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Report: 80% of respondents support pedestrianized Morgan Square

Molly Hulsey //August 12, 2021//

Report: 80% of respondents support pedestrianized Morgan Square

Molly Hulsey //August 12, 2021//

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Closing off Morgan Square to pedestrian traffic gave restaurants much needed outdoor space during pandemic occupancy restrictions, according to Smith. (Photo/Molly Hulsey)It was the best of options. It was the worst of options.

At least that’s the feedback One Spartanburg Inc. CEO Allen Smith received from Spartanburg residents on the city’s decision to open Morgan Square only to pedestrian traffic as an emergency antidote to the impact of COVID-19 on downtown restaurants and retailers. 

But if the Spartanburg business community has anything to say about, the pedestrian-friendly zone should be here to stay.

Of the 3,422 Spartanburg residents who answered a survey on the topic, 80% favored some form of a “pedestrianized” Main Street-Morgan Square, Smith said. Of the percentage in favor of the decision, 69% said they were in support of the closure being a permanent one.

All potential downtown investors and chamber investors have spoken in support of the pedestrian plaza, he said, and on Monday, One Spartanburg Inc. announced a campaign to push for a permanent pedestrian-friendly Morgan Square as an official policy ahead of an Aug. 23 City Council vote on the issue.

“What should happen Aug. 24, is a real conversation about reimagining Morgan Square,” Smith said. “The epicenter of our county economy is downtown Spartanburg, and the core of downtown Spartanburg is Morgan Square. It’s not leveraged. It’s not strategically programmed. It needs a refreshed urban design. All those things need to happen, and this is why we think that: three years ago we commissioned a fiscal impact study that said that if we were to really create a destination — really invested in strategic programming and urban design — what could that mean.”

A very conservative estimate from the study, he said, pointed toward a $13 million economic impact overall in the county, with retail being the biggest winner.

And so far, according to One Spartanburg Inc. data, a pedestrianized Morgan Square has been a fiscal leap in that direction, with $227.6 million in the investment pipeline since it was closed off to vehicular traffic.

In May 2021, the city collected higher hospitality tax revenues than any time before the pandemic, while downtown restaurants saw a 22% increase in food and beverage sales in contrast to those in May 2019.  

Restaurants not contiguous to Morgan Square also saw that uptick in sales.

“We took the data and pulled out the restaurants on Morgan Square, and looked at downtown hospitality tax,” said Smith. “Pulling that out: up 22% from pre-pandemic levels.”

Using anonymous cell phone data, the study also revealed more pedestrian traffic than before the pandemic in Morgan Square, but also with spillover in the streets beyond where pedestrian traffic was up 17%.

“With no major events, office populations significantly down because of remote working and then we’ve all been downtown and seen the people with the lanyards walking around — QS1 requires hundreds of their employees to get up and take a walk twice a day — they were tracked as well pre-pandemic,” Smith said. “None of that was happening and still, pedestrian traffic was up 17% in the outlying areas.” 

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