Greenville: rebirth on the Reedy River

In northern South Carolina, Greenville has managed to transform an old elevated highway into one of the most livable urban centers in all of the United States.

The downtown, reborn around the waterfalls of the Reedy River, is comfortably walkable.

The Falls Park on the Reedy, built after demolishing an old elevated highway, offers a direct view of the waterfall at the heart of downtown.

A few steps away, the Liberty Bridge, an elegant asymmetrical suspension footbridge, remains an architectural symbol recognisable from Greenville's urban revitalisation.

Continuing along Main Street, you walk among restaurants and art galleries in a pedestrian centre repeatedly awarded at national level.

Towards evening, the West End neighbourhood comes alive with live music venues in converted historic industrial buildings.

In the 1960s, Greenville demolished a highway bridge that completely covered its city waterfall, then decades later rebuilt the area into a public park now regarded as a model of urban regeneration across the entire United States.

The Liberty Bridge, completed in 2004, remains the only asymmetrical suspension pedestrian bridge in the entire United States, specifically designed to not obstruct the view of the waterfall below.