Greenville City Council Candidate Tina Belge on making Greenville a safer, more bikeable, and more affordable place to live

Greenville keeps topping “best of” lists, but locals know the real measure is how a city feels block by block—on a bike, in a car, at a crosswalk, and in a neighborhood where teachers, nurses, and first responders can actually afford to live. In this episode of Selling Greenville, Greenville City Council Candidate Tina Belge joins to talk shop—no endorsements, just substance—about safer streets, smarter transit, neighborhood “mini-downtowns,” housing that actually fits people’s lives, and why enforcement matters as much as plans. (Spoiler: she’s pro-bike lane and pro-common sense, not pro-“sit in the middle of the intersection and hope for the best.”)

What follows is a grounded, practical look at where Greenville’s been investing, where it’s lagging, and the simple moves that could make daily life smoother (and less honk-heavy).

Greenville City Council Candidate Tina Belge: A People-First Blueprint

Tina Belge comes to the race with deep local chops—planning, housing, and community engagement—all tied directly to how Greenville grows. She’s served with the Greenville Housing Fund, worked as a Greenville County planner, and now leads Catalyst Community Consulting, advocating for affordable housing, planning, and neighborhood-level engagement. In short, she speaks “city,” “county,” and “real life” fluently. (Multilingual, but for zoning.)

Her approach: keep downtown thriving, but shift more attention to neighborhood nodes—think mini-downtowns that spread opportunity beyond Main Street while keeping traffic, bikes, and pedestrians safer along the way.

From One Skyline to Many: Building “Mini-Downtowns” (Without Losing Our Soul)

Downtown’s great—no argument there. But Greenville City Council Candidate Tina Belge wants to scale the magic to other corridors the city already mapped in the Greenville 2040 plan. That means incentivizing real activity (and reuse) in areas like Pleasantburg (north and south), Rutherford, Wade Hampton, the Cherrydale gateway, Laurens Road around McAlister Square out toward CU-ICAR and Verdae, and the airport area.

The operative word is incentives—not just zoning. Adaptive reuse for vacant buildings, targeted affordability, and small-business support so local shops aren’t priced out or pushed out. (We love a good chain, but not only chains.)

Safer Streets: Enforcement, Lanes That Work, and Trolleys That Actually Roll

Belge’s downtown to-do list is blissfully unglamorous: fix bottlenecks (think Stone and Academy turn lanes), curb red-light running, and give police practical places to stage and patrol. She’s in favor of protected bike lanes—with real separation when possible—and incremental improvements tied to how people actually move, including planned changes on corridors like Pendleton Street and around the downtown airport.

Transit-wise, she’s big on making the trolley more usable daily (not just weekend evenings) and creating park-and-ride options to major job centers like the I-85 industrial corridor. More density downtown means better transit math; better transit math means fewer cars circling the block (and fewer existential parking hunts). (We’ve all whispered “please be open” to a parking deck. No judgment.)

Food Trucks, Culture, and Keeping Greenville…Greenville

On street life, Belge wants easier paths for food trucks and micro-vendors to plug into public spaces—without undercutting brick-and-mortar. That might mean revisiting local regs and carving out intentional spots where small operators can thrive. She also wants to preserve unique elements—murals, historic facades, quirky corners—so Greenville doesn’t get over-“freshened” into looking like everywhere else. (If your engagement photo spot disappears, we all lose a little.)

Housing That Meets People Where They Live (Literally)

Belge’s housing lens is both pragmatic and hopeful:

• Missing Middle matters. Duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, and garden flats can fill the gap between single-family and 200-unit complexes. The city created districts for these forms; the next step is actually mapping and permitting more of them in the right places.

• ADUs should be simpler. Since the development code update, only 12 accessory dwelling units have been built in two years. Belge points to orientation/setback rules (like forcing a backyard ADU to face the main street even where alleys make sense) and permitting friction as fixable barriers.

• Tiny-home subdivisions: She’s open to them in the city—an on-ramp to affordable homeownership for buyers who are locked out of the traditional market.

• Public land → public good. Put city-owned parcels into land trusts or mixed-income neighborhood trusts to create long-term affordable ownership (80–120% AMI) plus equitable rental options.

• Activate long-stalled parcels. Work with private owners of vacant sites that have sat for decades to unlock projects that match neighborhood goals. (Either build it or let’s build something that works.)

Her stance on the market is refreshingly balanced: build all the housing we can—market and affordable—while cutting needless friction that inflates costs. Then, target policy where the market can’t or won’t reach (workforce housing for teachers, police, nurses, and service workers). It’s a both/and, not an either/or. (Hot take: “more homes” and “better places” can be friends.)

City vs. County: Collaboration, Not Crossfire

Belge has operated across both sides of Main Street’s invisible line. She’s proud of city-led initiatives (like the housing fund and connectivity investments) and also points to county efforts—ARPA dollars toward housing, a multifamily tax abatement tool, and broader collaboration with municipalities. Where she sees opportunity is bridging—keeping city and county rowing in the same direction on housing forms, permitting sanity, and neighborhood investments that keep families rooted.

On the now-scrapped county UDO, she’s candid: years of work meant to simplify and align standards went poof. The likely path now is piecemeal amendments—less elegant, but still progress. (Policy is a marathon, not a sprint. Bring snacks.)

Water, Trees, and the Things We Miss Until We Don’t Have Them

Infrastructure questions inevitably surface: water/sewer capacity constraints on the east side and in older districts need sustained investment, especially as annexations bring older networks into the fold. Belge also wants action on the city’s tree fund—roughly $3 million on hand—to replant after Helene, replace aging oaks before they fail, and hold builders to saving healthy trees inside setbacks where possible. Shade equals comfort, cleaner air, and quieter streets. (Also, fewer “why is my house 10° hotter?” texts.)

Childcare Is Economic Infrastructure (Because It Is)

Belge calls Greenville a childcare desert and sees two levers:

1. Update zoning to make siting childcare simpler.

2. Fix the city’s excellent but over-subsidized after-school and camp programs by moving toward a fair, income-based structure. That could restore pre-COVID capacity, potentially expand under-4 care, and help more parents get to work. (Cue every employer nodding.)

Downtown Traffic: The Un-Sexy Fixes That Change Your Day

From enforcing red-light behavior to right-sizing turn lanes (hello, Stone and Academy) and giving officers workable staging areas, Belge leans into the small changes that ripple big. She’s also game for the city taking over select state roads where it makes sense—fewer layers, faster fixes—while advocating for state flexibility and funding tools that match Greenville’s pace of growth.

How to Reach Tina Belge

Per the episode, Tina Belge’s contact information will be included in the show notes for listeners who want to learn more or get in touch during the campaign.

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Bottom Line

Greenville doesn’t need a reinvention; it needs a recalibration—safer streets, working bike lanes, transit that matches real commutes, and neighborhood nodes that spread opportunity without sanding off character. Greenville City Council Candidate Tina Belge brings a planner’s eye and a neighbor’s priorities: make room for missing-middle homes and ADUs, streamline what’s fixable in permitting, activate long-quiet parcels, plant trees before we miss them, and treat childcare like the economic engine it is. None of it is flashy; all of it is tangible—and that’s exactly the point. (Less sizzle, more sidewalks.)

Ien Araneta

Journal & Podcast Editor | Selling Greenville