Land Use

Although Spartanburg County has lower population density than its neighboring county, Greenville, it has higher density than aggregate area counties, aggregate Upstate counties and S.C. counties aggregated (Table 1).


Percentage increase in population density from 1990 to 2000 is smallest in Spartanburg County (Figure 1).

It should be noted that the latest population density data available from the U.S. Census Bureau is from 2000. Given the growth trends in Spartanburg and the Upstate area, projected population density based on projected growth patterns is indicated in Table 2.

These data project that population density will increase by 114 people per square mile in Spartanburg County from 1990 to 2025.

Land Use Planning

If land continues to be developed in the same manner to support population growth in South Carolina, the state will need 525,000 new houses, 40 million square feet of new office space, 13,000 hotel rooms, and 50% more paved roads within the next 15 years.

The first urban growth boundary in the U.S. was in Fayette County, Kentucky in 1958. In 1973, the state of Oregon enacted a law limiting urban land area through urban growth boundaries. The state’s largest city, Portland, is a leader in enacting urban consolidation policies that seek to make areas more compact. Many other areas of the country are engaging in these “smart growth” initiatives.

Smart growth strategies for the Upstate have been identified by the Strom Thurmond Institute and Upstate Forever. Characterized by low impact development, these include:

• Revitalization and adaptive reuse of abandoned buildings
• Adoption of a one-to-one growth ratio
• Infrastructure and service boundaries
• Transfer of development rights program
• A “Big Box” ordinance
• A county conservation bank
• A traditional neighborhood design ordinance
• A mandatory open space development ordinance
• Adoption of the transect model