Spartanburg City News

Latest Episodes:

Spartanburg's biggest challenge and the principles guiding City Staff's response Apr 26, 2018

Show notes

Walking through Downtown Spartanburg these days is a feast for the eyes. New buildings and renovated historic icons, new original upscale dining and nightlife options, and a corresponding level of activity that hasn't been seen in decades are the story of our city's core in 2018, and that level of growth and energy shows no signs of waning. The downtown boom isn't just something local bureaucrats push anymore. It's now a very evident reality celebrated daily by organizations and ordinary residents throughout Spartanburg County. But drive just a short distance from that new energy and excitement, and it becomes clear that the larger story of Spartanburg is much more complicated. The legacies of racial and class disparities, flawed public housing strategies from previous generations, persistent educational attainment gaps, and the localized effects of global economic shifts are all around us in Spartanburg. And while all of us applaud the tremendous economic development progress made in our city in recent years and work daily to ensure that it continues, we also understand that there's little benefit from downtown brick and mortar masterpieces to be felt by families that remain mired in the cycle of intergenerational poverty. At a retreat last month City Council heard details about some of our city's challenges of equity, detailed in a report from Dr. Kathleen Brady, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Studies Institute at USC Upstate. In reacting to the sobering look at our challenges laid out in Dr. Brady's report, City Management crafted a set of guiding principles to help us think about how best to approach Spartanburg's most pressing long-term concern. Poverty is the central existential challenge facing the city. We need high-yield, high bang-for-the-buck strategies that boost human capital and raise the prospects for our citizens. We must work in deep partnership with our key partners—it is not just our view of strategies that matters. We must engage and be responsive to partners that can help us reach our goals. Some interventions are best led by the city, others by partners The built environment is important, but no set of physical amenities or community facilities can change the trajectory for a household without a route to self-sufficiency We must leverage non-local money, and to do so, we need a clear understanding of our strategies. Resources follow coherence. We must avoid investing in projects that don't have a specific human capital impact with quantified outcomes. Today on the podcast, we're talking with Assistant City Manager Chris Story about this list of principles, about why it matters to us as a local government that we take steps to address poverty, and why it ultimately benefits every one of our citizens to live in a more equitable Spartanburg. Listen below for more.

Introducing City Podcast Cohost, Meghan Smith Apr 18, 2018

Show notes

When the City Podcast began more than five years ago, the thinking behind it was relatively simple. First, humanize local governemnt. The podcast created an opportunity for listeners to literally hear the voices and get to know the personalities of the people who spend their days serving the residents of our city, with the hope being that folks would recognize that all these "government bureaucrats" are, in fact, human beings, and that the reasons behind the policies enacted in the City of Spartanburg are human reasons. Second, we wanted to tell the story of Spartanburg at a time when its transformation was just beginning. We wanted to get to know the people behind that transformation and hear why Spartanburg mattered to them. Those initial episodes show then City Communications Manager Will Rothschild and then local resident Christopher George finding their footing, figuring out how exactly this podcast thing should be done. Over the years that followed, the rapport strengthened, the questions got better, the local resident became a City Staff member, and the podcast equipment got fancy enough to cut out the amateurish background noise...at least a little bit. With Rothschild's departure last year however, the podcast became a one-person show, and while we've done some compelling episodes since, the chemistry between two hosts that can make a simple interview more compelling wasn't there anymore. The essence of what the podcast had been was lacking in some ways. On today's podcast, we're addressing that issue and taking the City News Podcast back to its roots, bringing back the engaged local resident perspective that made the storytelling work in those early days, by introducing our new cohost, Meghan Smith. Previously appearing as a guest on the podcast, Meghan will allow us to take the podcast in directions we haven't yet explored, bringing to the show her passion for people and their stories, a deep wealth of local knowledge, and the perspective of someone who truly cares about Spartanburg, not just as a place to invest or a place to play, but as a real community, a place to create a home and raise a family. So join all of us at the City in welcoming our new City News Podcast cohost, Meghan Smith!

Airport Park grand opening to be held April 14, 10 a.m. Apr 11, 2018

Show notes

Spartanburg's west side is about to get its own premier play space as a new park at the Downtown Memorial Airport (500 Ammons Rd.) is set to hold a grand opening celebration on Saturday, April 14 at 10 a.m. The nearly 4-acre park features aviation-themed elements throughout and includes two playgrounds, one for children 5-12 and another for children aged 2-5, as well as a splash pad, multipurpose athletic field, picnic shelters, a paved walking path, and restroom facilities. Total cost for the new park is around $975,000, with $800,000 coming from leftover funds from the City's 2013 parks improvement plan, and the remainder coming from state grants and private funding. The Airport Park's grand opening event will showcase both the new park and the airport itself, with the City's "Let's Play" mobile recreation vehicle providing activities and games, as well as arts and crafts activities, and food trucks to satiate the hunger those little ones are sure to work up exploring this fantastic new community park. Today on the podcast, we're talking with Downtown Memorial Airport Director, Terry Connorton and Parks and Recreation Director Kim Moultrie about the event, the airport, and this fantastic new park.

Hub City Hog Fest returns to Downtown Spartanburg, April 6–7 Apr 04, 2018

Show notes

After five years on the scene, it's managed to become one of the most anticipated annual events in downtown Spartanburg with the move to Morgan Square in 2015 further raising the bar, folks throughout Spartanburg are gearing up for the return of Hub City Hog Fest, April 6–7. With dozens of teams competing in three categories, opportunities to sample some of the smokey goodness will abound, and the event will feature plenty of delicious food vendors. The festival also features great live music on both Friday and Saturday, with Big Daddy Love featuring Shane Pruitt and The Trongone Band headlining respectively. For more on this year's Hub City Hog Fest, check out the festival's website and Facebook page.

A Spring 2018 #SeeSpartanburgRise look at Downtown Mar 29, 2018

Show notes

If you were wondering whether all that Downtown Spartanburg growth we keep talking about had stalled out in 2018...no. No, it hasn't. Not at all. With announcements coming with almost metronomic regularity these days, the problem lately is just keeping up with it all. Already this year has seen big openings like Level 10, The Silo at RJ Rockers, Blue Moon Specialty Foods, Bar 1884, and The Farmer's Table on top of announcements like Le Spice, The Peddler, Monster Subs, and an incredible three-business concept at 127 W Main that includes a boutique bowling alley, a new restaurant concept, and an event space. Is your head spinning yet? Good. Today on the podcast, we're sitting down with Assistant City Manager, Chris Story and Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce Downtown Development Partnership Executive Vice President, Jansen Tidmore to get the lowdown on where Downtown Spartanburg is in Spring 2018, and where we could possibly be heading from here. Listen below for more!

Central United Methodist Church to open new downtown park Feb 28, 2018

Show notes

If we've said it once, we've said it...a lot more than once: Spartanburg does partnerships as well as any city in the country. Our community stitches together the interests and energies of the public, private, and various nonprofit sectors in innovative ways that create the fabric of this wonderful place we call home. Today on the podcast, we're talking about another of those partnerships, with Central United Methodist Church Pastor Tom Norrell and Lay Leader John Simmons about a new park slated to open behind the church. Featuring a beautiful brick inlaid labyrinth and an amphitheater, the park will be open to the public and will provide a hugely important link between the church and downtown standard bearers like the Marriott, Chapman Cultural Center, George Dean Johnson Jr. College of Business and Economics, as well as exciting newcomers that are on the way like the redeveloped Montgomery Building, the Gibb's five-story mixed-use office development, and a planned 200-unit apartment development.

New restaurant concept, The Silo opens at RJ Rockers Feb 07, 2018

Show notes

It was over 20 years ago when RJ Rockers first opened its doors in Downtown Spartanburg as a brewpub on Morgan Square, and while the journey for Spartanburg's signature craft brewer has taken them to heights far beyond those relatively modest beginnings, in the years since their return to downtown in 2009, folks have been wondering if the food would ever make a return. Thanks to some law changes over the years and a partnership with a local newcomer intent on bringing his unique culinary spin to some of the brewery's ingredients, nobody has to wonder if the food will come back to Rockers. It's here, it's in a space within the brewery called The Silo, and it opens today, Wednesday, Feb. 7. Today on the podcast, we're talking with the restaurant's Food Guy, Clay McDonough and its interior designer, Sandra Cannon about this fantastic new addition to Downtown Spartanburg's food scene.

Chapman Cultural Center to host regional Culture Counts Forum, January 24 Jan 18, 2018

Show notes

Did you know that there are more than 1,200 arts & culture programs, studios, facilities and activities available across the Upstate? The Culture Counts Forum being held at Chapman Cultural Center on Wednesday, January 24, 3–5 p.m. promises to both unveil a new regional arts & culture assets map to highlight Upstate those cultural assets and to show how they impact area economic development. Also highlighting the event will be a keynote address by Anthony Radich, Executive Director, Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF). He also previously served as the senior project manager for the Arts, Tourism, and Cultural Resources Committee of the National Conference of State legislatures (NCSL). Today on the Podcast, we're talking with Chapman Cultural Center President & CEO Jennifer Evins about the event and about the crucial role arts and cultural offerings play in the future of our city and our region.

Details on new the Spartanburg's new digital signage rules Jan 11, 2018

Show notes

At their meeting earlier this week, City Council approved the final reading of an ordinance allowing limited use of LED digital for city businesses and institutions. Under the new rules, only "monument" signs no taller than 6 ft. would be allowed to contain digital signage, and no more than 30 percent of a sign could feature lighted digital messaging. Other requirements include: • Messages must remain static for 15 seconds • Signs which incorporate electronic message boards must have an element of landscaping at the base of the sign included as part of the sign permit package and installation; • The sign may not display messages from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. • An electronic message board sign illumination shall not exceed 0.3 foot-candles over ambient lighting condition • In order to minimize light trespass on abutting and nearby residential property, illumination measured at the nearest residential structure or rear yard setback line shall not exceed the moon's potential ambient illumination of 0.1 foot-candle; • The leading edge of the sign shall be a minimum of 100' from any single-family residential property line What does all that mean? How did City staff go about crafting the ordinance? Are we going to be inundated with calls from residents complaining that the church next door has a sign blasting light from a thousand suns into their bedroom windows (probably not)? Check out this week's Podcast with City Senior Planner, Natalia Rosario to find out.

A history of Downtown Spartanburg, part 2 Dec 28, 2017

Show notes

This week on the City Podcast we've got part two of our conversation with two of the most knowledgeable local historians we know, Brad Steinecke, Assistant Director of Local History at the Spartanburg County Public Library and Phillip Stone, Archivist at Wofford College. We're taking this moment, at the end of one of the biggest years for development that Downtown Spartanburg has ever seen, to try to contextualize this current moment in our urban core's history by taking a look at how we got here, starting with the construction of Spartanburg's first county courthouse and ending with a discussion about the current state of downtown. This being the second episode of our two-part journey, if you haven't already, be sure to check out part one of our discussion by following this link. Listen below for more!

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected