USC Upstate Downtown Campus

[vicupstate]

The Greenville News has a very long article about the potential Downtown campus. It is very clear from the article that the entire council is not completely onboard with the Mayberry location or the way this has been handled to date. It seems as though the 10-12 or so people involved need to have a big meeting to hash things out.

I think the big thing driving that location is the size and the proximity to the Kroc Center facilities.

Personally, I think the Church & University site should be considered as an alternative, given it is the same size and does not require the Public Works relocation, of course it is under contract for the moment at least. Another alternative would be for the Water System building be replaced and USC-U move into that building. There is some adjoining acreage already in public hands and the campus could be a strong anchor for extending redevelopment from DT to the West Washington corridor. The building has the distinguished look of academia at least.

[GvilleSC]

I haven't read the article yet, but I want to more about their ambitions, including program offerings, amount of space they envision needing in the short and long terms, etc. Do they really hope for a "campus" in a traditional sense, or aiming more for a building with parking right next to it?

[gman430]

USC Upstate not planning to expand in downtown Greenville: http://www.goupstate.com/article/20120509/ARTICLES/120509626

[vicupstate]

Thanks for posting.

I have mixed feelings. I had serious reservations about that site. I thought there were better choices, potentially including the UC/McAllister site. I think some parochialism crept in too though. To think that the Gville campus would ever ecilpse the Spartanburg campus is pretty naive.

USC-U would be better served in becoming more 'visibly' independent of the UC Center though, IMO. They should be in their own building separate from the others, even if just a separate part of the McAllister campus (old Upton's building perhaps).

I do hope this doesn't disway the city from moving Public Works starting this year. I read an interview with Mayor White in Greenville Business and it sounded as if a replacement site has been found.

Many people will not see the true potential of that corridor until those buildings are gone.

[gman430]

Even though it could have expanded the CBD area, I agree that the site they were looking at downtown was fairly lackluster and boring. If they would have decided on a site in the current CBD area instead then I wouldn't have been happy with this decision. As of now though, it doesn't affect me negatively. This will also help University Center in the long run by filling up the vacant space there.

[gman430]

Not dead. Alive. 

[Jet-set]

Yep. We'll find out more Monday:

http://gsabusiness.com/news/56851-usc-upstate-planning-downtown-greenville-campus?rss=0

[vicupstate]

USC Upstate to offer urban studies program

Hopefully this grows into it's own campus before long.  They need to stake out the land now or they will be pretty limited. 

 

[ausrutherford]

6 hours ago, vicupstate said:

USC Upstate to offer urban studies program

Hopefully this grows into it's own campus before long.  They need to stake out the land now or they will be pretty limited. 

 

I doubt any university in the area will buy their own land downtown. They will all lease as it is now. Its more efficient at the level of investment they need and its less overhead. 

[apaladin]

Well that announcement was a little disappointing.

[vicupstate]

19 hours ago, apaladin said:

Well that announcement was a little disappointing.

Well we knew it was only leasing space in that building to begin with.  Hopefully more comes of it later. 

[Spartan]

I'm not clear about why they are making this move. Clemson has an urban planning program, so how would this help the situation other than offering an additional class (or classes) in downtown itself? I also have to question a regional satellite campus opening up a satellite campus. While I appreciate what they've done for downtown Spartanburg, I've always thought they should keep class rooms on campus (and for what its worth, that applies to all colleges - I feel the same way about USC's "branch" here in Charlotte). If they want to operate in Greenville that's fine - USC should just formally open up a Greenville branch and fund it. The other solution that I would support, which is totally off topic, is separating the USC System into individual campuses similar to the UNC system. 

Anyway, regardless of the "why" question, I think the location of the program in conjunction with Clemson's urban planning program would Greenville really is a great place to study urban growth and development. This was a regular discussion topic when I was in Clemson's MCRP program back in the day. The revitalization of downtown has been impressive. It's a good story, and its an interesting contrast to the unabated suburban sprawl elsewhere in the Upstate.

[ausrutherford]

13 hours ago, Spartan said:

I'm not clear about why they are making this move. Clemson has an urban planning program, so how would this help the situation other than offering an additional class (or classes) in downtown itself? I also have to question a regional satellite campus opening up a satellite campus. While I appreciate what they've done for downtown Spartanburg, I've always thought they should keep class rooms on campus (and for what its worth, that applies to all colleges - I feel the same way about USC's "branch" here in Charlotte). If they want to operate in Greenville that's fine - USC should just formally open up a Greenville branch and fund it. The other solution that I would support, which is totally off topic, is separating the USC System into individual campuses similar to the UNC system. 

Anyway, regardless of the "why" question, I think the location of the program in conjunction with Clemson's urban planning program would Greenville really is a great place to study urban growth and development. This was a regular discussion topic when I was in Clemson's MCRP program back in the day. The revitalization of downtown has been impressive. It's a good story, and its an interesting contrast to the unabated suburban sprawl elsewhere in the Upstate.

Being in the same program now, we've been asked the same question as to whether it would be better in Greenville. My opinion, and most others, has been that the on-campus experience is still better than downtown. 

[GVILLETRANS]

13 hours ago, ausrutherford said:

Being in the same program now, we've been asked the same question as to whether it would be better in Greenville. My opinion, and most others, has been that the on-campus experience is still better than downtown. 

@ausrutherford is any chance the MCRP program will offer classes with USC Upstate downtown?

[ausrutherford]

59 minutes ago, GVILLETRANS said:

@ausrutherford is any chance the MCRP program will offer classes with USC Upstate downtown?

I have no idea. We can take classes at ONE if we wish, but most don't. 

[Spartan]

On 2/13/2016 at 11:47 PM, ausrutherford said:

Being in the same program now, we've been asked the same question as to whether it would be better in Greenville. My opinion, and most others, has been that the on-campus experience is still better than downtown. 

Yeah, I think its a tempting idea, but the trade-offs wouldn't be worth it. As nice as downtown Greenville is, being on-campus is an important part of the experience.

[GvilleSC]

1 hour ago, Spartan said:

Yeah, I think its a tempting idea, but the trade-offs wouldn't be worth it. As nice as downtown Greenville is, being on-campus is an important part of the experience.

I would agree with that in the context of undergraduate studies, but for graduate school, too?

[Spartan]

Yep. There is still a connection and sense of community that develops at the graduate level, though perhaps less if you're going back to school as an adult. Since I went to Carolina for undergrad I didn't get too entrenched in the 'Clemson community' idea, but I think it is an important part of the experience for most people, and I think the vast majority jump on board pretty fast. While I was there I could tell it was more meaningful for people who didn't go to large colleges for undergrad to experience football games and the general sense of community pride there, and even many who did go to large colleges enjoyed it too. If the program were in Greenville that sense of identity with Clemson wouldn't develop like it would on campus. Granted that grad school is a completely different experience, but I also think being around the Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Real Estate Development students is important. You'd definitely lose those intangibles if the program relocated. Maybe if all of those graduate programs moved to Greenville I could get on board with the idea.

Obviously the trade-off is that you might be able to attract more students and professors if the program were located in a more urban setting, and you'd have more opportunity to study a real urban place with all of its challenges and opportunities while living there.

[gman430]

Rumor has it they’re looking to expand. 

[vicupstate]

In my fantasy version of Greenville, they would buy the two Williamsburg style buildings DT (Greenville Water and First Citizens) and build a campus around those buildings.   There is still considerable vacant land nearby and with Unity Park coming it would fit in nicely with everything else going on.  It would be close enough to support DT businesses yet still be set apart significantly.

They looked at this area at the park area, when the park plans were still very much in infancy, I hope they return to that idea.