Southside Developments

[PeePaw00]

Umm.... thats what I said.

All I said is that the past model of public housing hasn't work as well as it should have because the mentality on poverty was wrong in retrospect. I don't fault the SHA for doing what they thought was best at that time, and I too am applauding them for what they are doing now and for what I percieve to be a great thing for people in that community.

[Spartan]

I'd say its evident that you are much more knowledgeable about public housing than I am. I'm basing my thought process around the concept as I understand it today, which is to have public housing that looks like real houses, that mixes incomes, and attempts to establish a sense of community that is different from that which has been created from the former styles that we are more familiar with today (Phyllis Goins).

How would the SHA get out of the public housing business, or more importantly, what would the SHA become instead? I hope this does not mean some sort of state or federal level housing authority.

[PeePaw00]

I'd say its evident that you are much more knowledgeable about public housing than I am. I'm basing my thought process around the concept as I understand it today, which is to have public housing that looks like real houses, that mixes incomes, and attempts to establish a sense of community that is different from that which has been created from the former styles that we are more familiar with today (Phyllis Goins).

How would the SHA get out of the public housing business, or more importantly, what would the SHA become instead? I hope this does not mean some sort of state or federal level housing authority.

[Spartan]

Good points. But what I want out of the SHA, and what I think they are providing, is an environment in which people won't say- of I'm going to live there, its near the projects. Its changing the mentality about what public housing is that I think will help this process, and the immediate concerns are about the physical structures themselves- especially those that are the oldest.

[PeePaw00]

Good points. But what I want out of the SHA, and what I think they are providing, is an environment in which people won't say- of I'm going to live there, its near the projects. Its changing the mentality about what public housing is that I think will help this process, and the immediate concerns are about the physical structures themselves- especially those that are the oldest.

[Spartan]

City Council has approved money to build a new CC Woodson Rec Center on S Liberty St. Looking at the map, it appears that it will be located on the empty parcel at S Liberty & Bomar Ave/Collins Ave.

"The new C.C. Woodson Center is the first major project of the city's parks master plan and was made the first priority because of the partners involved. The city is leveraging funds from the Spartanburg Housing Authority, the Mary Black Foundation, tax credits and grants for the center, estimated to cost $6 million. Construction is expected to begin early next year."

This is great news for the Southside. I'm glad that this was first on the City's Parks Plan. I'd like to see what's on the rest of that plan.

HJ Article

[Spartan]

The Save-A-Lot is finally open. This is great news for Spartanburg and the Southside.

Article

[GSP Tiger]

Sav-A-Lot's opening will do well selling groceries in the underserved southside. Its success should trigger (i.e. Bi-Lo, Ingle's) others to locate here.

[Spartan]

The CC Woodson Plan is moving forward, but I now have some small concerns about it. They have requested the closure of part of S. Liberty Street in that area. Can anyone recall if Liberty Street is to be relocated or if its just a temporary closure or what?

• Directing the Closing of Streets in the City of Spartanburg, Being Rome Court Running Parallel to C.C. Woodson Recreation Center, off S. Liberty Street; and S. Liberty Street (Portion of) Running Approximately 430 Linear Feet Starting at Bomar Street on the South Side of Spartanburg

My concern is that they have closed these roads permanently. The City needs to be promoting connectivity and creating new connections, not destroying connections like South Liberty Street. One of the worst things this city has ever done is put that elementary school on S Church where it is, right in the way of where Liberty St should go.

http://www.cityofspartanburg.org/City_Gove...das/4_14_08.pdf

[Sparkleman]

My concern is that they have closed these roads permanently. The City needs to be promoting connectivity and creating new connections, not destroying connections like South Liberty Street. One of the worst things this city has ever done is put that elementary school on S Church where it is, right in the way of where Liberty St should go.

http://www.cityofspartanburg.org/City_Gove...das/4_14_08.pdf

[Spartan]

I'm having a brain fart, but its the one on South Church between Marion and Caulder Ave. South Liberty Street used to continue through before Church Street was extended (which is why its called the Church St Extension), and was the main route in and out of town in the south/southwest.

[Sparkleman]

Man Spartan, I am having a hard time with this one. You have to be referring to Craver Jr High here. The closest elementary school is Mary Wright and its not on Church but one of the side streets off Church.

[Spartan]

lol, yeah Carver. Thats why I couldn't think of it... it wasn't an elementary school

[hub-city]

In your defense Spartan, Mary H Wright and Carver are side by side and look almost exactly the same. Actually the more I think about it, although Carver sits closer to Church, it might be the elementary school that has the church street entrance and Carver enters off of Caulder Ave.

[Sparkleman]

Actually Carver enters off Marion Ave. with the buses coming through on Caulder. Mary Wright enters on Caulder with the buses possibly entering on Liberty.

[Spartan]

Ok, well maybe I'm not crazy then My point, however, remains the same. That chunk of land - regardless of how many schools are on it - cut off Liberty Street.

[hub-city]

Point taken Spartan. This is a needless clarification, that really doesn't matter (but I just can't help myself) You can't get to Mary Wright from Caulder Ave. That is Carver Jr. High.

Mary Wright is next to the swim center. It has it's entrance from Marion. Then, both Carver and Mary Wright share the big circle drive off of Church and then Carver has it's main entrance from Caulder. If you are driving out of town you pass Marion street, Swim center, Mary Wright, Carver, then Caulder Ave. Sorry

PS Liberty street used togo that far? There are several blocks between the ending point and Marion Ave. I thought Liberty ended behind Bethal Methodist.

[Spartan]

Yep. Its been torn apart over the years, but it used to go all the way to Arkwright and beyond (though it changed names once you got to Arkwright). The schools are the largest culprit in terms of land, but there are others closer in to town. Just look at a map and see how the streets are aligned, and then consider that South Liberty exists in downtown and the skips down to Caulder Ave before it starts back.

This is a screenshot of USC's Sanborn Maps that illustrate this. This is from 1912.

I have another map from 1924 that I will try to remember to scan and show you guys.

[tdreamweaver]

I recommend the Hub City Writers Project book entitled "South of Main" to learn more about the history of this area. http://www.hubcity.org/history/south-of-main.html I had no idea what had happened in this area.

More than 1,400 neighborhoods in the United States, most of them African-American, were leveled in the name of urban renewal during the mid-twentieth century. South of Main recreates the culture and history of just one of those, the Southside of Spartanburg, South Carolina, founded in the 1860s by a group of ex-slaves who lived together at the end of a dusty road called Liberty Street.

This poignant and painful history examines the experiences of the people who called the Southside home and whose lives were affected by the bulldozers of urban renewal. Their story is an American story, a complex chronicle of a people powerless against the whims of progress. This book received an IPPY award in 2006 from Independent Publisher magazine as the best multicultural nonfiction title by an independent press in North America.

Between 1970 and 1978 urban renewal razed 50 blocks of their neighborhood, scattered 90 businesses and displaced an estimated 2,000 people. Through oral histories, photographs, and maps, their memories survive in this rich collection of stories called South of Main.

[Spartan]

I was driving down South Church this weekend and I went past the new Sav-a-Lot strip mall thing. While I am not a fan of strip malls, it looks pretty good considering what and where it is. Considering how much effort the city put into getting that store in there, its pretty impressive. It's also not anywhere close to where I thought it would be... though I don't know why I thought it would be somewhere else.