Linking Greenville's Neighborhoods to Jobs and Open Space        

 

City of Greenville, South CarolinaMay 2012, Issue No. 5

Two Upcoming Meetings

 

The city-wide portion of the Connections for Sustainability project is drawing to a close. The last community presentation of the draft feasibility study for Transit Oriented Economic Development will be held on Thursday, May 31.

  

Also, the Housing Strategy consultant will be leading their second public input meeting on Thursday, June 7. It should be fun! There will be several stations with interactive exercises to get at some of the important questions and issues for housing in Greenville. 

 

Both of these Public Meetings are open to everyone interested in living or doing business of the City. They will be held at the

West Greenville Community Center from 6:00 to 7:30 pm.

 

 

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Check our website for additional details on

these workshops as well as other ways to get involved!

 

Making Connections

 

Livability Educator, Jaclin DuRant, presented at the May 23rd TEDxGreenville Salon. She spoke about some of the ways she is integrating Sustainability and Environmental principles into youth education to help "green" Greenville's future. More information about this presentation and TEDxGreenville can be found here
 
On April 19th, Community Planner, Wayne Leftwich, Grant Coordinator, Christa Jordan, and Livability Educator, Jaclin DuRant, went to the Palmetto Affordable Housing Forum in Columbia, South Carolina.  There, they spoke about the Connections for Sustainability grant as well as projects that are already underway.

 

Christa Jordan also spoke about the Connections project and other ways to live sustainably at the Alta Vista Garden Club on April 23rd.

 

If your group or organization is interested in learning more about the Connections for Sustainability project, or ways in which you can improve your sustainability, please contact us at [email protected].

 

Updates from the March 3rd

TOED Workshop  

 

On May 3rd, HDR Engineering and the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) visited Greenville to hold a Transit-Oriented Economic Development (TOED) workshop.  

 

The goal of the TOED strategy is to identify ways to incorporate transit into existing and future development in Greenville's west side. In addition, a potential Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route from the CU-ICAR campus to the downtown Amtrak station is being considered.This strategy will inform an ongoing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) planning study being conducted by HDR Engineering as part of the Connections for Sustainability project. 

 

The workshop provided property owners, businesses, developers, and the general public with information on the benefits of TOEDs, such as increased housing and transportation options, expanded opportunities for finding and maintaining jobs, and walkable communities. Working in two groups, workshop attendees analyzed maps showing a proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route and brainstormed answers to  the following three questions: 

  1. Which proposed bus stops along the Bus Rapid Transit route are priorities? Are there other stops you would add? If so, Why? 
  2. What types of development should happen at these stops along the Bus Rapid Transit?
  3. How many stories tall should the buildings be around the stops? What type of buildings and activities should be located at the stops?   

There are still opportunities to provide your input on what you would like to see done with the TOED in Greenville!  Click hereto take an online survey about the proposed TOED. 

 

In addition, a follow up transit analysis meeting will be held on May 31st at the West Greenville Community Center.  At this meeting, HDR and CNT will reveal a proposal that incorporates feedback from the May 3rd TOED workshop and once again, meeting attendees will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the plan. We hope to see you there!

Sustainability Spotlight

 

 

The Big Deal About

Local Food

by Jaclin DuRant 

 

 

You've probably heard a lot recently about the importance of purchasing food from local farmers. There's even a growing movement of folks who consider themselves to be "locavores," people who only eat food that has been grown within a hundred miles of their homes.

 

It's easy to see that buying local food keeps money in the local economy, but some of the benefits of buying local food may not be quite as obvious. Let's consider a package of hamburger patties at the grocery store. According to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, more than half of the beef sold in the US comes from one of five states: Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, or Colorado. What this means is that most likely, your beef traveled to get to you, and traveling takes energy.

           

In fact, there's energy involved in every bit of the process, from irrigating and harvesting the plants that are fed to the beef cattle to processing the meat. Then, that meat has to be packaged, refrigerated, and shipped. Styrofoam packages and plastic wrap are not only made from petroleum in a factory that uses energy, but they are almost never recycled. Refrigerated trucks transport the beef across the country using gasoline to do it, and that beef sits in the refrigerated and well-lit grocery store until you take it home.

           

Now let's consider a local farm where a small farmer raises free range beef. The cattle graze on crops that require minimal irrigation if any, and a local butcher prepares the meat, wrapping it in butcher paper for you to take home. There is still energy used in the process, but not nearly as much, and the beef doesn't have very far to travel to get to your table.

 

There are many reasons that people choose to buy local food. In addition to health and economic benefits, buying local can help save energy, reduce pollution, and protect the environment.

 

 

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