Taylors Residents Make A Wish List for Change, Growth

Remember this song lyric? "It only takes a spark to get a fire going."

A group of Taylors residents, community members and businesses are gathering together each month to get the conversation started about not only revitalizing Taylors, but bettering the community.

Delores Eanes lives on Main Street and attended her first meeting Wednesday. She's hoping to make a difference in the town she's called home for at least 25 years.

"I'd like to see businesses revitalized and more community events," Eanes said. "I love the small town feel, near a big city."

Eanes sentiments were echoed by other residents gathered around tables at the Taylors Ministry Center, as they revisited "The Place" questionnaire.

The exercise, designed to talk about the community's strengths and weaknesses, sparked an interesting discussion among residents about what things they love about the area and the things they want to change.

Retired school teacher Mark Stewart said he'd like to see the community's "Main Street look like a Main Street."

"We need parks and sidewalks and businesses," he said.

Most residents said during the meeting that they like the fact that the community is unincorporated and many prefer to the keep it as such. Others talked about the location of Taylors, which allows for an easy to drive to Greenville and Spartanburg.

But what residents want most is to add value to the community they love.

"We need better transportation in this area, starting with pedestrian walkways," Patrick Wagner said.

Roger Whitehead said he'd like for traffic to flow in to Taylors the same way it flows out to Greer and Greenville.

"I'd like to be able to eat, shop and be entertained here," Whitehead said. "I'd like for people from Greer and Greenville to come here for those things, just as we do in their communities."

The wish list continued to grow.

With the growing arts community at the old mill, residents said there is a way to capitalize on the arts. Residents suggested a health/fitness walking path that would bring residents to the artists. Another group suggested a coffee shop or a restaurant on Main that could be a gathering spot for conversation.

"People have energy," said Bob Ripley, an artist who designs and builds guitars and who is relocating his business to Taylors from Greenville. "There's something good happening here."

The organizers for Taylors Town Square are compiling the information from the surveys taken Wednesday, and those gathered at the March evening meeting, to determine where to start focusing the group's energy.

The next Taylors Town Square meeting will be held at noon May 1.