25 replies to this topic

[krazeeboi]

SC's results are to be released next week, so this thread is to discuss the new population figures for cities, counties, metros, etc.

[vicupstate]

SC will be just about the last state to get these figures.  

The battle for largest SC city will be settled soon.  What will it be, the long-reigning champ, Columbia, or long ago titleholder Charleston?

I think it will be pretty close, but Columbia probably holds on.  I wouldn't bet the mortgage on it though.

[krazeeboi]

Yeah, I also think that Columbia will hold on to the title by just a few thousand. Who knows what this upcoming decade will bring though.

[erm1981]

I would be willing to bet Columbia loses the title of largest city to Charleston, but probably not this census.

......do you guys think Greenville will ever be able to annex all that population that it has currently to pass small towns like Mount Pleasant, and Rock Hill?  We all know you could fit these places about 5 or 6 times inside of Greenville's urban area.

Edited by erm1981, 19 March 2011 - 01:49 PM.

[GvilleSC]

erm1981, on 19 March 2011 - 01:47 PM, said:

......do you guys think Greenville will ever be able to annex all that population that it has currently to pass small towns like Mount Pleasant, and Rock Hill?  We all know you could fit these places about 5 or 6 times inside of Greenville's urban area.

Well, the City's leaders decided on their recent retreat to make annexations a top priority. We'll see how willing residents are to entertain/accept the idea. Plus, a major initiative of the new massive West End park is to activate a housing redevelopment and birth in that part of the City, just west of downtown. If both opportunities are fairly successful, then we should see a decent amount of growth within the city. Only time will tell. It'll be interesting to watch.

[Spartan]

vicupstate, on 18 March 2011 - 10:19 AM, said:

SC will be just about the last state to get these figures.  

The battle for largest SC city will be settled soon.  What will it be, the long-reigning champ, Columbia, or long ago titleholder Charleston?

I think it will be pretty close, but Columbia probably holds on.  I wouldn't bet the mortgage on it though.

I think Charleston will take the lead. I personally wouldn't mind seeing that change happen for no other reason than it's time for something different in South Carolina (granted that this change is really reinstating what was the norm for centuries).

GvilleSC, on 19 March 2011 - 10:22 PM, said:

Well, the City's leaders decided on their recent retreat to make annexations a top priority. We'll see how willing residents are to entertain/accept the idea. Plus, a major initiative of the new massive West End park is to activate a housing redevelopment and birth in that part of the City, just west of downtown. If both opportunities are fairly successful, then we should see a decent amount of growth within the city. Only time will tell. It'll be interesting to watch.

Spartanburg has adopted a similar mindset. I think cities across the state are starting to realize they will die if they don't find a way annex.

[vicupstate]

Census info. out today.  Legislature got the numbers yesterday.

BTW, I heard on the news Detroit LOST 25% of its population in the last 10 years.

[Spartan]

Columbia retains a healthy lead over Charleston. It's not anywhere as close as last time.

Top 5 largest cities in South Carolina

• Columbia, 129,272
  
• Charleston, 120,083
  
• North Charleston, 97,471
  
• Mount Pleasant, 67,843
  
• Rock Hill, 66,154

Top 5 largest counties in South Carolina

• Greenville, 451,225; +18.9%
  
• Richland, 384,504; +19.9%
  
• Charleston, 350,209; +13.0 percent
  
• Spartanburg, 284,307; +12.0 percent
  
• Horry, 269,291; +37.0%

Beaufort, Dorchester, Horry and York counties all grew by more than 30 percent.



Read more: http://www.thestate....l#ixzz1HSVLMecm

[krazeeboi]

I'm disappointed that Rock Hill didn't gain enough population for its name to be added back to the Charlotte metro area designation. It only needed about 6K more or so for that to happen. Otherwise, no real shockers or anything here.

[CorgiMatt]

The biggest surprise to me is Richland County's 19.9% gain.  I was expecting it to be around 12 to 15%, 15%+ being the state's growth rate.

[krazeeboi]

OK, here are the new MSA/CSA numbers for the Big Three with growth in absolute numbers and percentages since 2000:

Columbia MSA: 767,598 (+120,440) 18.6%
Charleston MSA: 664,607 (+115,574) 21%
Greenville MSA: 636,986 (+77,046) 13.8%

Greenville CSA: 1,266,995 (+138,891) 12.3%
Columbia CSA: 805,106 (+121,840) 17.8%

[citylife]

SC is one of the top 10 fastest growing states in the country according to this article from USA Today: http://www.usatoday....na-census_N.htm



Oh and how you know you live in an odd state:

Easily living in the largest county population wise but the city population doesn't even crack the top 5. Nothing real suprising or shocking though when it comes to the numbers/statistics.

Edited by citylife, 24 March 2011 - 01:57 AM.

[CorgiMatt]

krazeeboi, on 23 March 2011 - 05:15 PM, said:

OK, here are the new MSA/CSA numbers for the Big Three with growth in absolute numbers and percentages since 2000:

Columbia MSA: 767,598 (+120,440) 18.6%
Charleston MSA: 664,607 (+115,574) 21%
Greenville MSA: 636,986 (+77,046) 13.8%

Greenville CSA: 1,266,995 (+138,891) 12.3%
Columbia CSA: 805,106 (+121,840) 17.8%

Those are some healthy growth rates.  They're substantial yet sustainable.

[vicupstate]

Localities Census Figures

Largest Cities

1) Columbia
2) Charleston
3) North Charleston
4) Mount Pleasant
5) Rock Hill
6) Greenville
7) Summerville
8) Sumter
9) Hilton Head Island
10) Florence
11) Spartanburg
12) Goose Creek

9,10,11 are separated by less than 90 people. Goose Creek will probably pass all three (plus Sumter too) by 2020, if current trends continue.  

Biggest surprises to me were 1) Size of Columbia's lead over Charleston 2) Florence surpassing Spartanburg.

[krazeeboi]

It's worth noting that Columbia also added residents after the Census was conducted via its push to get donut hole residents annexed. I wouldn't be surprised if the city has hit 130K by now.

I'm also surprised that Florence has passed Spartanburg, although not by much.

[CorgiMatt]

That's partly because Spartanburg bucked the trend and lost 6% of its residents.  Conversely, Greenville grew by a couple thousand but still fell to #6.  With any help from the state legislature, our cities' new focus on annexation might make a big difference by next census.

[krazeeboi]

Spartan, on 23 March 2011 - 02:58 PM, said:

Columbia retains a healthy lead over Charleston. It's not anywhere as close as last time.

vicupstate, on 23 March 2011 - 08:07 PM, said:

Biggest surprises to me were 1) Size of Columbia's lead over Charleston

Maybe I'm missing something, but while Columbia is still the state's largest city, Charleston has narrowed the gap since 2000. At that time, there was roughly a 20K difference between the two cities; Charleston has now cut that in half to about 9K. I think I'm a bit more impressed with how Charleston has been able to catch up a little, especially within the last couple of years with Riley's push to annex portions of James Island. However, it remains to be seen if Charleston can continue this rate of growth via annexation, especially if the state supreme court decides that the town of James Island has a right to exist under existing law.

[Spartan]

You're no missing anything. I thought the numbers were both right around 100,000; but that was 10 years ago

I think that with regards to Spartanburg, the loss is explained by the removal and replacement of several large swaths of housing. While most of the public housing was replaced, the condos were not. Spartanburg has a unique set of challenges to overcome to get the real population number going up. Part of that is the inability to annex anything significant.

Ultimately it's the annexation issue that keeps coming back to the surface. It's not just about population statistics. Its about how the Statehouse views cities as a nuisance.

[ZUMAN]

krazeeboi, on 24 March 2011 - 07:04 AM, said:

Maybe I'm missing something, but while Columbia is still the state's largest city, Charleston has narrowed the gap since 2000. At that time, there was roughly a 20K difference between the two cities; Charleston has now cut that in half to about 9K. I think I'm a bit more impressed with how Charleston has been able to catch up a little, especially within the last couple of years with Riley's push to annex portions of James Island. However, it remains to be seen if Charleston can continue this rate of growth via annexation, especially if the state supreme court decides that the town of James Island has a right to exist under existing law.

Regardless of the outcome of the town of James Island, Charleston has lots of room to grow.  Johns Island and West Ashley have thousands of acres that can be annexed.  Also, Charleston
has thousands of acres already within the city limits that's still undeveloped.  Example being the planned Long Savannah development in West Ashley that is over 1,000 acres.   Annexations have slowed down
due to the downturn in housing.   Things willl get back on track within the next couple years.  I'm not saying Charleston will ever overtake Columbia.  But don't count Charleston out either.

[CorgiMatt]

There's a bunch of land area Columbia can annex, too, much of it already populated.  It'll just depend.  Other SC cities also have lots of annexation potential.