April
2003
Contents
Message
From the Executive Director:
* The Upstate as the next regional city
Conservation:
* Couple preserves land along highway 11
* Northern Greenville county tract preserved
* UF members donate land adjoining
Jocassee Gorges to State
* Conservation Bank Act signed into law!
Articles:
* The Upstate is being developed at the rate
of a new Haywood Mall every three days!!
* Downtown Schools: a key step toward sensible
growth
* Downtown schools in the Upstate
good news and bad news
* Can Stories Save a River?
Bringing Lawson's Fork back to life
* Main Street: Heart and soul of the Upstate
* Victory for streams in the Upstate!
Upstate Forever News:
* Events
* Awards
* Volunteers
* Staff
THE
UPSTATE IS BEING DEVELOPED AT THE RATE OF
A NEW HAYWOOD MALL EVERY THREE DAYS!!
Upstate
at the rate of a brand new Haywood Mall about every three days, according
to data compiled by the United States Department of Agriculture.
Here
is how we made the calculation. As shown in the chart below, the USDA
data indicate that the land development rate in the Upstate is 32.89 acres
per day. Haywood Mall is 88 acres in size. So that’s about one new
mall every three days!
And
that’s not all. Four Upstate counties are ranked in the top seven
of South Carolina’s 46 counties in the total amount of land that
has been developed: Spartanburg is number 1, Greenville is number 2, Anderson
is number 5, and Pickens is number 7. We hope this information will be
a wake-up call for better land use planning and funded conservation programs
in the Upstate.
During
the 1982-97 period, population in the Upstate increased by approximately
the same number–33 persons every day. That means one acre of land
was developed for every new person in the Upstate!!
 Haywood Mall in Greenville |
The
Upstate’s present course is eerily similar to the Atlanta region,
now one of the nation’s worst examples of out-of-control growth.
But we have time to change direction and avoid “Atlantification”
of the Upstate. Extensive tracts of undeveloped land remain in the region.
We must take steps now to acquire, or protect through conservation easements,
many of these tracts. It is outrageous that a region growing and changing
as rapidly as the Upstate provides no funding for acquiring and protecing
natural areas, prime farm land, valuable wildlife habitat, and historic
sites–the very places that make our region so special.
There
are numerous strategies that can help us provide the same services and
opportunities to our residents while using fewer of our precious resources.
Upstate Forever’s Ten Point Plan for Sensible Growth
discusses many of these, such as traditional neighborhood developments,
concentrating services in the areas where we want growth, alternative
transportation, stream buffers, and so forth. See www.upstateforever.org/ten
point plan.
| LAND DEVELOPMENT IN THE UPSTATE | |||||||
| County | Spacer | Total Area (Acres) | Developed By 1982 | Developed By 1997 | Acres Per Day 1982-1997 | County Rank 1982-1997 | County Rank Overall* |
| Anderson | 484,800 | 76,598 | 103,747 | 4.90 | 8 | 5 | |
| Greenville | 510,100 | 85,697 | 136,197 | 9.22 | 3 | 1 | |
| Laurens | 462,000 | 25,872 | 35,112 | 1.69 | 26 | 22 | |
| Oconee | 431,100 | 33,626 | 49,577 | 2.91 | 18 | 14 | |
| Pickens | 327,600 | 37,346 | 55,692 | 3.35 | 14 | 7 | |
| Spartanburg | 524,300 | 79,169 | 138,415 | 10.82 | 1 | 2 | |
| Total Upstate | 2,739,900 | 338,308 | 518,740 | 32.89 | |||
| South Carolina | 19,939,300 | 1,355,872 | 2,093,627 | 134.80 | |||
| Source:
U.s. Dept. of Agriculture, National Resources Inventory. Data Contact: Jeff Goebel (301) 504 2270 *For total amount of developed land as of 1997. |
|||||||
It
is more important than ever that Upstate Forever members
and concerned citizens urge our local leaders to establish well funded
conservation programs and to implement the measures explained in our Ten
Point Plan. Growth is inevitable, but let’s grow in a way that
conserves our natural resources, saves land, and enhances the quality
of life for everyone!