CLEMSON FANS: OFF-TOPIC, BUT WHAT IN THE WORLD HAVE THEY DONE TO DOWNTOWN CLEMSON? Okay, Clemson fans, I know this is off-topic, but it's the bye week, so let's talk about something different. WHAT IN THE WORLD HAVE THEY DONE TO OUR LITTLE TOWN OF CLEMSON? I'm a longtime Clemson resident. I grew up here, went to Daniel High School, attended Clemson University, and have spent more hours than I could ever count walking, driving, eating, shopping, and hanging out in downtown Clemson. I've watched this town change over the decades, and I've got to tell you, I don't think much of what they've done has been an improvement. It started, for me, when they tore down the old Clemson House. Remember that beautiful little hill, the valley, the overlook, and the way that entire area used to look? That was part of Clemson's character. It gave the town a certain charm you couldn't manufacture. GONE. And what did we get in return? That enormous business school building shoved right up against the sidewalk, completely changing the landscape and the feel of that entrance to campus. Then came the downtown road projects. Good grief. This is a town built around one of the most respected engineering universities in America, and somehow we ended up with one of the most ridiculous traffic situations imaginable. Who decided putting those giant speed tables right at the traffic lights was a good idea? You're supposed to slow traffic BEFORE it reaches an intersection, not create another obstacle right where traffic is already stopping! And don't even get me started on that pedestrian crossing. YOU KNOW WHAT I WOULD HAVE BUILT THERE? A beautiful, architecturally designed pedestrian bridge connecting downtown Clemson to the university. Make it a landmark. Make it a grand entrance to Clemson University. Something that students, alumni, and visitors could actually appreciate and photograph for generations. Instead, we've got everybody sitting in traffic while wave after wave of pedestrians crosses the street. Then there's the student housing. How many more enormous apartment buildings are we going to allow outside developers to cram into every available piece of property? How many more trees have to come down? How much more of Clemson's natural landscape has to disappear before somebody says ENOUGH? And then there's what the City of Clemson has done to downtown itself. WHERE DID ALL THE TREES GO? Seriously, have you driven through downtown lately and looked around? The shade, the greenery, the small-town atmosphere, the character that made Clemson feel like CLEMSON — so much of it has been stripped away. We've traded a beautiful, charming college town for concrete, apartments, oversized buildings, and what increasingly looks like every other overdeveloped college town in America. It might as well be Athens or Auburn at this point. And before somebody jumps in and tells me that progress is inevitable, I understand that. Clemson is growing. The university is growing. Businesses need to thrive, and students need places to live. BUT PROGRESS DOESN'T HAVE TO MEAN DESTROYING THE VERY THINGS THAT MADE A PLACE SPECIAL. You can grow a town while preserving its character. You can build new facilities without making everything look like a concrete jungle. You can improve traffic without creating an even bigger mess. Maybe it's just me getting older and remembering what Clemson used to look like. Maybe I'm being nostalgic. But I genuinely believe Clemson has lost a lot of its charm, and I wonder how many longtime residents, alumni, and fans feel the same way. SO HERE'S MY QUESTION, CLEMSON FANS: Do you LIKE what downtown Clemson has become, or do you MISS the old Clemson? Are these changes actually improvements, or have the university, developers, and city planners gone too far? And if you could change ONE thing about downtown Clemson today, what would it be? Let's hear from the old-timers who remember Clemson House, the trees, the hills, and the town before all this development. And let's hear from the younger crowd, too. Maybe you love what downtown has become. Am I just an old Clemson guy yelling at the clouds, or have we genuinely lost something special? It's the bye week. We've got time. LET'S HEAR IT! 🐅🧡💜