Spartanburg City News

We've done City budget podcasts before, but this year we wanted to do something different. City Manager Chris Story joins us for a conversation less about what's in the budget and more about why it looks the way it does. How does the property tax revenue generated by growing commercial development take pressure off of city homeowners? What does a 48 percent jump in hospitality revenue over five ye...

While City Staff from across a wide swath of departments have always worked to keep Downtown Spartanburg humming, our recently added Downtown Manager, Jamie Smith, has brought a new level of coordination to those efforts. Coming to the role from his previous experience working with the Highland community, coordinating efforts between neighborhood leaders, partnering organizations, and the City tea...

In 2024, City Council allocated $5 million of the City's federal ARPA (American Recovery Plan Act) dollars to facilitate development of new affordable housing. The move served as both a recognition of an obvious need in our city, namely more quality housing that can serve Spartanburg's cost-burdened residents, and as a statement of our values. The City of Spartanburg doesn't just believe in the im...

On this episode of the City Podcast, we're taking a peek behind the curtain of our marketing operations to talk about a campaign we put together last year in response to some big changes we knew were coming to the Downtown Spartanburg parking landscape. While it has been true for decades that the City's downtown parking garages have provided an affordable, convenient, and safe option for visitors...

On our last episode, we took a look back at the recent history of Downtown Spartanburg growth and development, examining the pivotal moments and projects that set the stage for the headline-grabbing, precedent-setting investments we're seeing take shape in our city's core today. But why is all that growth meaningful to city residents? How does the projected $1.77 billion economic impact our commun...

It's tough to miss the signs of dramatic change in Downtown Spartanburg these days. With $800 million of development underway on a handful of blocks west of Church Street, the landscape looks a lot different than it did a few years ago and the skyline will soon look much different than it does today. But how did we get here? What were the moments in Downtown Spartanburg's recent history that built...

When we first launched the Spartanburg City Podcast in 2012, things were a bit different in our city. Having recently emerged from the worst effects of the Great Recession, downtown's redevelopment was just starting to regain some its lost momentum, the Northside had only recently approved its transformation plan, and while work the leadership in City Hall was working diligently to move Spartanbur...

In 2014, Pastor Nannie Jefferies saw a need in Spartanburg that no other organization was filling. After visiting with and ministering to incarcerated relatives of her parishioners, Pastor Jefferies was struck by the lack of assistance and hope those women had once they were released. Many of the women were often left with no alternative but to return to the same environments that had led them dow...

It was a storm unlike any in living memory in Spartanburg, and while the damage our region experienced from Hurricane Helene far exceeded everyone's estimates, the City and the community came together to put us on the road to recovery. Today on the podcast, we're talking with City Manager Chris Story, Fire Chief Pierre Brewton, and Public Works Director Jay Squires about the City's response to Hur...

It was identified during the Duncan Park Revisioning Plan as a priority by a steering committee of nearby residents and stakeholders, and now for the first time in decades, Duncan Park Lake is open to non-motorized boating and catch and release fishing. The new change comes on the heels of other improvements recently made to the park, including removal of invasive species and trails improvements,...

It's been almost four months since City Fire Chief Pierre Brewton returned home to Spartanburg to lead the department where he first honed his skills as a firefighter. Returning after serving for four years as Fire Chief for the City of Albemarle, NC, Chief Brewton began his career with the City of Spartanburg in 1988, assigned to garbage collection in the Public Works Department. In 1994, he succ...

In a little more than two years, Hello Family—a unique collection of support systems for young children and their families—has gone from an idea to scale up and build capacity for early childhood services utilizing an innovative "pay for success" funding model to being hailed in Forbes as "the holy grail of success" for the organization's work to improve birth outcomes, increase school readiness,...

Buying a home is one of the most important decisions many of us will ever make, and getting started in that process can be daunting. So what do you do if you have questions about qualifying for a mortgage, downpayment assistance, where to find a realtor, or any of the other issues that may arise in finding a home for you and your family? Come to the Homebuyer Seminar & Expo at the Dr. T.K. Gregg C...

Today on the podcast we're discussing MySpartanburg, our new City app allowing residents to easily and conveniently report service requests directly from their smartphones. Available through the Apple App store and Google Play, the app lets those who live, work, and play in the City of Spartanburg report any non-emergency service requests and receive updates on requests as they are assigned to Cit...

Community Health Awareness Day returns to Spartanburg on Saturday, June 1, 2024 from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Carver Middle School (467 S. Church St.). This free community event offers an array of services, resources, entertainment, and activities in one convenient location. The event will kick off with a 5k health awareness walk at 7:45 AM with warm-up exercises. From 8:00 to 11:00 AM, attendees can...

As part of ongoing efforts by the City and partnering organizations throughout the Spartanburg community, the Homeless Engagement and Response Team (H.E.A.R.T) program was launched in partnership with the United Way of the Piedmont in 2022 to provide direct outreach to people experiencing homelessness in Spartanburg and to assist in connecting those residents with available service providers. Resp...

Back in 2020, the City was fortunate to receive a Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Grant from the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The purpose of these funds is to remediate lead-based paint hazards and reduce other health hazards in the homes of families with children under the age of six and to safely improve the h...

With a redesign plan for Morgan Square poised to be taken up by City Council in the coming months, one question many may have is how the space can attract more visitors on a regular basis. Long a focal point for some of Downtown Spartanburg's most successful large events, the City's focus now turns to ways to increase Morgan Square's use as a daily communal gathering spot for less structured, smal...

First opening its doors in April of 1961, Spartanburg City Hall will soon be no more, making way for the construction of a new joint municipal government facility to be shared by the City of Spartanburg and Spartanburg County. As the City says its final farewells to the current City Hall—likely the last building to ever carry the name—Dr. Phillip Stone, Archivist at Wofford College and Brad Steine...

On the heels of the recent Council update on the City's plan to enhance Morgan Square, we recently sat down with representatives from the design firm responsible for creating the square's new design, Brenda Diaz-Flores and Darren Meyer with MKSK, to discuss how the design was created and what residents can expect before construction on the new square begins next year. Development of the Morgan Squ...

Recently, we welcomed new Assistant City Manager, Kevin Limehouse to the City's leadership team. In a move designed to grow the City's leadership capacity, Limehouse's emphasis will be on innovation and operational efficiency, joining City Manager Chris Story and Mitch Kennedy who has been promoted to Deputy City Manager. Limehouse comes to Spartanburg from Charleston, SC where he has worked in st...

It's the most important statement of values for any government, and for the City of Spartanburg, the 2023-2024 annual budget is about investing in our city's future. With the largest outlay of capital expenditures in recent memory and a new compensation system designed to attract and retain talent for Spartanburg's municipal team, the focus on adapting to meet the challenges of our rapidly growing...

Another important piece of "The Dan" trail system is ready for its official ribbon cutting. A new segment of the River Birth trail will celebrate its opening on Thursday, June 29 at 4:30 p.m. (Parking for event attendees will be available at Bells Hill, 961 East Main St.). Thanks to a partnership between PAL: Play Advocate Live Well and Spartanburg Art Museum, the recently opened trail extension a...

Local baseball fans were so excited last month with the announcement that the Down East Wood Ducks would be moving to Spartanburg from their current home in Kinston, NC that they could practically smell the hot dogs. Once here, the team will play its games in the 3,500-seat centerpiece of a $250 million development that will fill the 16-acre site immediately behind the AC Hotel along S Daniel Morg...

It's never hard to find folks willing too share their opinions about litter, and thankfully for those of us in Spartanburg, it's also not hard to find folks willing to put their time and energy into combatting it. Thanks to the work of Keep OneSpartanburg Beautiful, those efforts are more organized than ever throughout Spartanburg County. Founded in 2018, our local Keep America Beautiful affiliate...