Comprehensive Plan

Spartanburg, South Carolina

TPUDC and City Explained were hired by the City of Spartanburg, South Carolina to lead “Plan Spartanburg,” an update to the City’s Comprehensive Plan. This plan will provide a framework to guide growth and conservation in the City for the next 20 years. In this racially diverse community, equity will be the foundational principle of the plan, and the team will work to ensure that all recommendations will promote equity and reduce inequity. A robust and inclusive public outreach and engagement strategy will ensure that all members of the community have a voice in the future of the City. This project began in the midst of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, so TPUDC worked with the City and a large group of neighborhood ambassadors and advisors to develop new methods of outreach and provide safe and effective community input opportunities when public gatherings were not possible. All meetings and workshops thus far have been conducted online, with recordings and input tools made available on an interactive project website. Community leaders took advantage of a series of “On The Table” discussions, convening their own small group meetings to discuss specific topics of interest and report findings and feedback to the team. TPUDC conducted a 5-day Virtual Planapalooza™ during which participants were able to chat directly with team members and participate in a mapping workshop and focus discussions on transportation and mobility; economic development; conservation and growth; housing and neighborhoods; open spaces and natural resources; arts, culture, history and heritage. As part of the Planapalooza process, the team created conceptual plans and renderings for six locations identified as infill and redevelopment opportunities. They included several underutilized properties including an aging mall, a neighborhood corridor, and a potential future transit station. Drafting of the Comprehensive Plan began in the fall of 2020, and the project will continue into 2021. 

Size: Entire-City

Type: Comprehensive Plan