read more posts by
John Murphy
High speed rail may be coming through the Upstate in the next decade and developers and government officials look for ways to develop this connection.
We haven’t seen the cost-benefit analysis on what appears to be anywhere from about $5 billion investment to $15-$20 billion investment. High speed rail has run in to many challenges in California where it has been underway for years. Perhaps it can be done here in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina faster and better…only time will tell. Here’s the official page from the Georgia Department of Transportation: Atlanta to Charlotte: Passenger Rail Corridor Investment Plan along with the US Dept of Transportation.
Lots of stories have been published recently. Here are just a few:
Charlotte Observer: High-speed rail could link Charlotte to Atlanta in 2 hours. Have your say next week.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Atlanta-to-Charlotte high speed rail: Beneficial or boondoggle?
Curbed Atlanta: What to know about the Atlanta-Charlotte high speed rail proposal
FoxCarolina: Open house showcases possible high-speed rail line connecting Atlanta and Charlotte; would run through Upstate
Charlotte Five: Charlotte to Atlanta in 2 Hours
What do you think? Should we spend what appears to be somewhere between $5 billion and $15 billion for this project?
This was a fabulous festival and something that will remain on our list of things to do each fall. Fall For Greenville saw thousands show up for the outstanding food venues, live music and rides. The event took place mostly up and down Main Street and some side streets adjacent to Main. 40 local restaurants had food booths and it was so great to be able to sample so many different foods from various restaurants. We found the prices to be very fair and not jacked up like it so often the case at other festivals and fairs we’ve been to in the past.
Just a heads up if you’re in a crush of people and it feels like you aren’t going anywhere…you probably are in line for a food venue! Also, be sure to get your tickets right away when you get in there. I think we found only one other ticket center once we started walking down Main Street. We didn’t go all the way to Falls Park but I suspect there was yet another ticket booth near there as well. Plan on spending $10 to park your car. We were a party of four – my wife, my 13 and 14 year old sons and we did just fine with $50 worth of tickets but I would say if you are a family of four, you might easily spend $70-$80 especially is you have some drinks. It was a fabulous festival and we will be back next year!
The City of Greenville Planning Commission will be reviewing the plans for the proposed billion dollar redevelopment plan for County Square. There are many neighbors who have expressed concerns given the rezoning request by the developers. Some of the concern is the number of stories of the buildings that may be allowed to be built.
Here’s the link to the agenda for today’s City of Greenville Planning Commission meeting. Here is the 57 page support document for the proposed development that was included in the planning commission’s agenda.
Just a reminder that the 2019 Upstate Parade of Homes runs one more weekend – October 18-20. This is a nice opportunity to check out some new homes in the area.
The event is brought to you by the Home Builders Association of Greenville.
Greenville County and the developers of the billion redevelopment plan called County Square are still negotiating with the City of Greenville. While there are still lots of details to hammer out, no doubt all of those will get agreed upon with the possible exception of the City of Greenville’s demand that 10% of the housing be designated at “affordable housing.” The Greenville News has an excellent in-depth article today regarding the County Square project. In addition, there is a follow up story with concerns that neighbors have regarding the redevelopment of their neighborhoods.
This seems like a big reach by the city. Why is it this city councils all across the country feel they can interfere with projects like this and make a claim to get affordable housing. If the city wants affordable housing then collect whatever fee you think is necessary to fund your efforts and go build it elsewhere.
There are lots of places in Greenville to build affordable housing for people that the city can then manage. The developers should ask the city how much money are they looking for and pay them off.
37 Acre County Square Billion Dollar Development Concept – Greenville, SC
There’s a billion dollar development project going in front of the City of Greenville Planning Commission next week. This is the 37 acre area known as County Square. This seems like a very exciting developement for Greenville but some on the council are holding out for affordable housing. I’ve seen this happen across the country. I’m not sure what it is with these city councils but I guess they see that they have an opportunity to peel off some money from big developers. There’s plenty of areas around Greenville where “affordable housing” government style would fit in just fine. Stop messing with the developers. Perhaps they can pay off the council by carving out $20-$30 million for the city to go build a housing project elsewhere in the city.
Check out the video below which does a beautiful job of explaining the billion proposal. There’s no way the Greenville County Council will vote this down but it’s still up in the air on the City of Greenville Council.
This has been a massive, multi-year construction project at the heart of Greenville’s freeway system. It’s quite the elaborate system that’s been built and now officials are stating that `the work will come to an end a couple of months late but it will be completed in 2020.
Fox Carolina has published the key highlights of the Gateway Project to date.
It’s interesting driving through this area because you really have to pay attention to which direction you need to go. We’ve gotten caught up in the wrong lanes more than once.
Once this is completed, this is going to be a big help to the traffic congestion in the area. Now they need to start figuring out Woodruff Road.