{"id":1342,"date":"2024-08-28T19:43:08","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T19:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/shi-institute\/?p=1342"},"modified":"2026-04-07T13:27:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:27:22","slug":"1342","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/shi-institute\/1342\/","title":{"rendered":"Planning Fellow Ella Filippo ’26 talks about her work in TR"},"content":{"rendered":"

Home to a vibrant Main Street and the popular Swamp Rabbit Trail, the City of Travelers Rest is a testament to the value of thoughtful, sustainability-oriented planning. I am very grateful to have spent the summer experiencing the attention and energy that City staff devote to managing growth, pursuing advantageous projects and supporting the City\u2019s unique character.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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A segment of the creek that I observed during my hike in the Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve, which helped inform the direction of my research for my independent project.<\/p><\/div>\n

My name is Ella Filippo \u201826, and I am a Planning Fellow at the City of Travelers Rest. Working with Planning Director Jay Martin, I am responsible for attending meetings, completing reports, researching grants and regulations, and organizing an independent project on riparian buffers. As a Politics and International Affairs and Urban Studies double major, I have enjoyed seeing the inner workings of local government and how its operations affect residents, businesses, and visitors alike.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A sign posted for a subdivision hearing, which is part of the Preliminary Subdivision Plan process. This development was approved at the July Planning Commission meeting to move ahead with permitting.<\/p><\/div>\n

Planning is a crucial component of sustainable development. Government planners are in a unique position to strengthen environmental and social protections, work with developers to meet community needs, and advocate for public goods. During my fellowship, I have maintained notes and reports for upcoming subdivisions and zoning requests, sitting in on the discussions and council meetings that drive this process. I have spent the rest of my time researching projects and grants that could help the City provide recreation access and preserve habitat corridors. For my independent project, I tracked the creeks, topography, flood zones, and surrounding land uses that would best support trails within a 100-foot riparian buffer. This allowed me to explore possibilities to develop recreation space while upholding sustainability goals.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Planning affects everyone\u2019s daily lives and surroundings. Architecture and landscaping, street widths and sidewalks, and the layout and amenities of neighborhoods are only a few examples of the wide variety of decisions made or influenced by planners. This fellowship has changed the way I see my surroundings, as I can better appreciate how a road, business, or home came to look and function. It is an exciting field, and it requires diverse perspectives to reflect its wide-reaching scope. Get involved and learn more about planning \u2013 there are so many projects and initiatives to explore!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Keep up with the City of Travelers Rest\u2019s events and activities at <\/span>https:\/\/travelersrestsc.com\/<\/span><\/a> and on Instagram @discovertravelersrestsc!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Home to a vibrant Main Street and the popular Swamp Rabbit Trail, the City of Travelers Rest is a testament to the value of thoughtful, sustainability-oriented planning. I am very […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1343,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/shi-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/shi-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/shi-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/shi-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/shi-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1342"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/shi-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1351,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/shi-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1342\/revisions\/1351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/shi-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/shi-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/shi-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/shi-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}