Unity Park (New 160 Acre West End Park)

[vicupstate]

Unity Park makes the Weather Channel

Unity Park on the Weather Channel

[vistatiger]

You just can't have nice things.

https://www.wyff4.com/article/keep-the-cardboard-at-home-city-requests/40891071

[cabelagent]

1 hour ago, vistatiger said:

You just can't have nice things.

https://www.wyff4.com/article/keep-the-cardboard-at-home-city-requests/40891071

Yes you can…just can’t have cardboard sleds 

[apaladin]

12 hours ago, cabelagent said:

Yes you can…just can’t have cardboard sleds 

You could have cardboard sleds too if parents and kids weren’t so trifling and take their s*** with them. 

[motonenterprises]

53 minutes ago, apaladin said:

You could have cardboard sleds too if parents and kids weren’t so trifling and take their s*** with them. 

The cardboard is damaging the material. That's why they don't want them there.

[GVLer]

I know the environmentalists will strongly disagree, but the city missed an opportunity with river. Instead of widening and clearing like the stretch beside the Peace Center, it’s obscured by natural growth ie weeds. By definition, that park is intended to be a tourist destination and showpiece. But we have a ditch barely visible unless on a bridge. At least the frogs and crickets are happy. 

[GvilleSC]

The vegetation that is intended to prevent erosion, and serve as a habitat?

[GVLer]

I fully understand the intent. But the river is the only thing of possible visual interest in an otherwise large and flat field. And they obscured it instead of amplifying it. Just my $0.02 worth. 

[gman430]

Good pdf file showing all of the affordable housing projects planned next to Unity Park: https://www.greenvillesc.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/10022?fileID=54894

[gman430]

Hundreds of apartments in four planned affordable developments around Unity Park will go on the market over the next two to three years.

Greenville Housing Fund CEO Bryan Brown said he hopes to begin construction on the first of four coming projects near the end of 2022, and on the rest within the next year.

In all, the Housing Fund and its partners plan to build 1,000 affordable units on the periphery of Unity Park. The four initial developments planned by the Housing Fund account for about 375.

The City of Greenville donated multiple properties near the park for affordable housing that, combined with financial contributions, amounts to about $15 million, Brown said during a Sept. 12 City Council meeting. 

He said he hopes to begin construction first on the Oscar Apartments, a 52-unit development that will stand at the corner of Oscar and Nasau streets, late this year. Of those units, 39 will be priced affordably for people making between 50 and 100 percent of the area median income (AMI).

Brown said he expects work to begin on the other three project shortly after. The Southernside Senior I project will be built off of West Washington Street with 93 age-restricted units affordable at 50 to 60 percent AMI. Southernside Senior II, also an age-restricted development, will stand near the intersection of Trescott Street and West Washington and will offer 54 affordable apartments for renters at 50 to 60 percent AMI.

The largest of the four developments, the Lighthouse Unity apartment complex, will add 252 units between Oscar and Meadow streets, 189 of which will be available for people making 50 to 100 percent AMI.

 

More info: https://www.postandcourier.com/greenville/news/affordable-apartments-near-greenvilles-unity-park-a-few-years-away/article_1e7ac106-32f1-11ed-9b7e-bba7fb23c066.html

 

Edited September 13, 2022 by gman430

[SVL]

https://greenvillejournal.com/community/greenville-city-council-notes-unity-parks-wetlands-project-gets-2-1-million/

[GVLer]

They should have spent millions to clear and widen and beautify the river!

[GvilleSC]

1 hour ago, GVLer said:

They should have spent millions to clear and widen and beautify the river!

... they did. 

[GVLer]

I respectfully disagree. They removed some trees, but facilitated so much other vegetation that the river is obscured. I would have preferred that it looked like the river does by Riverplace. 

[GvilleSC]

6 minutes ago, GVLer said:

I respectfully disagree. They removed some trees, but facilitated so much other vegetation that the river is obscured. I would have preferred that it looked like the river does by Riverplace. 

They removed trees to physically widen the river bed. They then removed dirt to widen the basin along the river to control flooding. They placed rocks and dead trees to facilitate habitats -- which they do not want humans to interact with. Views of the water are afforded by the 3 bridges that have been placed in the park. I understand what you want, but that was never the intent. They spent millions to get what they envisioned and what was planned during their community meetings. The wild flowers that bloom along the banks are a really quite beautiful. 

[GVLer]

Again - I know exactly what they did and why they did it. I simply disagree with that decision and the result. 

[GvilleSC]

Views of the Reedy from within the park.  

[GVLer]

Oh yeah…that is “beautiful”

[distortedlogic]

On 9/13/2022 at 5:19 PM, GVLer said:

I respectfully disagree. They removed some trees, but facilitated so much other vegetation that the river is obscured. I would have preferred that it looked like the river does by Riverplace. 

I understand your point here; the river is not very impressive or picturesque through this stretch, and is much more a creek than a river. I would say, however, the river is not really supposed to be the centerpiece here, but rather the park itself is the centerpiece.  The park piggy backs off the success of other stretches of the river, and provides the floodplain that allowed the park acreage to be there in the first place, making the park possible. The river (falls) is definitely the centerpiece for other stretches, such as Riverwalk and Falls Park, but it doesn't serve the park the same way. We'll just have to enjoy the park for the parks' sake in this area and enjoy the river in other areas.

[ingvegas]

On 9/13/2022 at 7:18 PM, GVLer said:

Again - I know exactly what they did and why they did it. I simply disagree with that decision and the result. 

You are free to disagree, but your opinion does not change the fact that the park is on floodplain.

The reason they moved the location of the Greenville utility works from the that location (and transformed it into a park) is because of frequent floods. So the city was pretty aware of how frequent and severe the flooding was. 

You don't stop flooding by having a pretty view of a river. Plantings to foster woodland growth and also wetland management are generally considered the most cost-efficient and natural way to stop floods. That is why you see so much planting in front of the Commons and Southernside. Otherwise, the city could build a system of dykes, retention ponds, etc. That is a lot of money for a view you can get 1/4 mile down the river. 

More info on floodcontrol: https://www.heraldopenaccess.us/openaccess/flood-control-and-its-management

 

[GvilleSC]

They’re currently installing a project sign for Honor Tower at the end of the Auro Bridge. 
 

 

[apaladin]

1 hour ago, GvilleSC said:

They’re currently installing a project sign for Honor Tower at the end of the Auro Bridge. 
 

 

So is the sign and future tower the same height? 

[distortedlogic]

12 minutes ago, apaladin said:

So is the sign and future tower the same height? 

Better yet, the ladder will go on the other side of the sign and you can just climb the ladder to lookout!

[olrob]

Could we start a GoFundMe or a KickStarter to add 50 or 100 feet to the Honor Tower?

 

[Horatio Nelson]