232 replies to this topic

[cryba]

You are invited to assist in developing the City of Spartanburg’s Downtown Master Plan.  The project area for this plan is encompassed by Pine Street, Henry Street, Daniel Morgan Avenue and St. John Street Extension, and includes connections to the surrounding colleges, neighborhoods, and other key redevelopment sites.  

The Downtown Master Plan will be developed during an intense and exciting week‑long design workshop called a “charrette,” October 17th – 24th, at The Showroom @ Hub-Bub, 149 S. Daniel Morgan Avenue, Suite 2, (the old “Gilbert Shoe” building).  The design of the Master Plan will be facilitated by The Lawrence Group, a town planning and architecture firm, and based on community input from residents, property owners, local merchants, civic groups, regulatory agencies, and interested investors.

You are welcome to drop by the design studio anytime during the workshop. The studio will be open to the public all day except Sunday.  The Closing Presentation is scheduled for 6:00 pm on Tuesday, October 24th.  Pin‑up sessions are scheduled daily at 12:00 noon, at which time we will display the day’s work for public review to make sure that input received is reflected in our designs.

We look forward to working with you in this exciting effort.  If you have any questions, please contact our office.

Thank you.

Cate Brandt Ryba
Economic Development Coordinator
City of Spartanburg
P O Drawer 1749
Spartanburg, SC  29304
864.562.4283; 864.596.2680 (fax)
cryba@cityofspartanburg.org

Edited by cryba, 13 October 2006 - 09:40 AM.

[hub-city]

Thanks for the invite cryba and welcome to the forum.  This alone is a great "melting pot" of ideas and thoughts about our cities in the Upstate.  I hope you and friends check back often.

[Spartan]

Welcome to the forum. I'm glad to know that people at the City are reading UP

I want to go to the charrette, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get out of Clemson. What are the hours? Im going to try to get to Sparkle City if at all possible.

[cryba]

Spartan, on Oct 14 2006, 01:02 AM, said:

Welcome to the forum. I'm glad to know that people at the City are reading UP

I want to go to the charrette, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get out of Clemson. What are the hours? Im going to try to get to Sparkle City if at all possible.

The complete charrette schedule is:

Tuesday, 10/17
12pm - Design Studio Opens with Pin-up Session
1pm - Break for Lunch
2pm - Tour of Project Area
4pm - Market Story Overview

Wednesday, 10/18
8:30 Business Owners
9:30 Public Works
10:30 Infrastructure
12pm - Pin-Up Session and Project Update
1pm - Break for Lunch
2:00 Traffic & Transportation
3:30 Special Events
4:30 College Students & Employees
5:30 Neighborhood Representatives

Thursday, 10/19
8:30 Real Estate
10:00 Building Codes & Planning
11:00 Historic Preservation
12pm - Pin-Up Session and Project Update
1pm - Break for Lunch
2:00 Major Property Owners
3:30 Parks & Recreation
4:30 Officials, Boards & Commissions
5:30 Business Owners
(Design Studio Closes at 6:30 pm)

Friday, 10/20
8:30 Land Development
10:00 Beautification
11:00 Public Safety
12pm - Pin-Up Session and Project Update
1pm - Break for Lunch
2:00 Open Space Advocates
3:00 Active Living & Bicycle Task Force
4:00 Arts Groups

Saturday, 10/21
10:00 Neighborhood Representatives
12pm - Pin-Up Session and Project Update
1pm - Break for Lunch
1 - 5pm Open Design Sessions
(Design Studio Closes at 5:00 pm)

Sunday, 10/22
Design Studio Closed

Monday, 10/23
9:00 Follow-up Meetings        
12pm - Pin-Up Session and Project Update
1pm - Break for Lunch
Open Design Sessions
(Design Studio Closes at 5:00 pm)

Tuesday, 10/24
Open Design Sessions
1pm - Break for Lunch
2:00 Design Studio Closes to Prepare for Final Presentation
6:00 Final Presentation and Closing Reception

You can attend sessions that specifically interest you, but also you can come in any time during any day and there will be consultants to talk with you about your specific ideas.

We hope you can make it up to Spartanburg! Thanks!

[Spartan]

cryba, on Oct 16 2006, 09:16 AM, said:

You can attend sessions that specifically interest you, but also you can come in any time during any day and there will be consultants to talk with you about your specific ideas.

We hope you can make it up to Spartanburg! Thanks!

Oh thats good to know. I was a little concerned when I first saw that schedule. Its looking more promising now...

[hub-city]

Any updates on how this process is going?  I was going at lunch today, but got detained.

Edited by hub-city, 19 October 2006 - 12:16 PM.

[cryba]

hub-city, on Oct 19 2006, 02:16 PM, said:

Any updates on how this process is going?  I was going at lunch today, but got detained.

The process is going really well. We have a lot of folks showing up to give their input. Please try to make it to one of the focus sessions, or for just giving your general input, sometime between now and Tuesday.
The lunchtime review sessions, when the designers pin up their drawings seem to be a good way of getting an overview of the process.

We hope you can make it to Hub-Bub and be a part of shaping Spartanburg's future!
Thanks,
Cate

[krazeeboi]

Wow, that's some agenda. I hope this helps Spartanburg reach its next level!

[hub-city]

I hope that they don't try to put a height limit on new constuction.  That was mentioned about a year or so ago when the condo project near the arts center was being discussed.  Everything in downtown doesn't have to be a 3-5 story structure.

[krazeeboi]

You should go (or at least email someone) and make that known; it's a good point. I don't think Spartanburg has any downtown area/district where height restrictions would be necessary.

[Spartan]

I stopped by today and height restrictions were not on the agenda. Infill was a MAJOR part of it. I was generally impressed. Many of the ideas that we (and I) have expressed here were already accounted for in the design that they had created thus far. I was extremely impressed at the professionalism of the Lawrence Group and their efforts to show what Spartanburg could and SHOULD be.

On of my favorite ideas was to move the City and County offices into the Broadwalk to energize that section of downtown. Other ideas were more parks, dog parks, bike lanes everywhere, more pedestrian/mixed use features. Filing in the Renaissance Park, density, desnity, density. Not major density, but inill, 4-5 stories where appropriate affordable flats and condos downtown, etc. It seems like people really want this type of thing, but the City is not encoraging it at the level that they should be. Perhaps this iwll waken them up to the idea.

The major issue at this point is to make sure that the master plan that is put together here is acutally used. We have had so many plans in the past, and I mean half a dozen at least, that were never used for anything. They sit on the shelf and do nothing. Spartanburg's leaders in the past have not had the forsight to actually do something to benefit the City and secure our future. We are at a croassroad now. I sincerely hope that our leaders will take the ideas that so many Spartans have put forth this week and actually make something great of our city. Don't squander it, do something wth it.

That said, I am now aware that there is much more interest in this type of thing than is being expressed here on UrbanPlanet, so if you are at all interested in this subject, please speak up! Share your thoughts here!

[krazeeboi]

Spartan, it appears as though a letter to the editor of the HJ would be fitting from you, at the least.

[tdreamweaver]

I went to the final presentation tonight. It was awesome. That being said...do know that I don't have half the knowledge of you folks on here about how/why/where and such things should be done...but from a regular ole' citizens standpoint, it was refreshing to see a plan that focused on energizing the city, bringing the middle class back, focusing on what the colleges do for the City, rebuilding the neighborhoods and connecting all the people in our community that are working hard in different ways to reach the same goal.

I love Spartanburg. And it is SO nice to be surrounded by fellow citizens that feel the same way.

As I looked around tonight and saw various people taking notes...I thought...I wonder if that's Spartan.

t

[Spartan]

tdreamweaver, on Oct 24 2006, 10:29 PM, said:

I went to the final presentation tonight. It was awesome. That being said...do know that I don't have half the knowledge of you folks on here about how/why/where and such things should be done...but from a regular ole' citizens standpoint, it was refreshing to see a plan that focused on energizing the city, bringing the middle class back, focusing on what the colleges do for the City, rebuilding the neighborhoods and connecting all the people in our community that are working hard in different ways to reach the same goal.

I love Spartanburg. And it is SO nice to be surrounded by fellow citizens that feel the same way.

As I looked around tonight and saw various people taking notes...I thought...I wonder if that's Spartan.

t

lol, unfortunately I was not able to make it back to town as I have waay to much work to do here in Clemson. I am impressed that the people of Spartanburg actually do want similar things to what we promote on this site, and they want downtown to be something great.

Like I said though, its up to our elected officials to actually DO SOMETHING THIS TIME!!! Don't waste this chance to be a leader in the state and to make Spartanburg what it needs to be.

[hub-city]

Today's HJ gives a few highlights from the plan, including a picture of how the city offices could be reconfigured in the Broadwalk space.  Also of note was the potential of the WMCA moving into some of the Renaissance park area.

CHECK the story.

[Spartan]

I think that the idea od reconfiguring broadwalk cor a city & county officebuilding is a great idea. Probably one of the best that I've heard from this process. That would then clear up that site to be used for SMA or maybe some shops or restaurants or something to tie in N Church/Wofford to downtown.

Moving the Y also seems to be a good idea. I am in favor of moving it closer to downtown somewhere and then turing the current site into a large residential/mixed use facility that faces the two roads and the rail trail.

[krazeeboi]

I think this is a move in the right direction: "Now that the ideas are out there, city Economic Development Director Julie Franklin said the master plan will be augmented with a developing set of zoning and building codes."

[hub-city]

The city has a powerpoint presentation showing highlights of the master plan proposal.  I'm having difficulty providing the link but hopefully you can access it by clicking If not go to the city website and click on the purple masterplan icon on the right.  If someone else can provide the direct link, then please help an old man out.

Although it is mainly pictures with no text, you can see where they were headed with most of the downtown.  Some nice and forward thinking ideas.  look them over and see what you think.

Edited by hub-city, 31 October 2006 - 03:08 PM.

[Spartan]

Here is thie link.

This is a direct link to the file, so expect an immediate download. Thanks for the heads up hub-city!

[Spartan]

Hah, there is waay to much cool stuff in there to talk about right now. But I will say that this shows the city ways to increase its population without annexing. I like the reflecting pool and city hall in Broad Walk. I was told at the charrette that City and County officials were excited about that idea. If they can rennovate it to look similar to that image I would be even more in favor of it because right now its rather bland and unattractive.

I like the idea of taking out the Broad St extension behind Richardson Park, and then taking out Richardson Park too, which is not used at all.

I like the ideas of adding buildings on some of the un used greenspace infront of the Dunbar and Kennedy garages. I like the idea of filling in King St with more buildings. I like the mixed use urban village in Renaissance Park.... alot. That NEEDS to happen. Thank God that horrid golf course idea fell through. I like the Hub-Bub neighborhood concept. I particularly like the E Main/gateway concept. I can go on and on.

I like pretty much everything I saw except the idea of rerouting 29 on a new road thorugh the North Dean neighborhood. That is by far the worst idea I've heard from this process. If you want to reroute it, have it turn right onto N Pine (from St John) then left on Daniel Morgan and back around to St John.

I highly reccomend that everyone take a look at that powerpoint, even if you don't know the city at all, and just check it out. Its definitely worth a look.