Making a plan, checking it twice

The need to look ahead is more important than ever says growth specialist

DECEMBER 18, 2009 10:14 a.m. (0)

There are vast gaps in local governmental plans for growth over the next decade or so that may keep Greenville and the region on the same path that produced boondoggles such as the Southern Connector, say critics.

The gaps are more the product political parochialism than lack of effort by those charged with planning, said Catherine Ross, author of “Megaregions” and director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development.  Continue reading...

 

Mauldin: Growing Pains

City leaders search for ways to address changing Main Street

MARCH 29, 2010 9:13 a.m. (0)

Blockbuster closed in Mauldin last week.

It was a tough hit for this suburban city, even though officials here said it had more to do with the fact the U.S.’s largest freestanding movie rental retailer is under assault nationwide by Netflix, rental kiosks, online and cable television video offerings than it did with the local economy.  Continue reading...

 

Economists see bright future here

The state's personal income is expected to grow this year

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010 6:59 a.m. (0)

Clemson’s Bruce Yandle sees fiscal year 2010 as when recovery takes hold with 2011 being brighter economically for South Carolina than this year and 2012 as better still in his latest forecast on the state and national economies.

Yandle said the state’s basic economic engine is manufacturing and those numbers add up in the green for South Carolina this year. Other sectors of the economy are undeniably trashed, like construction, and are likely to remain so until the massive debt hangover from the burst housing bubble is paid off or worn down.

The state should see a sharp recovery in the growth of total personal income in the year ahead, Yandle said, and since that growth will be in real income and not inflation adjusted money, it will be the “real deal.”  Continue reading...

 

Jobless figures up, but not by much

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010 2:16 p.m. (0)

A crisis of confidence and uncertainty about major federal legislation is helping to drive state and national jobless figures upward, said an economist with the University of South Carolina this week.

South Carolina’s jobless rate inched up to 11 percent in August, up from 10.7 percent in July, according to state figures.

“That’s not statistically significant,” said John McDermott, chair of the economics department at the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. “While it is distressing that joblessness is up, the actual increase (0.3 percent) is quite small and can be explained through a variety of things like people coming back into the job market.”  Continue reading...

 

Brown Street gets a makeover

Business owners, city hope it will bring new life to upper end of downtown

OCTOBER 11, 2010 2:52 p.m. (0)

Brown Street has an identity crisis.

Most Greenville residents don’t know where it is, even though it is just off Main Street in the upper end of Greenville’s downtown, said Gary Selvaggio, one of the co-owners of Brown Street Jazz Club.

An improvement project started last week is designed to give the Brown Street district its own signature look, increase pedestrian traffic and make the area more attractive to new restaurants and retail businesses.  Continue reading...

 

School growth slows

But Greenville will still need more classroom space

FEBRUARY 28, 2011 8:16 a.m. (0)

While growth has slowed significantly in Greenville County, Greenville County Schools will still need a new middle school and an addition to Woodmont High by 2015 to cope with overcrowding.

Two other new schools – a high school in southern Greenville County and a middle school in the northern end – remain in the plan designed to accommodate the district’s projected enrollment through 2025.

The revised plan, which looked at updated birth rates, planned subdivisions, school program changes and the economy, also calls for the conversion of an expanded Rudolph Gordon Elementary to a K-8 school and additions to seven other elementary and high schools.  Continue reading...