Tag: gentrification
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Seen / Unseen Greenville: What South Carolinians Say They Actually Want
There’s a strange thing happening in South Carolina right now. On one side, the state is booming. Cranes everywhere. Subdivisions spreading into old fields and forests. Distribution centers. Data centers. Luxury apartments. “Top Places to Move.” “Fastest Growing.” “Business Friendly.” The official story is momentum. But underneath that polished story, there’s another South Carolina talking.…
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Seen / Unseen Greenville: Reading the Budget Like a Map
How a city reveals itself through money, priorities, and infrastructure. I’ll admit something upfront: I did not sit down and fully read Greenville’s entire proposed FY2027 budget. What actually caught my attention was a Facebook post from the City of Greenville summarizing some of the major priorities: transportation improvements, trails and greenways, affordable housing initiatives,…
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Seen / Unseen Greenville: Distinctly American. Distinctly Southern.
(What Does It Even Mean to Be American—or Southern—Right Now?) People usually look to places like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, or Washington when they want to explain America to itself. That makes sense. Those cities dominate media, finance, politics, entertainment, and cultural mythology. But honestly, I think cities like Greenville may tell us more…
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Seen / Unseen Greenville: A Timeline of the City Beneath the City
What came before—and what never fully left Greenville can feel like a new city. A growing city.A successful city.A city figuring itself out in real time. But that version of Greenville—the one most of us experience day to day—is only the latest layer. What makes Greenville interesting isn’t just what it is now. It’s how…
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Seen / Unseen Greenville: How Fiction Influenced My Reality
I’ve talked a lot recently about Greenville, development, local history, gentrification, empty spaces, civic vision, and the strange contradictions that seem to sit underneath this city I love. Some people have probably wondered where all this came from. A year ago, I wasn’t writing essays about urban planning, Cherokee history, or why certain projects get…
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Seen / Unseen Greenville: A Nice Greenville Isn’t the Same as a Kind One
Greenville is a nice city. That’s not sarcasm. It’s not a setup. It’s just true. It’s clean. It’s welcoming. It’s easy to enjoy. People are generally friendly. The parks are good. The downtown is polished. The trail system is something most cities would love to have. If someone comes to visit, it’s not hard to…
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The Whitening of Greenville: Gentrification and Pushed-Out People
Greenville’s Favorite Story About Itself Greenville loves the story it tells about itself. It is a story of redemption, polish, and smart civic leadership. A former mill town that once struggled with decline reinvented itself into one of the most celebrated small cities in America. Downtown was revived. Main Street became a destination. Falls Park…
Frank M. Anderson's Writing 