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Historic Intown Neighborhoods


Spartan

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I think this thread is beginng to veer off the subject. Should we contniue this discussion under in town neighborhoods?

"Hey dude, I agree with what you are saying. And I also think that city & county council is just a bunch of morons that want things to stay the same and if they can line their pockets or get a few perks from it then great. Bill Barnet and possibly Mark Scott are the only forward thinkers here."

Dude, don't be so disrespectful. Morons? Why don't you run? See if you can get elected. Share your fabulous ideas!

I think Beaumont has potential to becoming a great neighborhood, as well. Yes, the houses are smallish but hell a 900 sq foot apt in Library commons costs over $150.000. You can't even walk to a grocery store from there. You can walk to Wades, Bellews produce from Beaumont. And big Lots..... Bagel Shop, Starbucks...

Since more people are not going to be able to drive as much... walking could be promoted or biking..... Everything is already in a close proximity to that area. Hello, Food Lion. Why couldn't people walk there? I'd like to see it happen.

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"Hey dude, I agree with what you are saying. And I also think that city & county council is just a bunch of morons that want things to stay the same and if they can line their pockets or get a few perks from it then great. Bill Barnet and possibly Mark Scott are the only forward thinkers here."

Dude, don't be so disrespectful. Morons? Why don't you run? See if you can get elected. Share your fabulous ideas!

I think Beaumont has potential to becoming a great neighborhood, as well. Yes, the houses are smallish but hell a 900 sq foot apt in Library commons costs over $150.000. You can't even walk to a grocery store from there. You can walk to Wades, Bellews produce from Beaumont. And big Lots..... Bagel Shop, Starbucks...

Since more people are not going to be able to drive as much... walking could be promoted or biking..... Everything is already in a close proximity to that area. Hello, Food Lion. Why couldn't people walk there? I'd like to see it happen.

Hey man, if I had the time and was not a small businessman working his a$$ off all the time, I would run and I would get elected. Being a native of the "SC" I have all kinds of fresh ideas and I have seen what works here and what does not. Believe me, there have been a ton of horrible ideas over the last 30 years and until Bill Barnett came along, I thought we had cornered the market in that department.

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So are you saying Mayor Barnet has not done a good job or he IS doing a good job?

In other, relatively timely news, South Converse had a neighborhood cleanup this weekend. The article in the HJ highlights what I hope is a growing trend in Spartanburg. Cleaning up neighborhoods in close proximity to downtown show that these neighborhoods are gaining value simply due to their proximity to downtown. In fact, the current president of the South Converse Neighborhood Association is a retired real estate agent, and she specifically bought in that neighborhood because of its proximity to downtown. I assume she is a fairly proactive representative of the neighborhood, so I hope that she will help establish a stronger identity for it.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Some great news for Hampton Heights.... it looks as though the the home of former SC Governor Ibra Charles Blackwood on Hydrick Street is going to be saved. This one was in danger of being demolished by the city due to its poor state of repair. Fortunately for all of us, the current owner finally agreed to sell the house. The Preservation Trust has renovated many other homes in Hampton Heights, so I expect they will do well with this one too. I'm excited to see a piece of history being saved :thumbsup:

HJ Article

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  • 2 months later...

An update on the 232 Hydrick St house... it seems that the rescue effort is going to be successful so long as they can secure financing. I am glad that they were able to save this house. This is a success story for Spartanburg if there ever was one. I don't know who started the Preservation Trust, but I'm glad they did. They do some good work over there.

Article

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  • 8 months later...
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  • 4 weeks later...

The Herald Journal website is slightly infuriating. I was nosing around the Preservation Trust website and I came across this article, which was published on July 10, and I'm surprised that I had not seen it. I can't wait for the next upgrade for GoUpstate.com.

Anyway- the article itself talks about the efforts to preserve/restore Beaumont similar to what is being done in Hampton Heights by giving it status as a local historic district. It has several distinct architectural styles and is still relatively well intact, save the mill itself. It sounds like that if passed, the mill village would be subject to some specific design guidelines intended to preserve the character of the mill houses in that area. The article does not get into any details, which is frustrating too. I hope this moves forward, as the city needs to preserve as many historic neighborhoods as possible.

HJ Article

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  • 6 months later...

New/old Neighborhoods with potential.

Parkhills behind Silver Hill Methodist,,, Briarwood /Briarcliff Rds. Now with the Charter school option this might make the shool issure more attractive for potential buyers.

Does have trouble spots with unsightly rentals but not anymore than Hampton H. price range 35,000-100 grand.

Area of streets that branch off Reidville Road from the Light at John White Blvd. and Briarcliff to Woodland Heights school.... Hatcher Garden Corridor. 1.5 mile to downtown. I own a house in that area that backs up to the downtown area. my deed calls it City Park Heights. THe housing stock is fair quality and cheap due to having two subisdized housing projects and a few slum lords. I saw a house sale for $30,000. Ranch style about 1600 square ft/good condition. Again similiar to Hampton H. issues. THey organized and have created success with the city's support.

These two areas could be thriving middle class neighborhoods again.

Some streets.... Belmarc, Allison, Ammons, Wildwood, Meredith Circle, Pinelake Dr. Winton Ct., Earl Dr.... this area straddles the border of dist. 6 and dist. 7

On another note, Deal's Market still continues in Parkhills... I think it may be the city's oldest surviving grocery store... It used to have the best meats in town!! THe newest owners have been going for about 2 years. I stop in occassionally and they are slowly building their stock.

I find it decent for emergency ingredients or snack foods. I have noticed increasing number of cars in thier parking lot. It is filling some of the need that Bi-Lo did.

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From what I've read about this, it seems that many were surprised their bid was denied. Apparently, the Beaumont residents who commented at the meeting were opposed to the designation. However, they apparently never brought up any issues until the last minute (now), not at any of the community meetings throughout the planning process. Further, there were no residents at the meeting representing those in favor of the designation (not that I've heard of, at least). Those opposed complained about the renovation restrictions (though they are required to renovate...) among other things. It seems like a very short-sighted decision to deny Beaumont the historic designation that would've done nothing but benefit the neighborhood.

Check the Spartanburg Spark website. They have been videotaping the council meetings, so you can watch those to see what happened. There is also another article with many user comments upset about Beaumont's request being denied.

Spark article w/video

Spark article w/comments

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Regardless of the historic designation, if the city would just take some small or baby steps to make Beaumont, Drayton, Whitney, Park Hills, etc nicer, the neighbors themselves would then take more pride in where they lived. Once this happens, more people will want to live in these neighborhoods. Beaumont would be a good place to start. Its close to the city and most of the houses are in good to fair shape. If the city were to spend some money down at their ballfield and park to make it nicer, that would be a good start. Pave a few roads in there and fix the sidewalks. Show a committment to make the the neighborhood nicer. Heck depending on the zoning, you might get a business or 2 along Isom St.

This also would help District 7 schools which continue to lose students. If Beaumont were nicer, more folks would want to move here for the amenities and it might help add more students to the district which is losing students at an alarming rate.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is the kind of thing that gets relatively little press, but IMO is extremely important to the revitalization of our intown neighborhoods, especially the smaller and less financially well off ones. This article is about Summerhill Estates, which is the neighborhood between Wofford Street and West Main, centered more or less on Vanderbilt Rd. This is a small step, but a positive one for Spartanburg.

Article

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This is the kind of thing that gets relatively little press, but IMO is extremely important to the revitalization of our intown neighborhoods, especially the smaller and less financially well off ones. This article is about Summerhill Estates, which is the neighborhood between Wofford Street and West Main, centered more or less on Vanderbilt Rd. This is a small step, but a positive one for Spartanburg.

Article

Yes, that is good news. I think it's worth highlighting that the article mentions crime in the area has declined 68% since the neighborhood association began its activities. Also, I think this area is near the planned Midtowne Heights housing project for which federal funding has been approved. (See other thread by that name).

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Midtowne will be truly transformative now that I understand what it is. There is also a thread referring to SHA Developments where I posted some renderings of midtown. It's really going to look nice, and clean out some of that neighborhood that even feels sketchy on a bright sunny day.

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  • 1 month later...

An unfortunate loss for Spartanburg and Hampton Heights... one of the crown jewels of the neighborhood burnt last night. The article doesn't really explain how bad the damage is, and more importantly whether or not the house will is restorable. I hope that it is, and it sounds like the owners are the type of people who would restore it.

HJ Article

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  • 2 weeks later...

I rode by this home yesterday and it appears that they are trying to save it. Dumpsters were located out front and the damaged areas were being removed by hand and the chimneys were shored up as to save them. The damage is greater than I had imagined, but at least they are making an effort to restore it.

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