For those of you who know me closely I grew up in a Spartanburg County neighborhood called Arcadia. One day for fun I was in the USC Upstate library, and I came across this neighborhood research analysis book for Spartanburg County. This census dated back to 1970.
Arcadia has so much potential. It is located near both I-85 and I-26, it is adjacent to the Westgate Mall/Westside shopping area, the Heron Circle area of fast food restaurants, three colleges (Spartanburg Community College, Spartanburg Methodist College, and USC Upstate), and is within a 10-15 minute drive to downtown Spartanburg and two other colleges (Wofford and Converse). I always said that there needs to be a park or community center in Arcadia so our youth will have something close-by (walking and biking distance) to do. There is the Salvation Army Community Center in nearby Saxon (which has a walking trail, park, and indoor game room), but Hayne Street is not the most walkable or bikable road. I learned recently that there was a park located by the former Mayfair Mills (before all the cotton mills went out of business). The park included a swimming pool, two tennis courts, a baseball field, and a picnic area. Why they got rid of this park is purely beyond me. I feel a bit cheated that I (and other area youth) missed out on this. I know children around here love being outdoors, as I see many of them biking or skating/skateboarding out on the streets and the Spring Street sidewalk. Even with cheaper gas prices, not everyone wants to have to drive to a park.
