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Food Day Celebration coming to Spartanburg, Oct. 25 Oct 09, 2014

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It's billed as a nationwide celebration of healthy, affordable, and sustainably produced food, and for the first time, Food Day is coming to Spartanburg on October 25 as Hub City Farmers' Market, the Thomas E. Hanna Family YMCA, and the Mary Black Foundation team up for a pair of events that promise to fill pantries and stomachs while encouraging locals to make better choices about their food. First up, join Hub City Farmers' Market from 8 a.m. to noon for a special day at the market featuring cooking demonstrations that tell a story about where food comes from, information from nearly 20 local organizations that are fighting to make healthy eating the easy choice, "food art" from participating youth in the COLORS program, children's activities, and more. Then from noon to 2 p.m., the Thomas E. Hanna Family YMCA will host a food truck rodeo featuring local, healthy food vendors including the Hub City Farmers' Market Mobile Market, Dark Corner Diner, Kesha's Kitchen, Hub City Co-op, Good to Go Mobile Kitchen, Cafe Around the Corner, Chef Donnette, Willie Taco's salsa sampler and more.

Join us for the 2014 International Festival, Oct. 4 at Barnet Park Oct 01, 2014

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One of our city's most popular events is back again at Barnet Park, as Spartanburg gears up for the 2014 International Festival on Saturday, October 4 from . Japan is this year's honored country, and to celebrate we've got some great additions to this year's festival, including traditional taiko drumming, bon dancing, Japanese tea ceremony demostrations, and much more. Of course, it wouldn't be the International Festival without our ever-popular Boulevard of Food. With booths offering festival-goers the chance to sample food from Germany, Japan, El Salvador, France, Kenya, Peru, Tanzania, Hondurus, Dominican Republic, Laos, Jamaica, and many more, it's easy to understand why the hottest ticket in town this weekend will be a food coupon at International Festival. Food isn't the only thing on the agenda though. You can also travel the globe in less time than it normally takes to make an airline reservation when strolling through the Avenue of Nations. Get your name written in Chinese or learn about the diverse and ancient culture of India as you get acquainted with Spartanburg's international community.

How seven 'Class A' office buildings changed the Downtown Spartanburg skyline Sep 24, 2014

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If you've been following our series on the Economic Power of Downtown Spartanburg so far, you might recall that our very first podcast in the series covered jobs, specifically the huge number of people who work in or near Downtown and what those jobs mean for our community. Today, we're going to examine how Spartanburg got a big chunk of those jobs. Aside from fundamentally changing the skyline of Downtown Spartanburg, the seven "Class A" office buildings built since 2002 in our city have brought thousands of well-paying jobs to our downtown area. Those workers support our restaurants and small businesses. They take advantage of our cultural offerings. Many of them live in one of the 300+ residential units in Downtown Spartanburg. They not only put the "work" in the "live, work, and play" recipe for downtown success, they go a long way towards boosting the other two. Today on the podcast, we're taking a look at how these job-creating developments have helped turn Downtown Spartanburg into an economic engine for our entire region. Never content with where we are now, we also take time to talk about how the city can build on those successes by laying the groundwork for more potential corporate neighbors to locate their businesses here.

Podcast: Spend your Saturday in Downtown Spartanburg with Live on the Green, Downtown Bites Sep 16, 2014

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This Saturday, September 20 in Downtown Spartanburg promises to be one for the books with two fantastic events, Downtown Bites and Live on the Green, featuring Bruce Hornsby, scheduled to dovetail nicely together. First, sample food from 10 local restaurants and hear live music from five local bands at Downtown Bites, satarting at 12 p.m. on Morgan Square. After you've eaten your way around the square and gotten an afternoon sampler platter of live music to go with it, head on over to Barnet Park for Live on the Green, featuring renowned singer-songwriter Bruce Hornsby. Downtown Bites is free, and tickets for Live on the Green are $20 in advance (click here to purchase). Great food from local restaurants and a little "Mandolin Rain" for a nightcap? Sounds like an awesome Saturday in Downtown Spartanburg to us.

An in-depth conversation on Oakview Apartments and the Northside Aug 27, 2014

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As you may have read in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal this past Sunday, Oakview Apartments has one of the highest concentrations of poverty and crime in our city. Inside the cinderblock walls of the property's 105 units, 75 percent of residents earn less than $5,000 per year and live in conditions one resident described as "one step up from being homeless." Tearing down this barracks-style low income apartment complex on Howard Street and replacing it with a new community center has long been a central piece of the Northside Initiative, but before that can happen, the property and the privately-owned, publicly-subsidized housing complex that sits on it has to be purchased. Oakview's owner, Related Properties, is principally owned by Stephen Ross, the multi-billionaire owner of the Miami Dolphins. Despite City estimates that value the property at roughly $600,000, Related's price is $2.5 million, far more than the Northside Development Corporation, the City, or any of our other partners on the Northside are willing or able to pay. The result being that, for now at least, much of what has been planned for the Northside hangs in the balance. Why is there such a large discrepancy between the price Related is asking and what the City's estimate for the property's value? Why is the Oakview Apartments property so important to the future of the Northside Initiative? Today on the podcast, we're talking with Northside Development Corporation Project Manager Curt McPhail and Assistant City Manager Chris Story to get a deeper understanding of the issues at play.

#1Spark! to bring together Spartanburg artists and entrepreneurs Aug 12, 2014

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We can always count on our friends at the Chapman Cultural Center to come up with innovative ways to highlight all that Spartanburg's creative community has to offer, and a new event to be held in Downtown Spartanburg on September 6 (on Liberty St. between Chapman and "The George") offers a new way to do just that. #1Spark! is a festival of ideas, bringing together two of the most important creative forces in our community, business and the arts. The goal is to "spark" innovation bringing local artists together with local entrepreneurs to help connect the dots between ideas and people. Are you an entrepreneur or inventor looking for a low-risk way to get feedback on your product or service from the public, or an artist looking to seel some original work? Sign up to participate by following this link, or by calling (864) 591-5604.

Hundreds of new and renovated residential units add to economic power of Downtown Spartanburg Aug 07, 2014

Show notes

So far in our series on the economic power of Downtown Spartanburg, we've talked about a lot of the great things about our city's core that otherwise might fly a little under the radar at times. From the nine-figure investment that's transformed one block, to the streescaping plan that promises to help transform the way we get around, to the staggering number of people who work within one mile of Morgan Square, it's pretty clear that Downtown Spartanburg is on a historic upswing. One of the best ways to gauge the truth of that statement is to ask a simple question: how many people choose to live in Downtown Spartanburg? As it turns out, a lot. Sure, you may be asking, but how many units in Downtown Spartanburg actually have someone living in them? How about 90 percent? On top of that great occupancy rate, there s the promise of more on the horizon with a new building on Broad St. currently under construction and more new developments on the horizon. Add all that up and it's clear that it's not that there aren't enough people to fill the units we have, it's that we don't have enough units for the people wishing to hang their hats in Downtown Spartanburg. And that's a problem that there's no shortage of developers looking to solve. Today on the podcast, we're talking about (what else) residential development in Downtown Spartanburg. In the first part of the podcast we give a lay of the land. Why is it important to encourage people to live Downtown, and what do those residents bring to our city center? In the second portion of today's podcast we sit down with Pace Snellings of the newly redeveloped Church Street Lofts about what could easily be called the crown jewel of residential redevelopment in Spartanburg. With its 88 stunning studio and one-bedroom units, there's little doubt that the former Schuyler Building is on the verge of becoming Downtown Spartanburg's hottest address when it opens its doors in September. Listen below to learn more.

Spartanburg Medical Center President Phil Feisal on the Northside Initiative Aug 04, 2014

Show notes

In part one of our conversation with Spartanburg Medical Center President Phil Feisal, we talked about the hospital recently being named the number one hospital in South Carolina by U.S. News & World Report, earning high performance rankings in nine specialty areas. Aside from the much-deserved notoriety the ranking brings to Spartanburg Regional, the report underscores how crucial Spartanburg Regional's position is in our community, serving not only as the city's largest employer but as an incredibly important resource for residents within our municipal borders and well beyond. Part of the leadership role Spartanburg Regional plays involves their involvement in the Northside Initiative. Today, on part two of our podcast, we ask Feisal about the importance of redeveloping the neighborhood into a place some of the hospital's 5,700 employees might one day call home.

Conversation with Spartanburg Medical Center President, Phil Feisal Jul 31, 2014

Show notes

It's been an incredibly important part of our community for over 90 years, and recently Spartanburg Medical Center was named the number one hospital in South Carolina by U.S. News & World Report, earning high performance rankings in nine specialty areas: cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; gastroenterology and GI surgery; geriatrics; nephrology; neurology and neurosurgery; orthopedics; pulmonology; and urology. Not content to rest on those accomplishments, the hospital also recently announced plans for a new entrance on Church Street, replacing the oldest building of the hospital complex to make the center easier to navigate. Today on the podcast, we sit down with Spartanburg Medical Center President, Phil Feisal about those topics and crucial SRHC's position in the Spartanburg community.

City introduces 'HeySpartanburg!' citizen request mobile app Jul 28, 2014

Show notes

City of Spartanburg citizens have a new, free, easy-to-use digital product they can use to report issues and ask for help. HeySpartanburg! is now available via the City’s website (click here) or through the iTunes and Android stores for your mobile devices. The new mobile app will allow bring city services to the fingertips of citizens, allowing them to request services, such as a large greenwaste pickup, or to report problems or other issues such as potholes, damaged sidewalks, street light or traffic light outages, and downed trees. The requests are automatically routed to the appropriate City official. HeySpartanburg! also allows citizens to attach photos of the issue they are reporting and see what other requests or inquiries have been submitted. Service requests can also be shared on Facebook and twitter, keeping the process transparent to everyone. In turn, City officials will be able to use HeySpartanburg! to communicate with citizens, updating them on the status of the response to their inquiry or to ask for more information or clarification on the problem or request. The City will also be able to utilize HeySpartanburg! to send push notifications to citizens about important issues or share information in emergency situations, such as the recent train derailment near Daniel Morgan Avenue. Other useful information will be linked on the HeySpartanburg! homepage, including a maps of our downtown parking garages, City Council Districts, and garbage and recycling collection schedules. HeySpartanburg! is built on the award-winning mobile platform developed by PublicStuff. While more than 200 cities and organizations nationwide are using PublicStuff technology to become more accessible to their citizens and stakeholders, Spartanburg is the first city in South Carolina to partner with the company.

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