Rock Hill, SC- A Major Charlotte Suburb and South Carlina’s 5th Largest City

Its very difficult to create a defensible urban evaluation area of urban Rock Hill. I did my best to include only areas built before WWII with sidewalks and limited blight. I used Lucky Lane and State as the rough western boundary, the southern border is Albright Rd, Spenser, Eastbrook, Willow brook, and Charlotte as the eastern border, Cherry as the northern border, but north of Dave Lyle Blvd I only include the area between White St and Charlotte St.

Rock Hill is 5th-most populous city in South Carolina. The city is also home to three colleges, including Winthrop University, which enrolls 6K students. Rock Hill was a tiny settlement until the construction of the railroad in the 1850s. Due to its position on the railroad, Rock Hill became a transfer point for Confederate soldiers moving supplies to and from the front. Most of the merchants in Rock Hill around 1870 were former Confederate soldiers; many were entrepreneurs who were new to town, trying to start over. The town was not officially incorporated until 1870. The City’s population quickly grew to 5,500 by 1900 and then 15,000 by 1940s. After the WWII, most of the City’s growth was come from sprawl, which got supercharged with the City being within the rapidly growing Charlotte Metro area. By 1980 Rock Hill reached 35K souls and currently sits at 75K residents.

Rock Hill has done a good job stabilizing its Dwtn and turning it into a destination and more recently a place to live. Main Street has a great streetscape and urban fabric. But when the urban fabric quickly turns into surface lots and low intensity uses in the ring outside of Dwtn. Residential areas west and south of Dwtn are spotty with some intact streets but others that contain many vacant lots. North of Dwtn the residential areas are more intact thanks to their proximity to Winthrop University. Some apartments buildings are popping up on the edge of Dwtn. Hopefully this trend continues and the core of Rock City continues to densify.

Click here to view my Rock Hill Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Dwtn Charlotte is a1/2 ride with no traffic. Bus service to Dwtn is pretty infrequent.
* Good economic diversity across Rock Hill as a whole but very concentrated poverty south and west of Dwtn. Similar trend with racial diversity.
* Excellent age diversity thanks to the college and many families living here.
* Sidewalks and ADA curb cuts are pretty good across the City but certainly better at Winthrop University and Dwtn than the poorer neighborhoods to the south and west of Dwtn.
* Several decent elementary schools within central Rock Hill but not walkable middle or high schools.
* Good array of rental options with studios and 1-bed units leasing btwn $800-mid 1Ks, 2-beds lease btwn 1K-2K, and a handful of 3-beds that lease in the 2Ks.
* For sale housing is pretty affordably priced. 2-beds lease btwn 80K-400K, 3 & 4 beds sell anywhere btwn 150K-750K.
* Good parks including a several dwtn plazas, a large cemetery, a Botanical Garden, and a large park with sport fields, and a major recreation center.
* Overall a pretty safe community but a decent amount of blight remains.
* Good architecture dwtn including a good mix of historic and quality urban in-fill. Some nice housing north of Dwtn but a good amount of autocentric uses along the main streets outside of Dwtn.
* Good urban form in the core of Dwtn
* Cultural amenities are concentrated in the small Dwtn core including a good array of food & beverage businesses, several theaters, a handful of art galleries, a handful of night clubs, several museums, and the cultural amenities of Winthrop University.
* In the dwtn core this is a nice array of boutiques, clothing stores, banks, a book store, a couple home good stores, a dwtn public library, and several churches.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

No bus service in Rock Hill but there are several decent shuttle routes connect the core City and to the University. There is also commuter service to Dwtn Charlotte which is over an hour.
Pretty low density for an urban area but par for the course in the Carolinas.
Biking infrastructure is non-existent.
Ok retail amenities including.
The Dwtn core is missing important neighborhood amenities including a supermarket, drug store, etc. Some of these are located in the suburban shopping mall located on Cherry Rd just north of the University. Outside of this shopping mall and the Dwtn core, retail amenities are pretty limited.
Good pedestrian activity in the Dwtn core but limited outside of it.”

Wesley Heights- a Gentrifying Charlotte’s Westside Neighborhood with one of the City’s best Historic Districts

“I followed the standard boundaries for Wesley Heights with the exception of extending it southward to I-77. Wesley Heights was first developed after 1911 and includes one of Charlotte’s most in-tact historic districts including a nice mix of Bungalows, Craftsman, Colonial Revival, and Tudor Revival style architecture. Wesley Heights had a downturn post WWII thanks to white flight and historically had issues with crime. But the neighborhood has turned the corner taking advantage of the general rise in value across Charlotte. Wesley Heights has seen newer in-fil development especially on its edges including mixed-use apartments along Morehead, a major townhouse development (sky Terrance Towns) in a former industrial area, and attractive new urbanist development along the Steward Creek Greenway.

Wesley Heights also has a wonderful greenway with multiple arms spreading across the neighborhood, which also hosts paved recreational trails connecting seamlessly to Dwtn. The district has lots of housing product mixing new and historic for-sale options but lacks much affordable housing. Tree canopy is generally thick and lots of food and beverage amenities. But like most of Charlotte urban neighborhoods Wesley Heights needs more density to be able to support more retail amenities and ultimately improve its walkability. The neighborhood also only has one walkable school and poor urban form along Freedom Dr and Thrift road.”

Click here to view my Wesley Heights Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

Great set of dedicated bike lanes with great connections to Dwtn.
Lovely new urbanist development with even some attached housing on the western edge of the neighborhood.
Excellent access to Dwtn which is just to the easter of Wesley Heights across all modes of transit.
Solid diversity categories, especially age and economics.
Historically a higher crime area but this has changed significantly as the neighborhood has gentrified. Generally considered very safe.
Market rate housing is diverse and plentiful here with a good mix of historic and new product. A handful of 1-bed condos selling in the 200Ks. Good array of 2-bed product including SF homes, Townhouses and condos. Range anywhere from 260K-700K. 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 400K-900K.
Good # of rentals but 1-beds are a bit limited. Lease in the low-mid 1Ks. 2-beds are more plentiful and lease btwn the high 1ks to mid-2ks. Good # of 3-beds but pretty pricey. Lease in the mid 2ks-mid 4Ks.
Excellent park amenities with the Irwin and Steward Creek cutting through most of the neighborhood and creating several greenways and very wooded paths. Bryant Park also sits on the southern edge.
Good tree canopy with the exception of the more industrial western edge of the district.
Generally attractive architecture with interesting mix of historic and quality urban in-fill. Still some crummy autocentric and industrial uses in parts.
Decent pedestrian activity thanks to all the greenways and urban node on Morehead.
Good food & beverage amenities and art gallery and convenient access to all the Dwtn cultural amenities.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

Pretty low density of an urban area.
Good elementary school just to the north in Seversville. Some decent schools in neighboring neighborhoods but not walkable to Wesley Heights residents.
As Wesley Heights gentrifies there seems to be less and less affordable product. Not enough dedicated affordable hsg is being built.
Not much other than food & beverage amenities for cultural amenities.
Ok retail amenities including a couple boutiques, several furniture stores, a bike shop, a couple banks, several salons, only a couple churches.
Decent urban massing along Morehead but Freedom Dr and Thrift Rd are very autocentric and industrial.

Villa Heights- One of Charlotte’s First Working Class Suburbs now Undergoing Rapid Gentrification

Villa Heights originated around 1900 as a new suburb but a working class community. Villa Heights along with Belmont and Optimist Park were Charlotte’s first entirely working-class suburbs. This represented Charlotte’s growth as a City as it became a major textile producer. Like most other Charlotte suburban areas, Villa Heights had only white residents until the major urban renewal projects of historic black neighborhoods like Brooklyn (the modern day 2nd Ward) in the 60s. Sadly the influx of African American residents lead to White flight and an increase in poverty, crime, and blight for the neighborhood. But Villa Heights stayed in much better condition than neighboring Optimist Park and much of its historic SF homes remain.

Village Heights has gentrified significantly in the past couple of decades like much of inner City Charlotte and this has lead to new multifamily construction along Davidson, new townhouses along Parkwood and the Villa Avenues, renovation and new construction of single family homes and less and less affordable product. Homeownership is certainly out of the reach of working class families but some product selling in the 300Ks & 400Ks is still affordable to middle class professionals. The gentrification of Village Heights has improved its urbanity as the major thoroughfares (Davidson, Parkwood, the Villa, and Mattheson) are urbanizing albeit still have lots of dead spaces and auto centric uses. Bike lane, ADA curb cuts, and sidewalks existing along the main roads but sidewalks are missing in about 1/2 of the residential streets. Villa Heights also has good public transit access & convenient commute to Dwtn, excellent diversity (esp. racial), a thick tree canopy, good parks, lots of apts, and good food and beverage amenities. To become a solid urban district Village Heights needs to build up its business district, densify, create more affordable housing options, build new walkable schools in the neighborhood, and add some key retail amenities (i.e. more local shops, post office, and public library). With Charlotte’s rapid growth I feel Villa Heights will continue to urbanize but hopefully with more attention to creating a higher quality urban environment.

Click here to view my Villa Heights album on Flickr

URBAN STREGNTHS:

Excellent Racial Diversity with about a 40% white and Black population with decent Hispanic population.
Solid public transit access thanks largely to good access to several Blue Line stations. This comes with convenient access to Dwtn as well with good bike and transit access along with convenient car access.
Good economic diversity and decent age diversity.
Historically the neighborhood had some safety issues but this is rapidly improving.
Very thick tree canopy.
Attractive early 20th century single family homes.
Some good urban infill along Davidson but some autocentric commercial uses along Parkwood and The Plaza.
A moderate # of apartments but on the expensive side. More focused on 2 & 3 beds. 1-beds lease in the mid to high 1Ks. 2-beds mid 1Ks to mid 2Ks and 3-beds 2K-5K.
For sale is generally SF homes but a handful of condos selling in the 300Ks. 2-beds sell btwn 300K-700K with a handful of condos selling in the 300Ks. 3 & 4 beds sell anywhere from mid 300Ks to low 1Ms. As you can see a handful of moderately priced homes but more for sale product is pretty expensive.
Expansive Cordelia Park sits in the SW corner of this district with a public pool. A couple other smaller parks with playgrounds spread throughout the district.
Decent food and beverage amenities with a good # of restaurants, the urban district market (a small food hall), breweries, and cafes along Davidson (near 24th) a handful along Plaza, which is a pretty residential and semi-autocentric road.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* About half of the streets are without sidewalks but when sidewalks exist there is generally good ADA curb cuts. Main streets have sidewalks.
* Pretty low density for an inner city neighborhood.
* Pedestrian activity is pretty limited. Some along the commercial node on Davidson.
* Really no affordable housing here.
* One quality walkable elementary school in the neighborhood. Well rated but not walkable Montessori school in neighboring NoDa and not so well rated public high school to the south.
* Really not other cultural amenities other than food and beverage stores.
* So so retail amenities thanks to a supermarket, drug store, a couple boutiques, a bakery, several salons/barbers, a couple gyms,. several churches, and a couple medical offices.
* No public library or post office in Villa Heights.
* Urban massing of the main streets (Davidson, Parkwood, the Villa, and Mattheson) is improving with new urban apartments and townhouses but still plenty of dead spaces and autocentric uses.

Optimist Park- A Historic Disinvested Innercity Charlotte Neighborhood Experiencing a Construction Boom thanks to the Blue Line

Optimist Park began developing by the turn of the 20th century but would never became as dense and built out as other inner ring Charlotte neighborhoods like Dilworth or Elizabeth. Mills and factories opened in the areas along the railroad line (now where the LYNC Blue Line is located) and simple single family homes were built for the workers. In the 50s & 60s the neighborhood become increasingly Black as African American families needed affordable housing after major urban renewal projects, most notably the wholescale demolition of Charlotte’s historic Black neighborhood “Brooklyn” which is now the modern day 2nd Ward, caused widespread displacement. Optimist Park quickly became a low-income enclave of the City and fell into disrepair.

With the construction of Charlotte’s new light rail system in 2007 large scale multi-family homes began to replace low intensive land uses. Even with a significant number of new apartment buildings, Optimist Park still has a very low-density for an urban neighborhood. Development is focused along Brevard Street (close to the light rail), the southern edge of the neighborhood adjacent to Dwtn, and along Davidson & 34th where some retail exists. The opening of the 25th Street station in 2018 supercharged development demand in the neighborhood. But much of the neighborhood remains low-density single family development and the main arterial road (Davidson) is still very underdeveloped. As the neighborhood fills in it will certainly become more walkable but I would be nice to see more intentionality with rebuilding the neighborhood with a sense of place, with significant affordable housing, more schools, better bike infrastructure, and important neighborhood serving retail amenities.

Click here to view my Optimist Park Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

Pretty optimal economic diversity and good racial diversity. Most of the neighborhood are young professionals.
Excellent public transit and very convenient access to Dwtn.
Some condos units are reasonable prices with 1-beds selling in the 200Ks. 2-beds sell for 300K-500, 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 350K-1 M depending on size and age.
Tons of rentals available but moderate to expensive in price. Studios lease in the low 1Ks, 1-beds in the low-mid 1Ks, 2 bed around 2K and even some 3-bed units that typical lease in the mid 2Ks.
Better cultural amenities including the Optimist Park Food Hall featuring many restaurants, bars, and cafes. Also several breweries and cafes spread throughout the district a couple art galleries, a couple night clubs, and convenient access to the cultural amenities in Dwtn to the south and NoDa to the north.
Good park amenities including the medium sized Cordelia Park which includes a pool, the expansive Little Creek Greenway that runs north to south just a couple blocks east of the neighborhood, and a decent recreational trail that runs along the light rail line.
Overall a pretty safe neighborhood.
Lots of urban in-fill that is generally of good quality. Home historic homes remain but not much.
Still lots of good tree canopy but this is incrementality being reduces as the neighborhood urbanizes.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

Limited biking infrastructure.
Very low density for an urban area, but this should shift quickly as the neighborhood is built out with high density apartment buildings.
Not great connectivity thanks to all the railroads and historic industrial uses here.
No walkable schools in the neighborhood but a couple in adjacent areas.
Really no dedicated affordable housing.
Some retail amenities here but not great. Optimist Park hosts a supermarket, a couple boutiques and salons, several gyms, a couple vintage stores, several bakeries and dessert joints, a couple churches.
Overall lack of cohesion in Optimist Park. A couple good nodes on Davidson and near the light rail station but lots of dead spaces that still underdeveloped.
Much of Davidson simply lacks buildings, which is odd for the neighborhood’s main thoroughfare. A decent nodes is emerging at Davidson & 34th and Brevard St and the area adjacent to dwtn continue to fill in with lots of apartment bldgs (but generally limited retail space).
Still not enough population or retail in the neighborhood to foster lots of pedestrians.”

Brookhill- Another booming urban district in Charlotte adjacent to the trendy South End District

I only included the half of Brook Hill east of Tryon as it is significantly more urbanized. West of Tyron is largely mid-century low density project housing, but urban mixed-use developments are incrementally replacing parts of it. Fortunately 100 of the mid-century projects will be renovated and preserved as affordable housing, providing crucial affordable housing as the neighborhood continues to gentrify.

Brookhill is very young professional oriented and thus most of the residents are renters. But a sizable amount of 2-bed condos and 3-bed townhouses are filling in. Brookhill was historically a mid-century low century warehouse area with limited historic single family homes. Given its proximity to Charlotte’s new light rail, and parallel recreational trail, it became an ideal place for new urban apartments with lots of retail and food & beverage amenities. Given its proximity to the two light rail stations and the trendy South End neighborhood Brook Hill is arguably one of Charlotte’s top 5 urban districts. But the district has been rather haphazardly developed and thus lacks a strong sense of place and quality connectivity. It also lacks important urban amenities more conducive to families including larger single family homes, few parks, limited walkable schools and a lack churches, medical offices, a public library, and post office. Quality urban development is well on its way to transforming the previously autocentric South Blvd but Tyron Avenue remains very car oriented. But with more urbanization, Brookhill will continue to densify and urbanize hopefully with better comprehensive planning and placemaking. than the previous decade of development.

Click here to view my Brookhill neighborhood on my Flickr Page.

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Excellent public transit access including a light rail line running along the eastern edge of the district.
* Very convenient access to Uptown across all modes of transit. A well design bike/recreation trail runs alongside the transit line.
* Great retail amenities including a small format Lowe’s and smaller format hardware store, a Publix’s, several high end clothing and furniture stores, a couple drug stores, a large array of home good and furniture stores, and boutiques, a couple banks, and the Atherton Mall and great urban format mall with lots of amenities. Broomhill also contains a several dessert joints, several gyms, a miniature golf course,
* Excellent economic diversity and solid racial diversity as almost half of the population are minorities.
* Great cultural amenities including tons of restaurants, bars, several breweries and cafes, a couple art galleries, a couple live music venues.
* Tons of rental product but on the more expensive side. Studios sell anywhere btwn 1.5K-2K, 1-beds lease btwn 1.4K-3K, 2-beds btwn 2K-4K, and even a lot of 3-beds product, which lease btwn 2.5K-4K. Thankfully a couple 100 units from the 1950s Brook Hill village product development will be preserved.
* Lots of quality urban infill but almost all are larger block apartments with ample parking underneath creating not the best urban fabric nor imaginable neighborhoods. Still a lot of bland post WWII warehouses remain in Brookhill.
* Urban infill is certainly improving the urban massing on the district but plenty of autocentric uses remain especially along Tyron St. Urban design of the neighborhood is also not cohesive and each new apartment product seems to be on an island as opposed to messing with the neighborhood as a whole.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Only a couple dedicated bike stations on the edges of Brookhill.
* Streets do connect but very sinuous and often large blocks.
* Most of the population are young adults so not a ton of generational diversity.
* Missing places of worship, a post office, public library, and hospital or medical offices.
* Parks are limited in Brookhill to only a recreational trail and the southside recreational park on the southern edge of the neighborhood.
* Tree canopy is so so.
* Some for sale product but on the expensive side. Really no 1-bedroom condos. 2-bed product sells around 400K-500k. 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 500K-700K.
* No schools in the Brookhill boundaries but some small schools on the edges.
* Really no historic buildings left in the neighborhood.
* Pedestrian activity is so so.

West Greenville- An Inner Greenville Neighborhood on the Rise

“Outside the city limits and policed by a single “rural policeman,” Stradleyville (that old term for West Greenville) was a place where illegal activities flourished. Eventually residents had enough and Stradleyville finally incorporated as a separate town in 1914 to help establish some semblance of law and order. Slowly the neighborhood filled in and by WWII West Greenville had a thriving business district where Pendleton and Lois Streets meet. The town merged with the City of Greenville in 1948. The neighborhood like many other inner city districts in Greenville slid into a slow decay likely in the 60s and 70s thanks to the closing of the mills and suburban sprawl. Thankfully West Greenville is on the rebound capitalizing on the rise in fortunate across all of Greenville. Revitalization started with the business district, which is now thriving, and many expensive new homes are being built here.

While the business node at Pendletown and Lois Street is in-tact and thriving, the neighborhood as a whole still has a fair amount of blight and is low density for an urban district. The eastern edge of West Greenville remained most in-tact and currently hosts the neighborhood’s best market values thanks to its proximity to the West End. Other than the Pendletown/Lois node, the main streets in West Greenville are pretty dead and autocentric. Public transit is also mediocre here and parks and good schools are limited. Important amenities including a full service supermarket, drug store, and consistant sidewalks are also crucial for West Greenville to be a more walkable place. But with the urban boom in Greenville as a whole, I am hopefully that the neighborhood will fill in and urbanize.”

Click here to view my West Greenville Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Great access to Dwtn being only 1.5 miles away.
* Good amount of affordable housing but lots of higher end new housing is being constructed. 2-beds sell btwn 100K-400K and 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 150K-900K. Decent amount of public housing here.
* Good Tree canopy but not as good as more affluent neighborhoods.
* Nice in tact urban commercial node at Pendleton and Lois Ave. Also hosts attractive historic commercial bldg but historic residential homes are generally nothing special.
* Good cultural amenities including plenty of restaurants, bars, cafe, a couple live music venues, a brewery, and a couple art galleries. Residents living in the Eastend of West Greenville are pretty close to the cultural amenities of the West End.
* Decent retail amenities including several boutiques & gift shops, a couple salons, several banks, a bakery, a jeweler, plenty of churches, and a major hospital just south of the neighborhood

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Very low population density for an inner city neighborhood.
* About 1/3 of the streets don’t have sidewalks.
* Mediocre public transit access.
* 1/3 of the residents live in poverty but it seems that well is starting to move into the neighborhood.
* Some rentals but all single family homes leasing in the 2Ks.
* Other than a small community garden there really aren’t any other park spaces. There is an extensive park (Unity Park) just north of the neighborhood but across railroad tracks.
* Until about the decade West Greenville was pretty impoverished and high crime area. With the revitalization that came to the neighborhood the past decade crime is being enough less and less of an issue.
* Only one quality school on the edge of West Greenville. Also a small Catholic grade school.
* Other than the urban node at Pendleton and Lois Ave the arterial roads (Pendleton and Academy St) are very auto centric.
* Urban commercial in-fill is limited but lots of decent new urban homes.
* Missing a proper supermarket, drug store, or a walkable library or post office.
.

Greenville’s North End- an emerging Urban District just north of Downtown

The Concept of the Greenville North End is pretty new and rather fluid. But there is an emerging consensus that it includes the area North of Dwtn running along North Main extending all the way North into more suburb development. For this evaluation I included only the more urban areas and therefore used Ashley/Gallivan St as the northern border between Rutherford St and Church Street with Academy Blvd as the southern border.

There are a collection of smaller historic districts within the North End but there are all tiny and not worth evaluating on their own. This includes Viola Street Historic District, Heritage Historic District, Colonial Elias Earle, and East Park. These istricts, however, collectively still make up the majority of the North End area that is included in this evaluation.

The North End has a lot of standard suburban amenities including good schools, safety, large #s of families, thick tree canopy, and quality parks. The district also has attractive early 20th century homes, excellent access to Dwtn given its proximity just to the north of Dwtn, a wide variety of housing options and price points, decent cultural and retail amenities, and pretty good economic and racial diversity.

To become a great urban district, the most important thing the North End needs is to densify. This is starting to occur with more apartments going up along Stone and Park Ave but the neighborhood is still closer to a suburban density. More density will help foster a much more vibrant neighborhood with better retail/cultural amenities and hopefully encourage the City to establish better public transit frequency.

Colonial Elias Earl Historic District and the Heritage Historic District

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Stone street is starting to fill in with more mixed-use urban infill.
* Generally good ADA infrastructure but a couple streets without sidewalks and several without modern ADA curb cuts.
* Excellent access to Dwtn, esp driving but there is also a good dedicated bike station running north to south along Main St.
* Some Income diversity and racial here but def a solid upper middle class area.
* Lots of families here and generally generational diversity.
* Decent number of rentals. 1-beds lease btwn 1K-2K, 2-beds lease btwn 1.5K-2.7K and a handful of 3-beds.
*Good for-sale diversity but only a handful of 1-beds. 2-beds sell anywhere from 150K-800K, 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 275K- to the low Millions.
* Several small-medium sized parks with McPherson as the largest most diverse park space and includes a small rec center.
* Decent schools with an excellent public elementary school, Catholic school and several pre-schools.
* Cultural amenities include a decent # of restaurants, a brewery, several museums, a performing arts theater, and a couple escape rooms. Good access on the southern edge of the North End to the Dwtn amenities.
* Decent retail amenities as well including a supermarket, a couple drug stores, a record store, several salons, a florist, a couple gyms & churches.
* Attractive historic homes.
* Excellent tree canopy.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

Mediocre public transit access esp for an inner-ring neighborhood.
Mediocre density for an urban area.
Connectivity is so so here.
A good amount of autocentric modern infill but more recent infill is decent mixed-use development.
Best urban form is at the intersection of Main and Stone Ave. Some quasi-urban form along Stone and Park but also plenty of autocentric stretches.
Not great pedestrian activity.

The Pettigru Historic District- Greenville’s Best Historic District

This small neighborhood is bound by North St, Washington St, Church and 276. In the end of the 19th century the neighborhood was subdivided, developed and became Greenville’s first upscale suburb. By the 1970s, the elite neighborhood had transitioned into a commercial historic district, and the apartments and larger homes were converted into offices.

Nominated in 1981, the Pettigru Street Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places making it the largest district in the city. The District is home to 88 structures built between 1890 and 1930.From an urban standpoint Pettigru’s best asset is its proximity to downtown and historic character, and the expansive Cleveland Park on the southern edge.The District also has some good retail concentrated at McBee Station, a decent amount of for-sale housing options, and good bike lanes.
.
But the District has no historic main street and the arterials it does have are wide and very autocentric. Density is more akin to a suburb, there are no schools located in the neighborhood, rentals are limited, there is lots of crummy post WW II commercial bldgs., and there is a Confederate Museum… unfortunately. But given Greenville’s explosive urban apartment growth I do believe Pettigru will continue to urbanize and fill in. Hopefully the urban design is of decent quality and North and Washington Streets can become more pedestrian friendly.

Click here to view my Pettigru Historic District on my Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

Decent bike infrastructure wit h multiple bike lanes and easy access to the recreational trail along the reedy river which connects to Dwtn.
Great access to Dwtn Greenville sitting just to the east of it.
Excellent economic diversity and decent racial diversity.
Good for-housing diversity with a decent # of condos with 1-beds selling 200K-500, 2-bed selling btwn 250K-550K, 3 & 4 bed sell btwn 350K-600K.
Large metro park on the southern edge of the neighborhood (Cleveland Park), which includes a Zoo, ballparks, tennis courts, recreational trails, but no small parks or plazas within the neighborhood.
Generally a pretty safe neighborhood.
Lots of old mansions from the late 19th century. Homes are no mostly office but Historic district has preserved their original character from the exterior.
Retail amenities are concentrated mostly at the McBee Station shopping plaza located a block south of the neighborhood. The Mall has a supermarket, staples, several restaurants, and a couple other neighborhood retail. Other than that there’s a bank, a running store, tons of law offices, bed & breakfasts, a couple churches. Decent access to some amenities Dwtn.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Density is pretty low for an urban neighborhood.
* Connectivity isn’t great.
* Mediocre public transit access esp for an inner-ring neighborhood.
* Excellent Income diversity
* Lots of preschools within Pettigru or Dwtn but no other walkable schools. Some well rated schools about 1-mile away but again not walkable.
* Rentals are pretty limited. A bit on the pricy side.
* Cultural amenities are limited to a several restaurants, the Bon Secours Arena, a wedding venue, and the” Confederate Museum” * cough * cough. But many Dwtn cultural amenities are walkable.
* Lots of crummy auto centric post WW II housing. Really no quality urban in-fill here.
* No cohesive urban commercial district. The main arteries North and Washington are both wide streets and very autocentric.

Greenville’s West End- the City’s best Urban District located right next to Downtown

The West End was originally known for hosting Furman University which was established in 1852. But unfortunately the university moved to a more suburban location several miles outside of Dwtn. This could have been a great asset to Dwtn given its close proximity to the West End. After the turn of the twentieth century, many textile mills moved into the area. The neighborhood feel into disrepair soon afterwards. But the West End benefited greatly from Civic Leader’s focus on renovating downtown and the Reedy Riverfront as much of this revitalization work occurred in the West End since the 1970s. The District is now Greenville’s best urban district (by a long shot) and the arts and entertainment center of the city.

From an urban perspective, I most appreciated how well the West End ties in seamlessly to Dwtn thanks to the Reedy River Recreation trails and Falls Park, the short bridge between the two and the vibrant commercial districts along Main Street and Augusta that tie seemly to Dwtn. West End has great cultural and retail amenities and is ground zero for Greenville’s urban apartment boom. The neighborhood is also very safe, has great schools, and is buzzing with pedestrians and tourists. For the West End neighborhood to be truly a great urban district it still needs more density, better residential in-fill and development in its low-density streets, better bike infrastructure, and a full service supermarket.

Click here to view my West End Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Excellent Access to Dwtn being just to the west of it.
* Generally good ADA infrastructure but plenty of intersections without modern ADA curb cuts.
* Good economic diversity but limited racial diversity as the neighborhood is 77% white.
* Several solid public schools representing all grades surround the edges of the West End. Also a Catholic grade school nearby.
* Lots of modern apartments. Studios and 1-beds lease in the low to high 1Ks. Tons of 2-beds as well that lease in the 2Ks. Only a handful of 3-beds.
* Overall the neighborhood is very safe.
* Quality historic commercial but limited historic residential remains.
* Lots of modern apartment and mixed-use in-fill but of varying urban quality and design. This is the south so parking often takes the driver’s seat in terms of design and layout.
* Pretty good urban form along Augusta and Main, especially near dwtn. Still a good amount of surface parking. Overall good streetscaping.
* Good pedestrian activity especially along Main Street and the Falls park.
* Very popular district with a lot of buzz.
* Great access to the Falls Park on Reedy and river trail on the Reedy. But really not other parks in the neighborhood leaving the western edges of Payne-Logan about 1/2 mile from any parks.
* Excellent cultural amenities here including a wide array of food & bev businesses, several live music venues, a couple theaters, several art galleries, and a minor league ball park. Walkable access to many Downtown cultural amenities as well.
* Good retail amenities including lots of boutiques/clothing/gift stores, a drug store, several banks, plenty of dessert joints, a couple churches, and a major hospital is only 1/2 mile from Payne-Logan.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

lots a breaks and lack of connections for a typically urban neighborhood street grid.
Mediocre density for an urban neighborhood.
So so public transit access. A couple dedicated bike stares and small dedicated bike lane segments.
Few households with children here. Median age is pretty diverse however.
Other than a handful of the older SF homes that remain, for-sale housing is very expensive. 1-bed condos general sell in the 700Ks-800Ks. Lotso of 2-bed condos and townhouses but they sell between 650K-1.3M. 3 & 4 bed sell anywhere from 350K-1.5 M depending on size and age. Handful of affordable housing options in the West End.
Missing some key retail amenities (i.e. supermarket, post office, public library)”

Downtown Greenville, SC

Downtown is bound by Academy to the west and North, the river to the south and roughly David Francis to the east. Greenville was nothing special compared to other mid-sized American cities in the south for much of its history. It has a historic main street where all the City’s shopping was concentrated, industry and warehousing along the river closest to Dwtn, and major downtown decline and urban renewal projects in the 60s and 70s. But what separates Dwtn Greenville from many of its peers is the civic leadership in the 1980s & 1990s. The City made major investments in new streetscaping, especially along Main street, attracted a new Hyatt Regency, and redeveloped the Reedy Riverfront into trail and recreation space taking advance of the Reedy River Falls. At the same time the urban West End neighborhood on the other side of the river redeveloped creating a seamless urban connection to Dwtn. Local shops opened, antique skyscraper were renovated, and new urban infill buildings started to fill in. Most recently the City has created a quality civic center and pedestrian zone with the creation of the One City Plaza and pedestrianizing Lauren St.

But I won’t say that Downtown Greenville is the best mid-sized City southern Downtown and there is certainly room for continued urban improvement. I place Dwtn Knoxville, Lexington, and Chattanooga ahead of it. The western, northern, and eastern edges of Dwtn are still plagued with surface parking lots, dead spaces and wide boulevards, dwtn’s residential population is below average, public transit access is sub-par, and the City’s main post office, convention center, and public library are located outside of Dwtn. But with Greenville’s continued explosive growth, including inner city growth, I have hope that Dwtn Greenville will continue to urbanize in a positive way.

Click here to view my Downtown Greenville Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Main st is the north to south spine of Dwtn and is the beating heart of Dwtn many intact historic 2-3 story bldgs with active shops. Also contains Dwtn’s better antique skyscrapers. Washington St east to west also has good urban form and active store fronts. Laurens St hosts several semi-pedestrian blocks.
* Most of Dwtn (other than the outskirts) has modern ADA curb cuts.
* Good bike infrastructure within Dwtn branching out to some of inner city neighborhoods with a few suburban connections. Good bike share system Dwtn & in the West End with several other inner city neighborhood stations spread throughout.
* Good amount of rental hsg but on the price side. Studios are located mostly in the Westend. 1-beds lease anywhere btwn 1.2K-2.3K, 2-beds btwn 1.5K-3K, and some 3-beds btwn 4-7K.
* Good amount of for sale product and diversity. Studios are limited. 1-beds sell btwn 300K-700K, 2-beds btwn 350K-800K, and a decent # of expensive 3-beds selling btwn 650K and the low 1ms. Some affordable hsg dwtn.
* Several quality schools in and around Dwtn including a Catholic and public grade school, Arts High school, and the main high school is located less than 1 mile for Dwtn. All rated well.
* High level of safety in Dwtn Greenville.
* Good historic stock esp. along Main Street. Pretty impressive number of urban in-fill bldgs for a City of it’s size concentrated near the West End.
* Quality streetscaping on many Dwtn Streets even outside of Main St.
* Solid tree canopy esp. along Main St.
* Good pedestrian activity especially along Main St. Certainly plenty of dead areas on the edges of Dwtn.
* Really good buzz and vibe dwtn.
* Excellent park and recreational trail along the Reedy River and Falls. The One City Plaza is a well designed Civic Plaza with ample seating and uses spilling into the plaza. A couple other decent plazas and a historic cemetery exist Dwtn.
* Great cultural amenities with plenty of food & bev businesses, several small & medium theaters, several live music venues and art galleries & museums. Regional amenities include a sports arena and ballpark just south of Dwtn.
* Retail amenities include a Publix, a drug store, plenty of boutiques/clothing stores & gift shops, a bookstore, plenty of dessert joints & gyms,

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

Plenty of surface parking on the western, northern, and eastern edges of Dwtn.
Urban density is below average for a Dwtn.
Public transit is pretty poor across Greenville and its suburbs. Dwtn has decent public transit but sub-par compared to almost any other American Dwtn.
Street network is a bit sinuous for a Dwtn. Roads are pretty wide especially on the edges of Dwtn.
Not a ton of generational diversity dwtn but decent # of museums including a children’s.
Only a handful of small satellite colleges in Dwtn. Larger colleges with 3-5K students are located 2-3 miles for Dwtn.
No large parks in Dwtn Greenville.
Convention center is a couple miles outside of Dwtn.
A couple 20K people work in Dwtn which is about average for a Metro of Greenville’s size.
Post office and public library are located just outside of Downtown. The closest hospital is a couple miles from dwtn and few medical offices.”