19 in Spartanburg and about the City's response to this global pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting communities throughout the world and Spartanburg is no different. Today on the podcast, we're offering tips on how you can stay informed and help stop the spread of this virus.   What's the short takeaway? Check the for the most comprehensive overview of the virus, its spread, and how to protect yourself. Check for information that's focused on communites in our state. If you're feeling ill, to help determine if you may have been infected. Check City social media regularly for important local updates as they become available.   And lastly, don't panic. We're all in this together.

It's one of the most popular outdoor amenities in our city, and like so many other parts of Spartanburg, the Cottonwood Trail was hit hard during the recent tornado that swept across our community. Today on the podcast, we're talking with Clay McDonough and Alix Refshauge of SPACE (Spartanburg Area Conservancy) about recovery on the trail, its place in the Spartanburg community, and about the organization's broader land conservation mission.

It cut right through the heart of our city, and no one can ever remember seeing any weather event in Spartanburg quite like last Thursday's tornado. Carving a path through Spartanburg, from beyond the western edges of the city to our most eastern neighborhoods, the twister sowed chaos in our community and left behind debris and damage that will impact our residents' lives for weeks to come. Today on the podcast, we're talking with City Manager, Chris Story about the City's response to the tornado, what teams were called into action, what each phase of the recovery process means for our residents, and what we're doing to help return our community to normal. Check out the podcast below for more.

For the next installment in our #Spartanburg2020 podcast series, we're taking a slightly different approach, talking with a trio of guests about what it's like to live, work, create, and play in Downtown Spartanburg. Why choose to live here? Why is Downtown Spartanburg the right place to express your creative vision? What amenities are we still lacking? What challenges are we facing, and how are those challenges different from the challenges Spartanburg has faced in previous generations? Our guests share their perspectives and their reasons for making Spartanburg home. 

With Spartanburg's explosive growth across every sector over the past decade, it's probably not surprising to anyone paying attention that the number and variety of ways for residents and visitors of all ages to enjoy the outdoors and get active has also grown exponentially.   Whether it's the City's $2.5 million neighborhood parks improvement plan that touched all corners of our City, or the addition of new parks at the Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport and Denny's Plaza, or the new Butterfly Branch Greenway on the Northside, or the public-private partnership led by Partners for Active Living that has seen more than $1.7 million invested in the new Rail Yard Park along the Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail, or any of the other dozens of improvements and additions our community has seen, there has never been a better time to get outside and enjoy yourself in Spartanburg.   Today on the podcast, we're talking with PAL Executive Director, Laura Ringo about this tremendous growth and change in our latest #Spa

Change is seemingly everywhere you look in Spartanburg these days, from the historic levels of growth seen in our downtown, to the transformational community redevelopment seen in some of our city's most underserved areas, the energy that can be felt throughout our community is palpable. The arts are no exception to this incredible journey of change and growth. Today on our next #Spartanburg2020 podcast, we're talking with Chapman Cultural Center President and CEO Jennifer Evins about the amazing surge she's seen in Spartanburg's arts community and what that growth has meant for both local artists and for the community as a whole.