Spartanburg Growth

[Spartan]

Spartanburg is growing. Census reports that the Spartanburg MSA grew 2.1% from 2006-2007. But the HJ makes their article slightly misleading. The Spartanburg MSA is the same as Spartanburg County, so while it is correct to say that the MSA grew by 2.1%, its important to understand that its referring to the same area as the county. Since 2000, however, we have grown 8.6%.

Spartanburg County

2000: 253,782

2007: 275,534

%Change: 8.6%

Change: 22,752

The article from last week that I cannot seem to locate says that the fastest growing areas in the County are Boiling Springs and the Western portion of the County, mainly west of 290 around Duncan and Greer.

What more interesting is that the article from this week makes mention of a lot of interesting ideas that appear to be floating around Spartanburg that are news to me. There is so much growth happening that our countryside is being mowed down, and what makes this area attractive is being destroyed. A lot of the people who live out there want protection but they don't want more restrictions. It seems to me that they want to have their cake and eat it too. Its not possible to control growth without having some restrictions. Anyway, the article quotes Councilman Britt as saying "We're putting some policies in place, for instance, to prevent what happened in Boiling Springs."

The HJ fails to inform us of what these policies area. Does anyone know about these policies, and what they will supposedly do? Are we talking about the infamous "Z-word" or perhaps a more forceful comprehensive plan?

HJ Article