.

--- -
i_

(:11 RUJlI'l.Id I '

Darin Culp, left: and Curtis Estola, right, of Snncrcst Homes is Greer work on layout �or the )'irst ph�se lJ I a Ill.'I'" " , t" i1
vision on Old Williamston Road In Anderson on Thursday. A Dew report cites the -Greenvill e area a . >l ( i e of ,II' , ', i '"
the country for sprawl, partially because the density of de l7elopment i n th e area i s so tow:

Upstate ranks fifth in urb an. SpIa\/\! i

Ey Kelly Davis
FULL REPORT
Independent-Mall
realest sprawl of a l l
The Greenville· Find the report,
"Measuring Sprawl And Its
Southeastern metro areas Q mwing h a p rla7;]rrllV
Spartanburg metropolitan
area ranked fifth of 83 tmpacl," online at TIle nonprolll g r o u p Sma!1 Growli1 1l merlC,1 ,wrbl 8'J I I ::' i l l , l r III

metro areas nationw ide
for worst urban sprawl in
a report released
Thursday by the nonprofit
group Smart Growth
America.
Metro Atlanta ranked
fourth in the report,
which took into account 22
va r iables grouped i n t o
fou r major factors: resi­
dential popula tion densi­
ty; the degree or m ix i n g of
homes. jobs and commer·
cial services; the strength
www,smartgrowlilame(lca. areas on lour l a ct ors · POpulali0n denSiTY, tile de�, "" , 0 1 "" I I ' !
com. work places and serVICeS, Ille st' tngtn 01 dl,,� ,1 [ f,wn<, ." ' " ulll"
ot activity. a�d street conn()c\lvlty . 10 rle'lelt,p " ' I " J . , r , I I " " "I '" , (I"
snows t l I e top· I O ancl baHam · t O d' eas hJ'c" (,n d , . , , , , , , ",t� 1 ,011 1 ,
hous ing and a safrr, more sc o res , where t O O represents 1I1e oV0rane ( ( ' I i ' I ' O ,, " '·' . , ""
accessible transportal ion
LEAST � Jers"! (" V N J
system , " 200 SPRAWl. J Provl'len('" Pt1\ 1 " , 1 . 1 w� --i t
T h e s a m e 8 3 reg i o n s S HOllu l' llu 1 1,l\'-11I
were assessed for a variety 6 J)\I '"ll�, "'el.
1 80 1 1:'01'/ Vnl"II 1 BI)SIOJJ - LdVJTL:IJCE-: ':lull:loI I I .
or outcomes 8 t tri b U i ed to _
• " 8'
sprawl, from traffic ratal i ­ 8 Ponl,lIt11 O l t
t i e s t o air qual i ty. in order t 60 ...... �_ M IJ rJlJ H'i!it.iIl J
to connect certain drve t ­
o p m en! c h o i ces to t h e i r 1 40 HI I
negativE' effects on human
health and q u alilY or t i fe, 1 20
�. Od,

or downtowns and Olher sa id report co·alll hal' Rrid

centers or activity: and Ewing or Rutgers
street connectivity versus 1 00
University.
dead-end cul-de-sacs. T h e lise of so m a n y
" Du ring the last 1 0 variables malles t h E' s t u d y 80
years. the Upstate's popu· Iln i q u e l y comprehen,lVe. 2. Greensboro -
lation has grown by over said Smart Growth 60 W i nslon-Salem ' 4.J\tlanta
3_ t 1 ..: 1111
1 40.000 people," said Diane America Exerllt ive l l i g h Polnl, N . C ,
5.6nltlnuil le-SDa
' 1 1� \1: , ,, ' 11
Eldridge. associate dir�c­ D irector D o n Chen. 3. Ral&lgh - Durham, N, C.
dO
tor of Greenv i l l e-based The report used d a l a
Upstate F'orever, a Smart only from G reenv i l l e.
Spart a n b u rg and urban
20 1. Riversirir - San Be\l) <J rd,nn , C . t l l
Growth America coal ition
6. 'NeGI PJlm BilJcl1 -ODed fbln" Dell " ,
mem ber, " Th i s report Picllens cou n t ies, but
7 Bridq<po rt - Sla"doaJ - Nor'll:I ": ( ,:m',H
shows the urgent need to Anderson County o _ MOST -
9, Or.nald Venlura Cnlot
establiSh new policies that Pla n n in g D ireCl or Jefr SPflAWL It) " 1" WOl1l1 Arllnq l ' J " I c - . ' ·.
will promote better devel­
opments. more choices in Please see Sprawl. Page 7 A M u i l :-; sa Lt:lJ'/ls tml
-- --- - - --- - -- - - ------ -
F ! (Im P Q g e l A
------ -----

l ' l ' \( e ts o n said Anderso n

( ,u l I l l ly is s lm ilar eno u gll lo its
l l p s t n te n e ighbors that the
' � I I l I C 1J I 'I ) blrms and scores are
I j 1 ; c1 y to a pply.
"There is I l l) avo i d i n g the
c i l i l d ll s i o l ] ( h a t A n d e rson
( ' ( J u n t \, wo u l d make a n excel-
1 " l l l piJster ch i l d for sprawl, "
1 1 1� <; < l i d , "Low-densi ty res iden­
! j ; l \ d pvf'l ollll1ent has been a
" I , l i I lSl c IY in the d e velo pment
1 ) , 1 : : 1 1 ) t h at w e ' ve seen over the
h i ' , ! :;C\ \' (:T<J.l years. "
T h e l la t i o n has 320 metro­
pl d i l �1 l \ ::\\ 0 8 S of th e size dis­
c l l ;:scd i l l tile rep o r t , but only
I I l l' In I iskd h a d complete data
:; ' \ '; ( l v : L i I ,l i J l e from agencies
: , l I c i l ,I S the Uureau of lhe
( ' C I I Sl l S a nd the
� I I ': i l l l l l l l lell1.al P rotection
i\ gl� I H ' Y. T h a t is why some o bv i­
U I I S sprClwl o ffen ders, such as
( ' I ) ; l r l { J t l e , a re conspicuo usly
, I L I St:' I l t , IVlr. Ewing s a i d .
U l l :.1 sr: a l e adj usted so 100 is
: l I, ' I ' I ' ,l g C , t lte most-spraw l i n g
I I' ,l : i ( )} l \va s H .iv e rs i ct e - S a n
I J I' r l l (\ I '(! i 1 1 0 , C a l if. , w ith a com­
p i l s i l c s c o re of just 1 4 .2 . U ltra­
! 1 ' I I SC New Yo rk sco red high­
( ' �' 1 . :11 1 77.S.
Tlw ( ; J(�envi lie 2< r83.'S com­
j J l l s i l c sco re was 5 8 . G , just be! ­
iL l ' lIWll A tl a nta's 5 7 , 7 .
i..J ( J I l l ' l l w lf:'ss, G reenv ill e
,('I J l cd IJcl o\\' avera ge 011 aU
i i l l l l ' s j 1 1 ' : l Iv l fa ctors. The mea
:, ( ' I ) l c i l 7 1 . �) � Oll density (second
\I' I l I ' S !) . GO,39 o n m ixed-use
d C l'l� l u \ l l l l e l l t ( fo u r t h worst)
; \ l l l i t i :LU!-J Oil stre e t connectiv i-
1 \ ( f i ft h wors t ) , I t was close to
; il l' I ,l gC i l l the strength of its
t mv J \ ; l l l el L n l s i ness cen ters,
! '; l l l l ,c d il l :J9th w i th a score of
� It. : . .) 1
" T I I l' J ' ( � ;l l l v bad news that
' I ) I ! H' C; O l l l ci r t h i s . and not
I\ l i i l i ' s !,!Pl l i ng most of the
1 1 ; 1 \ i ( ) i l il l :1 \ l eI1 1 iOIl b u t \V I l a !
' 1 1 " \ l i S ; I I\ : IY, i s \\'I:' v(' go t one
" I l i l e i l i gi l est t ra ffic fa ta lity
1 ' ; l l r ' s i l l t he n a t i o n . " j\,I t
1 " l d l i t l ,! ' I ' �:;l id .
' 1 1 1 ( ' ( ; I( 'l'nv ii l e ,S p Cl l'tan burg
' 1 \ '1 ' ; 1 1 1 : 1 1 1 ' \ ( i , G�3 fa la! acc idents
' 11 ' 1 ' 1 1 1I 1 . ( ) I J I l I'c':i i d l� l l t. S . wh ich
t r; l l I �l :I' t es � ) �3<J '7 ( / 8: l t h s pcr
YO;.! \ " she sa\�L ,\ I i a l l tn hCld
:15/; 1 b1 (l l ities p e r lUO,()(N} l��I�jl.­
ll k.
A focus O.ll econom ic devel­
o [ ) ) l l c n t i n Anderson C o u n t y
h a s l e d to ,1 r o a d sys tem that
e n c o ur a ges sprawl and
i n c re a s e d C d r t i m e for res i ­
den ts, M r. J< i cketsol1 said. T i l e
COt l l l t y I w s a n d contin ues to
w i deli ronds to l ink i t t o the
i n ters tate l l i g h w ay system. a
b o o n I II i n d u s t r ies b u t a n
i lHl u l'I! l llcnt to build ne igh b o r­
hoods lil r l h e r and farther from
l l l u n i c i p a l c e n ters,
T h e report in cl uded six pol­
icy re c o l l 1 l l l e ndations:
� illvest i n ne glected com­
I l l un i l i cs and i ncrease urban
hOll s i n g ,
� rehab i l i tate a b a ndoned
j l J ' l l I J ( ' rly,
� e l l co Ul'age redevelopment
in I I l : i l t ' U ll a reas.
create o r n u rt ure mixed­
use cen ters of activ i t y,
, s u p p o r t grO'lvth manage­
ment slategies. and
<> fO CLlS o n smar t-grow t h
r l l h �l l l L'i l \ g t rans portati on pol i ­
c ies.
" i\ l l dersoll C o un ty is l ook ·
i l l g ro r ways La promote more
1 I 1 i x e rl · usc development in our
h i g h - g ro w t h areas . " M r,
H i cl\etso l l said. " O u r o n go ing
H i g h w:IY 81 North cor r i d o r
s Lud\' w i l l fOC llS on ways to
p ro m o te m ixec!-u:oc d ev e l o p­
J I I e n t i n a l l area which has
b e g u n 10 develop under the
1 raditional moclel - stri p com ­
I l l c rc i a l O i l t i l e highway and
l o w · d e l l s ity residential off the
h i g I J WilY. "
He s a i d i n vestm e n t i n infra­
s l r ucture such as the
IJL'<lv e n l a 1 \ \ Creek sewer line
w o u l d a l low m o re co m pact
t lrvclop l l l e n l and boost
chances fo r III ixed -use develop­
me n t .
Hcs idents m u s t push fo t'
that to take place beca u s e
d e v (' l opcrs and local bureau­
c r a t s t e n d 10 ro llow m arket
lurces.
I I I fac ! . part or lhe purp ose
of tile study is LO h elp sel l the
public 0 11 the benefi t s o f
mixed-lise d evelopment. Mr.
Chen said.
Not o n ly does il red uce lan d
conslImption a n d th e haza rds
<tnd health [lroblems associa t ­
ed w i t h lots o f d riving, it 's
I l l ore convenie n l because i t 's
eas i e r to g e t goods a n d servic­
es, h e sa i d :

" We need t o cha J l ge o u r pol i ­

c i cs a n d ordinan ces t o make i t
e a s i L'l" [ 0 iJ u i ld ( 111 ixed- use and
] l e d l� s t r i ,lll - i'r i e n d l y ) d evelop­
l l IC l Its, " fi l s . E:ldridge s a i d .
But public orficials m ust do
t h e i r work w i trun the confi n es
of the loca! ' c u l t u re , j\'[l:
R i c k e Ls{J l l sai d .