Spartanburg City News

Technology-minded entrepreneurs working on ideas in the health care industry might soon be looking to a new Spartanburg business accelerator to get the boost they need to turn that idea into a sustainable business. Greenville-based accelerator, The Iron Yard is set to open a location in Downtown later this year in the same building that currently houses arts organization, Hub-Bub and local restaur...

The Northside Initiative. You've probably read about it lately, but what are the nuts and bolts this potentially massive redevelopment of one of our city's most impoverished areas? Where did the "green shoots of significant, sustainable community revitalization" talked about by former Spartanburg Mayor William Barnet originate, and what's the way forward from here? On this week's podcast we sit do...

It's a new year in Spartanburg, and in order to know where we're going, take a look at where we've been. To get the real picture of where we are at the beginning of 2013, take at the tremendous progress made not just in 2012, but also in the years before. On this podcast, we do just that, picking up where we left off last week, discussing how far we've come since the Great Recession four years ago...

The gifts have all been given, the food eaten, and the belt subsequently loosened; the mad holiday marathon has finally come to an end. So as we all nurse our tinsel-filled Christmas hangovers and get back to the grind of these last few days of 2012, it's worth looking back on the last 12 months to see where they've taken us. From putting challenges like the City's legacy pension system and the ol...

Since his election to Council in 2011, District 1 Council member Sterling Anderson has made increasing parks and recreation options on the west side one of his defining issues. On this week's podcast, we sit down with the and talk with Anderson about some of the projects he'd like to see the City take on, including sidewalks connecting W.O. Ezell Boulevard to downtown as well as possible park opti...

In a 4-3 vote on Monday, City Council decided to close the aging Swim Center sometime in the Fall of 2013. Council member Sterling Anderson, who voted with the majority to close the facility, joins us on the podcast to talk about his decision, some of the misconceptions he's heard about the Swim Center, and about posibilities for the future of parks and recreation facilities in the City, including...

The Main Street Challenge is set to get underway early next year. On this week's podcast, we give you the lowdown on the City's latest economic development program. The challenge is designed to help three entrepreneurs open new businesses next year by providing a cash incentive of $12,000 to be used as rent assistance in a downtown location pre-identified by the City and the property owner. The se...

Wouldn't it be great if the Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail connected to Downtown? It's a question that gets asked all the time, and now there may be an answer to that and many other questions Spartanburg residents have about creating new opportunities for outdoor recreation, while expanding on our existing options. Last week, a broad group of community stakeholders met to unveil to the public th...

What do the former Oakman Glass building, Evans Building, and DuPre House all have in common? All three are major redevelopment projects going on in Downtown Spartanburg right now. Assistant City Manager Chris Story joins us again for the final segment in this podcast series, breaking down what these important projects mean for our city. Along the way, he uses awesomely wonky phrases like "adaptiv...

Following on the heels of yesterday's conversation about the Arkwright Dump, part two of our series of podcast conversations with Assistant City Manager Chris Story takes on another weighty issue, one that currently is awaiting the direction of City Council. In this podcast, Story gives us the facts about the center's usage and the resources it requres, the same facts that Coucil will ultimately u...

It's probably shocking to absolutely no one, but most of what city governments do isn't sexy. It's not all ribbon cutting ceremonies and shiny new amenities. Often there are weighty, complicated issues involving a city's history, socioeconomics, and modern environmental concerns that have to be dealt with. Sometimes a city has to spend tremendous resources literally cleaning up the mess left by pr...

On this week's podcast we go in-depth on Spartanburg's latest civic engagement tool, Neighborland. What is Neighborland, you ask? Well, you could just follow this link to find out, but we don't mind spoon-feeding you a little verbiage. In their own words, Neighborland is an online social network that provides "residents, neighborhood organizations, economic development groups, and municipalities w...

On this special episode of our City podcast, Special Events Manager Mandy Merck sits down with us for a conversation about Spartanburg's newest event, Skating on the Square. Get the lowdown on how this great addition to Spartanburg's holiday experience came together, and learn about the special promotions and programs being held throughout the next eight weeks, including movie nights, turkey bowli...

Wouldn't it be great if the City had its own weekly radio show to give residents the lowdown on what's going on with local government and city event news? Chances are, there are about five of you who just said yes to that question. For the record, we love each and every one of you. For those of you who might not be quite as enthusiastic about a radio show, what if we promised that it won't be bori...