More Greenville, SC - Main Street

Now getting back to Main Street and out of the park...the building in the photo below on the corner is new, but it fits in perfectly.

The large building on the right (above) is the Westin Poinsett Hotel, my favorite building in Greenville. I realize this is almost the same picture as the previous one, but you can see all of the hotel in this one.

   
The next few pictures below came as a complete shock to me - when I worked here the area to the left was simply a boring concrete plaza. Now it's a hotel with a large grassy area in front and fits in perfectly.

The stone wall is a fountain that trickles water - in the opening to the right are public restrooms (and they weren't creepy)

I think this sunken plaza owes it success to the hotel and more important, the hotel bar that is located on the ground floor where the awnings are. We had drinks there one night and it was packed..

Some whimsical things along Main Street:

The last thing I have to say about Main Street is that you can always find you way - the city has done an amazing job with signage.

Signs pointing the way to businesses off Main Street

Map of downtown

The street signs in Greenville are great! You can clearly read what street you're on and its neatly incorporated into the stop light. 

I wish I had more shots of Main Street, but we got there the night before and had to leave after lunch that day for the Clemson game!

Greenville, South Carolina - the best small city you probably haven't been to

Recently I headed down to Greenville, SC for a school alumni event. I worked in Greenville when I was in grad school and it was great to be back! Greenville has an awesome downtown - Main Street has lots of great restaurants and shops, there's a minor league baseball team that feeds in the Red Sox and a professional hockey team.

The Reedy River runs through downtown Greenville, which the city has turned into a beautiful landmark and amenity, Falls Park. The one thing I always notice about Greenville is how they use many different materials in the streetscaping and landscaping. This may seem like a little thing, but it really enriches the built environment. It would be much cheaper to just build using plain old concrete.

First up: Falls Park at the Reedy River

the falls

The Liberty Bridge

The next couple of pictures are looking down from the bridge onto the park land next to the falls:

Our lunch spot, one of my favorites:

The pocket park in the background in the above picture is beautiful.  Taking a closer look...

The ledge of the fountain above is the perfect height and width for sitting - that may seem like such a simple thing, but it's a simple thing many cities overlook or discourage, so that people can't loiter. But isn't loitering the point of a park?

 

 The use of stone makes all of the difference in this park - it wouldn't be the same without it. Can you imagine if it was just plain concrete step and paving? It would be so boring. The landscaping is also lush and gorgeous.