Spartanburg Off-Topic

[Spartan]

This article discusses two issues relative to UrbanPlanet.

1- Parking enforcement downtown. I like it. People need to respect the rules if they want to park on Main St. Or just park somewhere further away and walk in.

2- It's good that Spartanburg is looking to create a Traffic Calming program. It's very, very bad that the article only mentions speed humps as a possible treatment. Speed humps do not calm traffic. Over time, you will see more and more people complaining about how the speed humps don't work. I assume that the program will involve other traffic calming measures as well.

HJ Article

[drexel]

This article discusses two issues relative to UrbanPlanet.

1- Parking enforcement downtown. I like it. People need to respect the rules if they want to park on Main St. Or just park somewhere further away and walk in.

2- It's good that Spartanburg is looking to create a Traffic Calming program. It's very, very bad that the article only mentions speed humps as a possible treatment. Speed humps do not calm traffic. Over time, you will see more and more people complaining about how the speed humps don't work. I assume that the program will involve other traffic calming measures as well.

HJ Article

Not sure why you say speed humps do not work. They definitely reduced speeding and cut through traffic in my Atlanta neighborhood 8 years ago. Some other neighborhoods tried small traffic islands that did not work. Four way stops help, but people seem to speed between blocks and roll through the stops. Speed humps can also look attractive, like the ones beside First Pres Church in Spartanburg.

[Spartan]

They do work at slowing traffic at the speed hump itself, but just like stop signs, people resume speeding between them. More often than you'd think, people complain that they are ineffective. There are other traffic calming measures that can work just as well as, if not more effectively than speed humps(depending on the situation). Mini traffic circles, lane narrowings, planting street trees, and on-street parking are some examples of this.

The so-called cut-through traffic "problem" is more a symptom of bad planning and subdivision design than anything else.

[Sparkleman]

I do not know if many of you watch "Mad Men" or not but it is now partially sponsored by BMW. Sometimes they will run commercials that have little slogans set against the Mad Men logo like "the leaves in the Breyers Ice Cream logo were started in 1963" and then they will show a commercial from that time.

Last night they proclaimed that "the only North American manufacturing plant for BMW is based in Greenville, SC". Man you talk about something that made my blood boil. Not only is that a fictitious statement, but its just another example of Greenville sucker punching Spartanburg.

[goodbye]

Technically it is closest to Greer, but I know what you meant. They (BMW) seem to prefer publicly associating with Greenville in most cases, but that isn't too surprising, in my opinion. They do more than merely build vehicles at the factory. They also sell their unique driving school, which is heavily utilized as a tourism magnet by Greenville's CVB.

[hub-city]

I can understand your frustration sparkleman but I don't think the blame lies with the BMW officials. what i mean is if you go to the bmwusafactory site it clearly says spartanburg, as well as the driving school. i watched Ultimate Factories and the officials always referenced spartanburg. That said, i just don't think that they are concerned about "territorial" issues like locals are. I don't think that there is any big push to move away from the spartanburg tag.

When people ask me where the factory is located I simply say that it is in Spartanburg, near Greer. (same with GSP)

[Spartan]

Just a mistake. Its definitely annoying though.

[Spartan]

South Pointe HS vs Spartanburg HS will be aired on ESPN 2 tonight at 7.

I generally do not support nationally televised high school football games. If I'm at home I might tune in to see if ESPN has any press on Spartanburg at the beginning.

[Spartan]

Smoking ban for Spartanburg County? 89% of residents support the idea. Not only that, the idea is coming from one of the more conservative Councilman- O'Neal Mintz.

HJ Article

[westsider28]

That's good to hear. The idea of a smoking ban in Spartanburg County / City seems to finally be gaining momentum.

[Spartan]

Is there more talk at the City level too? The way that article read, it would only apply to unincorporated parts of the county- though I don't understand why the County can't just apply the rule to all jurisdictions too.

[westsider28]

Well, I just meant that the County is joining the City (from several months ago) in at least considering a smoking ban. That's a positive sign. I hope a ban can move forward at either or both levels.

It does seem like a County ban should include all cities within the county as well as unincorporated areas. I'm not sure if that's how it would work or not.

[westsider28]

Keep an eye out for the BMW ad during the Super Bowl tonight. It's supposed to feature Spartanburg, including Morgan Square, Simple Simon (restaurant), and Spartanburg High School. I remember they were filming downtown on a Saturday morning in early January. It'll be exciting to see Spartanburg on a huge national stage!

Herald-Journal article

[westsider28]

Great to see Spartanburg get nationwide recognition in the BMW commercial last night! If you didn't see it, the commercial was a series of very brief clips with voice-over. There was a clip of St. John Street with The George & Chapman Cultural Center, a clip of the Simple Simon interior, a clip of Spartanburg High School football, and several clips of the BMW factory (being built, producing cars, etc). I really wish they had put a clip of Morgan Square in the commercial (they filmed there); the St. John Street clip is very brief and a bit generic. But anyway, great exposure!

BMW commercial (YouTube)

Herald-Journal article

[westsider28]

The City is pressing forward on a smoking ban. The ban would apply to bars, restaurants, offices, & public areas. It would also apply to outdoor events like Spring Fling and Music on Main. It would not apply to cigar bars. There will be a public hearing on April 25.

Herald-Journal article

This seems like it may actually happen this time. I hope it does. I particularly like the ban for outdoor events in addition to restaurants.

[Spartan]

Wow, that is amazing. They already ban smoking at events like Music on Main.

I really hope this passes.

[roads-scholar]

The City is pressing forward on a smoking ban. The ban would apply to bars, restaurants, offices, & public areas. It would also apply to outdoor events like Spring Fling and Music on Main. It would not apply to cigar bars. There will be a public hearing on April 25.

Herald-Journal article

This seems like it may actually happen this time. I hope it does. I particularly like the ban for outdoor events in addition to restaurants.

It will happen. I think most folks (city council, smokers, non-smokers, restaurant owners) realize that a smoking ban is inevitable.

[Spartan]

I found this interesting. This article talks about the siren warning systems in the state, noting that most places don't have them and if they do, they are for nuclear power plant warning zones. The article doesn't mention it, but I think Spartanburg County is the only county in the Carolinas that still uses sirens for tornado warnings.

Post & Courier Article

[GvilleSC]

I found this interesting. This article talks about the siren warning systems in the state, noting that most places don't have them and if they do, they are for nuclear power plant warning zones. The article doesn't mention it, but I think Spartanburg County is the only county in the Carolinas that still uses sirens for tornado warnings.

Post & Courier Article

That's interesting. I knew that Greenville County does not have a siren alert system. Clemson University uses its siren system for everything you could imagine, including cloud-to-ground lightning due to the campus' pedestrian emphasis. Fortunately it also speaks to let you know if it's a nuclear test, tornado, or lightning haha

[Spartan]

I remember the sirens from the nuclear plant when I was at Clemson. That was kind of disturbing the first time I heard it.

In Spartanburg they test them on the 1st Saturday of every month at 1pm. There are several different sound patterns, but I've never understood what the difference is.

[westsider28]

The city council passed a first reading of the smoke-free ordinance 5-2 on Monday. The second reading will be May 9. They passed the first reading with an understanding that a few details of the ordinance will be tweaked. You can check the article for details.

Herald-Journal article

[Spartan]

Very exciting. Delaney's will be glad to have my business again.

[westsider28]

The second reading of the smoking ordinance was passed tonight. It will take effect September 1.

Herald-Journal article

However, some businesses like the aforementioned Delaney's are talking about fighting the ordinance. I can't believe that people can so adamantly believe that a smoking ban will hurt their business, when so many examples exist (including Greenville right next door) of success with/despite smoking bans. When will people get it? There are far more non-smokers than smokers. We're not the first city to ever enact a smoking ban. I think it's just resistance to change, which Spartanburg seems to have a problem with in general. Anyway, I look forward to visiting some restaurants downtown that I've never been to specifically because they allowed smoking. I'm sure I'm not alone.

[hub-city]

Delany's to me is an example of how they might could attract new business. My wife and I went there for lunch last year and the food was great, but we couldn't take the smoke. We haven't been back...

[Spartan]

Greenville and Charleston seem to be getting by just fine. Oh, and the entire state of North Carolina. I would argue that there are even MORE people going out than before. It may or may not be related to smoking, but the new laws haven't hurt anything.

I have been to Delaneys maybe once in the past few years, and I reeked of cigarettes afterward (and my car for a couple of days). On September 2, I may make it a point to go back in there. Until then, Main St Pub is the only place for me.