DRAFTNovember 2019

Prepared for the City of Spartanburg

COMMUNITY OPEN HOUSE #2SUMMARY

Intentionally Left Blank

Table of Contents

Attendees.........................................................................................................................................................4

Vision and Goals .............................................................................................................................................5

Transportation..................................................................................................................................................7

Building Types........... .......................................................................................................................................10

Programming....................................................................................................................................................12

Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................................13

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AttendeesThere were 36 sign-ins for the community meeting. All attendees were asked two additional questions.

The first asked attendees how they learned about the meeting, to gain a better understanding of what outreach methods are most successful to bring people to the meetings. A variety of outreach methods were utilized, with the neighborhood association being the mostly commonly reported outreach method.

The second question asked attendees for their address. Figure 2 shows that 31% percent of attendees were residents from the Highland neighborhood. Some attendees did not provide their address, so the total number of residents in attendance could be greater.

The second public meeting for the Highland Neighborhood Transformation Plan was held as an open house on Saturday October 26th at the Thornton Activity Center. Feedback was elicited on five major topics that would inform the creation of recommendations in subsequent work on the plan.

The meeting was held between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM in a flexible format that allowed participants to give input on different stations related to the topics above. Eight exercises were split among the five stations. Members from the planning team, and the City of Spartanburg facilitated the station discussions and documented comments received.

Community Meeting #2Community Meeting #2

Vision Transportation

Building Types

Neighborhood Association led in Outreach Methods Figure 1: Outreach Methods Summary

31% of Attendees were ResidentsFigure 2: Attendee Address Summary

11

16

9

Residents Non-residents No Address Information

GoalsProgramming

Below are the words attendees felt most strongly about including in the Highland vision statement: • Improvements (10)• Bethlehem Center (10)• Historic Core (6)• Infrastructure (5)• Education (5)

Only four words included in the vision statement received negative feedback. • Create (2)• Historic Core (1)• History (1)• Housing (1)

VisionThe draft vision statement was developed with the input received from the first community meeting as well as meetings conducted with the steering committee. Exercise 1 asked attendees to make edits to the draft vision statement for the Highland neighborhood. Exercises 2 asked attendees to determine what goals for the community they most want to be realized.

Important Words to Include in a Vision Statement Figure 3: Attendee Comment Summary Word Cloud

"The Highland neighborhood will utilize equitable improvements to housing, infrastructure, education, and park space to build a unified, vital, and valued community within Spartanburg’s historic core that attracts new jobs, goods, and services and to create a safe, healthy, and diverse neighborhood that celebrates and protects its history, people, residential character, and assets like the Bethlehem Center and Stewart Park."

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Neighborhood Association

Flyers

Social Media

Word of mouth

Other

What Was the Final Result of the Vision Statement Exercise? Figure 4: Final Vision Statement

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Transportation The transportation station provided attendees with the opportunity to choose which transportation alternative they most preferred for three intersections and three corridors in the neighborhood included in figure 6. These intersections were selected based on input from the first community meeting, where residents identified problem areas within their communities. For the corridors, residents gave input about the types of improvements they would want to see in the specific corridors, which were incorporated into the options shown in the second community meeting. The three intersections were:

1. W Henry Street/ Forest Avenue

2. W Henry Street/ Highland Avenue

3. Daniel Morgan Avenue/ Highland Avenue

The three corridors were:

A. Daniel Morgan Avenue

B. Forest Avenue (North)

C. Forest Avenue (South)

Six Problem AreasFigure 6: Targeted Intersections and Corridors

Results from the intersection exercise show that attendees strongly preferred a signal at each intersection over a four-way stop sign or the current configuration. Only the intersection at W Henry Street and Highland Avenue received more than one vote for a four-way stop sign.

Exercise 2 asked attendees to select goals for the community they most want to be realized. The goals were created from input received in the first community meeting where residents identified areas that they most liked about the Highland neighborhood as well as where they wanted to see improvements. Figure 4 shows the results from this exercise. One blue box represents two votes for the goal. A red word was not supported and a green word was supported. The size of the colored word represents how many votes each word received.

Major Takeaways

There was overall positive feedback on the draft vision statement, with more words receiving positive than negative comments. Even though several attendees did not support protection of legacy and low income residents, this goal received ten votes, which is the second highest. The goals that received the most votes were building vibrant spaces to attract and serve diverse groups (10) and promoting neighborhood safety and stability (14). Encouraging compatible land uses received no votes and providing opportunities for goods and services only received 5 votes. Now that the final vision statement and project goals have been completed, it will help guide the rest of the planning process.

Conservation• Protection of legacy and low-income residents • Preservation of the community’s natural assets (creeks) • Promoting investment in community assets • Celebrating the Community’s history and culture

Accessibility• Providing opportunities for goods and services • Improving and expanding transportation options • Creating economic opportunity• Building vibrant spaces that attract and serve diverse groups

Restoration• Providing reinvestment in new and existing housing options• Encouraging compatible land uses

• Promoting neighborhood safety and stability Intersection Improvements Figure 7: Results from the Intersection Improvement Exercise

GoalsFigure 5: Goals Attendees Most Want to See Realized

Current Setting/ Two Stop Signs Four-way Stop Signs Signal Intersection

1 WEST HENRY STREET/ FOREST AVENUE 0 0 10

2 W HENRY STREET / HIGHLAND AVENUE 0 4 7

3 DANIEL MORGAN AVENUE/ HIGHLAND AVENUE 0 1 14

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Corridor A: Daniel Morgan Avenue Figure 8: Corridor Improvement Preferences

Corridor B: Forest Avenue (North)Figure 9: Corridor Improvement Preferences

Corridor C: Forest Avenue (South)Figure 10: Corridor Improvement Preferences

Major Takeaways• No attendee preferred the status quo at any of the intersections, and most preferred the addition of a traffic signal at each

intersection. • A four-way stop sign was a close second only for the intersection of W Henry Street and Highland Avenue. • The most popular street improvement for Daniel Morgan Avenue is alternative 2, which includes a turn lane, parking and a

cycle track. This alternative received 5 votes. • Alternative 1 was the most popular choice for both the northern and southern Forest Street corridors. Overall, attendees want to reduce the number of traffic lanes, add turning lanes, and add connected bike lanes. These preferences will help guide transportations recommendations made in the neighborhood.

For Forest Avenue (North), two different alternatives were developed. The first image showed the current street configuration. Alternative 1 shows the street section reconfigured to have two separate bike lanes. Alternative 2 shows the street section reconfigured to have one separate cycle track. Alternative 1, was the most popular choice, with eight votes. The current street configuration only received two votes.

For Daniel Morgan Avenue, 4 different alternatives were developed. The first image showed the current street configuration. Alternative 1 shows the street section reconfigured to have a turn lane and on-street parking. Alternative 2 shows the street section reconfigured to have a turn lane, on-street parking and a cycle track. Alternative 3 shows the street section reconfigured to have parking and a cycle track. Finally, alternative 4 shows the street reconfigured with two turn lanes and two bike lanes. Alternative 2 was the most popular choice, with five votes. Alternative 3 received no votes and was also the only alternative that did not include a turn lane.

For Forest Avenue (South), two different alternatives were developed. The first image showed the current street configuration, Alternative 1 shows the street section reconfigured to have two separate bike lanes. Alternative 2 shows the street section reconfigured to have one separate cycle track. Alternative 1, two separate bike lanes, was the most popular choice, which was also the most popular choice for the northern section of Forest Avenue.

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Building TypesThe building types exercise allowed attendees to choose their most preferred architectural style for different housing typologies. The board had five columns, each representing a housing type, and attendees were asked to place a green dot on the architectural style they like the most and a red dot on the style they liked the least in each column. The results are shown below, with red numbers signifying red dots and green numbers signifying green dots.

Single Family

10 0

3 5

8 4

4 1

10 0

Duplex

3 2

4 1

4 1

2 1

1 3

Quadplex

0 4

6 3

5 1

2 1

0 7

Building TypesFigure 11: Building Type Preferences

Townhomes

10 1

5 2

6 0

3 1

8 1

Multifamily

1 4

6 0

3 5

0 5

2 8

Major Takeaways

• Single family homes with attached garages were the most popular building type, with town homes being the second most popular building type.

• For single family and low-density residential, attendees preferred craftsman, suburban, and traditional style homes with garages and open space.

• Attendees preferred town homes over multifamily. • Attendees did not like mixed-use and high-density apartments. • Multifamily options are acceptable only when the design decreases the feeling of density and mimics quadplex with southern

architectural features. Findings from this section will help inform the recommendations made as part of the master plan and housing sections of the Highland Transformation Plan.

Building TypesFigure 12: Building Type Preferences

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Programming The program station provided attendees the opportunity to prioritize the top three programs they would like to see implemented in the neighborhood. There were six programs to chose from, which were:

• Environmental Design

• Housing Reinvestment Strategies

• Rental Registration

Results are summarized in the chart below.

Major Takeaways

According to attendees, the three programs that should be prioritized are, Environmental Design, Historic Preservation and Housing Reinvestment Strategies. The results from this section will inform programming recommendations for the Highland neighborhood.

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN

HOUSING REINVESTMENT STRATEGIES

RENTAL REGISTRATION

TAX ABATEMENTS

HISTORIC PRESERVATION

EXISTING LOCAL PROGRAMS

Priority 1 Priority 2 Priority 3

Programming Preferences Figure 14: Programming

• Tax Abatements

• Historic Preservation

• Existing Local Programs

Conclusion The findings from the community open house will help form the basis for the recommendations section of this study, where policy and implementation recommendations are outlined that directly affect existing residents. The input received on the vision and goals for the neighborhood helped finalize a vision for the neighborhood that will then be used to guide the plans priorities. The feedback received during the transportation, building types and programming exercises help the consultant team determine key opportunities for action.

Community input is an essential component of neighborhood revitalization. Community input provides a ground-level view of the study area's conditions and frames the desires of Highland residents and stakeholders firmly into the planning process.

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