The gifts have all been given, the food eaten, and the belt subsequently loosened; the mad holiday marathon has finally come to an end. So as we all nurse our tinsel-filled Christmas hangovers and get back to the grind of these last few days of 2012, it's worth looking back on the last 12 months to see where they've taken us. 

From putting challenges like the City's legacy pension system and the old Arkwright Dump behind us, to the grand opening of Stewart Park and the huge success of Skating on the Square, it's been quite a year in our City, and taken by themselves, those issues are easy enough to explain. The real question, the one that we'd be remiss not to ask is: How do the accomplishments and progress made in 2012 fit into the larger vision for Spartanburg as we move into a new year? What direction did 2012 see our City taking?

For a podcast this ambitious, clearly we were going to need the big guns, so we got the two most knowledgable people around to put it all in perspective for us, City Manager Ed Memmott and Assistant City Manager Chris Story. Join us for part one of that conversation.