Spartanburg City News

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Hub City Hog Fest returns to Downtown Spartanburg, April 15–16 Apr 11, 2016

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In just three years it's managed to become one of the most anticipated annual events in downtown Spartanburg and for year four, a move to Morgan Square promises to up the ante even more as Hub City Hog Fest gears up to bathe downtown in the mouth-watering smell of delicious barbecue, April 15 and 16. With 48 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 and Chatham County Line headlining respectively. For more on this year's Hub City Hog Fest, check out the festival's website and Facebook page.

Discussing Spartanburg community assessment report with Chamber President, Allen Smith Apr 04, 2016

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It's been nearly two years since Allen Smith took the reins as President & CEO of the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce. A lot has happened at the Chamber since then, including a new marketing push and a new publication to go with it. A lot has happened in the larger community as well, with downtown Spartanburg's accelerating redevelopment adding a new dimension to our county's economic story. Today, on part two of our converstaion with Smith, we take a look at the Chamber's recently released community assessment report. The 49-page document details Spartanburg's current economic postion among peer counties, highlighting some of the challenges and opportunites as our community evloves with the changing global economy.

A Conversation with Spartanburg Chamber President, Allen Smith Mar 31, 2016

Show notes

It's been nearly two years since Allen Smith took the reins as President & CEO of the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce. A lot has happened at the Chamber since then, including a new marketing push and a new publication to go with it. A lot has happened in the larger community as well, with downtown Spartanburg's accelerating redevelopment adding a new dimension to our county's economic story. Today, on part one of a two-part conversation, we talk with Smith about first coming to Spartanburg and the evolving role he sees the Chamber playing in our community.

Spartanburg momentum gets boost with District 7 building plan Mar 17, 2016

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On Tuesday, voters in Spartanburg School District 7 approved a $185 million building plan that will bring a host of facility improvements, including two new schools, a new elementary school to replace Houston and Chapman elementary schools and a new Spartanburg High School to be built on E Main Street at the site of the old Lan-Yair Country Club. The building plan referendum, which passed overwhelmingly with 63 percent of the vote, includes a 10-mill tax increase. Today on the podcast, we're discussing what this newly approved plan means for the city. What might a new, prominently located high school facility mean both for potential new residents looking for a place within our community to call home, and what could this massive new public investment mean for future private development along the E Main Street corridor? Beyond that, what does it say about Spartanburg in 2016, and the vision our residents have for the future of our city, that such a bold, ambitious plan was approved by such a wide margin?

New office development promises at least 250 jobs for Downtown Spartanburg Feb 25, 2016

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As a dedicated City Podcast listener, you've likely already heard that City Council unanimously approved two major downtown development projects at their meeting earlier this week. We've already discussed one of those projects, a five-story mixed-use development featuring 30 apartment units and 3,000 square feet of ground floor retail space to be built on the corner of W Main Street and Daniel Morgan Avenue, on a podcast earlier this week. You should check that episode out, because that development is going to be very cool, and you'll be cooler for knowing more about it. Today, we're talking about the other portion of the Downtown Spartanburg development two-fer: a new office building, at least three stories tall, with at least 50,000 square feet of space to accommodate 250 professional office workers. Spartanburg Marriott owners, Jimmy Gibbs and Andrew Cajka plan to build the new office development on a parcel behind the hotel. Today on the podcast, we're discussing details of this great new development. What will it, and the new downtown workers the development brings with it, mean for Spartanburg? How will further development in that portion of downtown, an area that has seen recent business growth with the opening of Hub City Tap House and the nearly completed Hub City Co-op, affect the need for greater connectivity between the downtown core and other areas?

Mixed-use development to bring 30 apartments, new retail space to high-profile downtown corner Feb 23, 2016

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If you've tried to get an apartment in Downtown Spartanburg recently, you've probably encountered some trouble finding a place. In fact, in our last survey, around 98 percent of all our downtown residential units were filled. However you look at it, there seems to be more than a little pent up demand for new downtown living options in Spartanburg. The good news? More units are on the way. On Monday, City Council approved an agreement for a five-story new mixed-use development to be built on the corner of W Main Street and Daniel Morgan Avenue. The development promises 30 new apartment units (a near 10 percent increase for downtown) as well as 3,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. The property is currently used for surface parking, and to offset the loss of its 14 public spaces, the city plans to expand a surface lot one block away on the corner of Broad and Spring streets, demolish two aging buildings to accommodate 65 new spaces. Today on the podcast we're taking a look at this fantastic new development and what it means for growth on downtown's western end.

Taking a deeper look at City and County recycling changes Feb 17, 2016

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As announced earlier this month, due to significant changes in the recycling marketplace, glass will no longer be accepted as of March 1 at Spartanburg County recycling centers or through the City of Spartanburg’s residential curbside recycling collection program City residents should stop putting glass in their blue rollcarts following their final collection day in February.The changes are in large part due a dramatic nationwide drop in the price for glass recyclables, leaving many communities across the country with no viable opportunities for their glass recyclables. On a brighter note, while glass recycling is being discontinued, both the County and City recycling programs now collect cardboard cartons, such as those for milk and juice, which previously were not accepted. Today on the podcast, we're taking a deeper look at why these new recycling changes are being made with Spartanburg County Recycling Coordinator, Jes Sdao Swanson and Shelley Robbins, Sustainable Communities Project Manager with Upstate Forever.

Your #SpartanSnaps photo could be our next Facebook cover Feb 11, 2016

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Here at the City, we're always on the lookout for new ways to engage with Spartanburg's residents and fans. This week, two things in that vein made it into our podcast. First, in a test run of what we hope will be many future uses to come, the recording of this podcast was live-streamed on Periscope, a video streaming app that allows users to watch events in real time. Check us out there. We're planning to use this new tool to add some great new content to our social media landscape. The other bit of new social media engagement has to do with photos. You all take a lot of really great photos of our beautiful city. We routinely see shots on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter taken by our residents that would shame many taken by professional photographers, so we started to ask ourselves how best to encourage this amazing trend of great local photos, and how to share some of these outstanding shots with a wider audience. Enter, the #SpartanSnaps social media cover photo extravaganza! The rules couldn't possibly be any simpler. Take a beautiful photo showing something distinctly Spartanburg. Maybe you frequent the Rail Trail, and the sunset looks really great that day. Maybe you're watching a fantastic performance at the Chapman Cultural Center. Maybe the way the light hit the bricks on E Main was looking really good one day. Your ideas, your inspiration, your vision of Spartanburg, that's what we want to see. Post that photo to Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter using the #SpartanSnaps tag. Please make sure your posts are public, so that we can see them. Wait. It really is that simple. Each week, we'll choose a new #SpartanSnaps photo to be used as the cover photo on our Facebook and Twitter accounts (with all the credit, mad props, local internet fame, etc. given to the original photographer, obviously). So start snapping those photos! Also on this week's podcast, we give an update on some great news for one of Spartanburg's true originals, as Hub City Bookshop was named one of the South's best bookstores by Southern Living magazine, and we also rundown the latest in downtown development news.

Big local stories to look for in 2016 Jan 19, 2016

Show notes

There's no doubt about it. For Downtown Spartanburg, 2015 was one seriously great year. In the course of those 12 months, the good news just kept right on rolling in, whether it was the announcement of a new 10-story downtown AC Hotel by Marriot, new streetscaping projects that changed the look and feel of some crucially important downtown areas, a citywide $2.5 million parks improvment plan, or a $7.5 million commitment of private funding for the Northside Initiative. It's safe to say that 2016 has a lot to live up to, and the prediciton business is a tough one. But we're not ones to shy away from a challenge. Today on the podcast, we're giving some of our thoughts on what we believe might be some of the biggest local storylines to emerge in the coming year.

Taking a look back at 2015 in Spartanburg Dec 31, 2015

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It's New Year's Eve, a time to look back and reflect on the year that has been as it slips away forever into the past before thoughts turn to the year ahead. What better way to spend part of the last day of 2015 than to catch up on some of this year's highlights in Spartanburg. With announcements like a new 10-story downtown Marriott AC hotel and streetscaping projects that have increased vibrancy in two important downtown areas, 2015 was a big year for Downtown Spartanburg. 2015 also saw the completion of a citywide $2.5 million parks improvment plan that, in addition to upgrading park equipment in neighborhood parks throughout the city, also included the City's first neighborhood park on the westside and included the new Thornton Activity Center at Stewart Park. It was also an important year for the Northside Initiative, with the first full year for Harvest Park, a $7.5 million commitment of private funding, and the city taking possession of Oakview Apartments earlier this month, laying the groundwork for the future T.K. Gregg Recreation Center planned for the site. In fact, so much happened in Spartanburg in 2015 that cramming it all into one podcast would normally be virtually impossible, so how did we do it? Let's just say it involved a timer and a challenge to City Communications Manager Will Rothschild's ability to distill complicated local issues into their easily digestible essence.

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