Walking down the western side of Magnolia Street will be a lot less claustraphobic pretty soon, as our latest streetscaping project is underway between Dunbar and W Saint John streets. The Magnolia Street project is the third of the City's $2.3 million streetscaping plan, passed by Council in 2014. Designed to improve storefront visibility, create additional public space, and significantly improve the street's pedestrian experience. Plans call for replacing and widening the sidewalk, as well as constructing four “sidewalk patios,” around 24 ft. wide and 42 ft. long, meant to serve as outdoor dining space. The project also includes changes to the street's landscaping, removing the existing trees located in the sidewalk, and replacing them with trees planted primarily around the patio spaces. No on-street parking will be lost as a result of the project. But that's far from the only thing happening in downtown Spartanburg this summer, with construction sites (and soon-to-be construction sites) seemingly around every corner. Today on the podcast, we're digging a little deeper on this streetscaping project, and taking a larger look at both public and private investment that has downtown Spartanburg buzzing in 2016.