Economic Means and Standards of Living
While
Spartanburg County offers lower than state averages in the cost of
renting or owning a home and higher than state averages in per capita
income, the standard of living is still not where it needs to be.
Locally, 15.3 percent of minority families own and occupy their own
home, as compared with 84.7 percent of white families. In addition, the
county must decrease the number of people living in unsound dwellings
and find ways to accurately report and respond to the homeless
population. The Taskforce stresses the critical and immediate need to
address housing and job readiness issues in Spartanburg and seek local
efforts to provide relief for our distressed neighborhoods and
low-income households. Homeownership is beneficial for creating wealth
and stabilizing neighborhoods, but it is not the solution for all
households. Housing strategies should be tailored to local market
conditions, and housing policies should be regional.
The purpose of the 2006-2010 Community Improvement Plan is to use the data in Strategic: Community Indicators VI to
influence the improvement of Spartanburg and the quality of life for
its citizens. More than 300 Spartanburg citizens contributed to the
creation of the Community Improvement Plan. Each Taskforce developed a
comprehensive executive summary report plan for addressing the
issues. In the following pages you can see the
priorities, opportunities, best practices, and partnerships that the
Taskforces recommend using to make significant improvement. By sharing
this information it is our hope to provide a common ground for public,
private and non-profit leaders to work together to address these and
other related issues.
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