Downtown Sumter Activity

[JT Boy]

Anybody have any recent experience with downtown Sumter? I was through there about 2 years ago, and the downtown was pretty dismal and abandonded. There was a newish medical building on one edge of downtown and of course the lovely Opera House building, but the streets were undergoing major work and many, many of the storefronts were empty and dirty looking.

Its a shame because it would seem that Sumter would have great potential as its own small city, as well as a satellite city of Columbia. Perhaps now that Shaw AFB is staying put for the time being, Sumter can stir up more investment interest. Any updates would be appreciated. Thanks much.

[Spartan]

We have a thread about Sumter which contains a few pics:

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=4045

Unfortunately I don't know much about Sumter. Hopefully someone out there does.

[waccamatt]

Unfortunately, Sumter does not have alot of job opportunities, which is keeping it from growing much. More and more people from Sumter commute to Columbia for work. I wouldn't be surprised to see Sumter County added to the Columbia MSA after the next census. Orangeburg might be added, too.

[krazeeboi]

^That would push the Columbia MSA close to one million.

[Spartan]

Closer. but not that close.

It would bump the Columbia MSA to 785,399 and the CSA to 822,608, based on the 2004 estimates.

[krazeeboi]

You think that by the time of the next census in 2010, with the growth from the counties already in the MSA, by adding Sumter and Orangeburg counties the MSA would at least be pushing 900,000? Maybe, could be, possibly? LOL

[Spartan]

I guess the question is, are Sumter and Orangeburg that connected to Columbia?

[krazeeboi]

I would imagine that Sumter is, being only one county east of Richland. Orangeburg is so-so. I have a cousin that lives in Orangeburg who commutes to Columbia; my mother did at one time at well, but she now works in Orangeburg. Orangeburg is a toss-up in my book.

[waccamatt]

Dealing with the public as I do, there are a surprising number of people that commute from both Sumter and Orangeburg to Columbia. In fact the husband of someone I recently hired drives to Sumter for work because the schools are better in Columbia.

[Mr.Marc]

I'm from Sumter and do believe that we will one day be added to Columbia's MSA and it should make the MSA 1 million or more if Orangeburg, Newberry and some of Kershaw County is included.

I currently live with my sister here in Columbia and go home to Sumter on the weekends. No there is not a lot of activity going on in Sumter depending on the kind of person you are, but you can't beat it's proximity to places (45 mins. to Cola, an hour and 20 mins to MB, an hour and a half to Charleston, etc., etc.).

Our downtown is currently being renovated with new bricks replacing some pavement (similar to Cola's streetscaping being done downtown). We have also added two nice and fairly large fountains on our Main Street. Maybe I'll take some pics and post them on here one day.

I can't remember when downtown was the hustle and bustle that people speak about. I was born during the same time our mall was built (which seems to be declining in foot traffic). I really don't go to our mall (Sumter Mall, which used to be Jessamine Mall) much, we would always shop in Florence, Columbia or Charleston.

[Mr.Marc]

Oh, and about people commuting from Sumter to Columbia. One would only need to drive down 76/378 from Cola to Sumter to see the enormous amount of people driving from Sumter to Columbia everyday. I often see a lot of people I know on the way to Columbia on Monday mornings.

I also try to make my way to 76/378 on Friday afternoons to beat the traffic (and I seldomly do).

[appatone]

Awww, the Sumter pictures on that thread are gone. I would have liked to see it since I have a few friends here in the Charlotte area that are from Sumter. I've heard a lot about it.

[krazeeboi]

I was leaving Orangeburg today on my way to Charlotte for work around 5 pm, and if just half of the people traveling east on I-26 were on their way back to Orangeburg, then it is very possible that Orangeburg County will be added to Columbia's MSA by the time of the next census. But I still think it's a toss up. I wish I had some stats handy though.

[Spartan]

I think the entire length 26 needs to be widened to 6 lanes immediately. Traffic is always horirble.

[krazeeboi]

I was thinking the same thing Spartan; they'd better start plans to widen it now before traffic REALLY gets horrible. I'm glad Rock Hill had the foresight to widen I-77 to 8 lanes up to the NC state line.

[monsoon]

Believe it or not, significant numbers of people from Sumter make the 2 hour trip to Myrtle Beach to work. The money is there and the demand for jobs far outstrips what is available from the local workforce. Sumpter like Darlington is at the edge of Myrtle Beach labor market, but these commuters may keep Sumter out of the Columbia MSA.

[krazeeboi]

Wow, I had no idea a significant number of folks traveled all the way from Sumter to MB for work!

I really wish some commuter stats were available for metropolitan/micropolitan areas.

[Spartan]

There used to be a website that showed commute patterns based on county level data. I was really cool. I have lost the link though.... if anyone knows the site I am talking about please share it

[Topher1]

I remember the site you're talking about, it had a cool graphical interface and everything. I found a site that just gives the text numbers, and is just as useful.

http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen20...workerflow.html

Random interesting stat from the site about my hometown:

# of Aiken county commuters going into Augusta core counties (Richmond,Columbia counties) for work: 11784

# of Richmond and Columbia county commuters working in Aiken: 8895

Just goes to show that Aiken Co. really isn't an Augusta suburb as many think

[UrbanSoutherner]

I remember the site you're talking about, it had a cool graphical interface and everything.  I found a site that just gives the text numbers, and is just as useful.

http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen20...workerflow.html

Random interesting stat from the site about my hometown:

# of Aiken county commuters going into Augusta core counties (Richmond,Columbia counties) for work: 11784

# of Richmond and Columbia county commuters working in Aiken: 8895

Just goes to show that Aiken Co. really isn't an Augusta suburb as many think

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the link to the commuting data.

Your comment about Aiken is a good one. Looking through the stats, I was struck at how many commuting workers the core metro counties provide to the outlying counties. It really is a two-way relationship. Part of it may be that some people who get jobs in the smaller outlying areas would prefer to live in the core area and commute.

I was also struck at how many counties provide a significant number of commuters to more than one core area. For example, Calhoun County provides around 2,200 commuters to Richland and Lexington Counties, but it also provides around 1,700 commuters to Orangeburg. In fact, Orangeburg County is the number one recipient county for Calhoun. Basically, the northern end of the county commutes to Columbia and the southern end commutes to Orangeburg. Orangeburg County provides Richland and Lexington Counties with around 2,900 commuters, but it also provides Charleston, Dorchester, and Berkeley Counties (Charleston core counties) with around 2,000 commuters. Again, the western and nothern ends of the county commute to Columbia and the eastern and southern ends of the county commute to Charleston. Some of this commuting may be from rural fringe areas to rural fringe areas too rather than to the urbanized areas (like from North in rural western Orangeburg County to Batesburg in rural western Lexington County).

My point is that the commuting patterns are really quite complex. And I think the Census Bureau should be using some sub-county geographical units that would capture more of that complexity. I know the Census Bureau has considered using the census county divisions for MSA building in the past, but I guess counties made sense since they are an actual governmental entity.

[GreekFreak]

I was born in Sumter and used to live there until i was about 13(unfortunately)....needless to say there isn't much to do in Sumter, and yes alot of people do commute to Columbia for alot of different things. The mall in Sumter is a joke. It has only added 4 new stores since my family left Sumter in 1996. Columbia gets new stores like every other month. The only thing significant about Sumter is Swan Lake...it's the only place in the world that houses all types of swans...i think its 7 or 9 different types i cant remember.......but other than that its really in the middle of nowhere.....i mean sure its closer to myrtle beach than columbia is....but you still have to get on I-20 to get to myrlte beach via florence.....so you might as well live in columbia.....and if Shaw Air force base wasnt' a part of Sumter.....Sumter would be about 3 times smaller than what it already is.....Same thing with Columbia and Fort Jackson......i don't claim neither anymore....i tell people I'm from Charlotte.....at least they know where that is when i talk to people who are from out of state!

[krazeeboi]

So do you actually live in Charlotte now (at least on a part-time basis)?

Non-Southerners, for the most part, wouldn't know which state either Charlotte or Columbia is in unless you mentioned the state after the city's name. Go to Ohio and simply say that you're from Charlotte or Columbia, and the locals will look at you expecting you to include the name of the state, since most wouldn't know right off hand which state the city is located in (unless they have family or business connections there or something). But say "Myrtle Beach," and they might say, "Oh, we were just down there a few months ago!"

[Mr.Marc]

I was born in Sumter and used to live there until i was about 13(unfortunately)....needless to say there isn't much to do in Sumter, and yes alot of people do commute to Columbia for alot of different things.  The mall in Sumter is a joke. It has only added 4 new stores since my family left Sumter in 1996.  Columbia gets new stores like every other month.  The only thing significant about Sumter is Swan Lake...it's the only place in the world that houses all types of swans...i think its 7 or 9 different types i cant remember.......but other than that its really in the middle of nowhere.....i mean sure its closer to myrtle beach than columbia is....but you still have to get on I-20 to get to myrlte beach via florence.....so you might as well live in columbia.....and if Shaw Air force base wasnt' a part of Sumter.....Sumter would be about 3 times smaller than what it already is.....Same thing with Columbia and Fort Jackson......i don't claim neither anymore....i tell people I'm from Charlotte.....at least they know where that is when i talk to people who are from out of state!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When you say there isn't much to do in Sumter, what do mean? What is it that you like to do and do you really think all larger towns and cities always have something going on? Don't be fooled, if you're a creative person my hometown as well as other smaller to mid size towns has plenty to do.

And saying Sumter would be nothing w/o Shaw is like saying Charlotte would be nothing with BOA and Wachovia. Sumter has Shaw Air Force base and Charlotte has BOA and Wachovia so let's get off of the subject of who would be nothing without what.

Also, there is no need to take I-20 to get to Myrtle Beach from Sumter. Most Sumterites simply take Hwy 76/378 straight to Myrtle Beach (which is a quicker trip).

[GreekFreak]

When you say there isn't much to do in Sumter, what do mean? What is it that you like to do and do you really think all larger towns and cities always have something going on? Don't be fooled, if you're a creative person my hometown as well as other smaller to mid size towns has plenty to do.

And saying Sumter would be nothing w/o Shaw is like saying Charlotte would be nothing with BOA and Wachovia. Sumter has Shaw Air Force base and Charlotte has BOA and Wachovia so let's get off of the subject of who would be nothing without what.

Also, there is no need to take I-20 to get to Myrtle Beach from Sumter. Most Sumterites simply take Hwy 76/378 straight to Myrtle Beach (which is a quicker trip).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sumter is a nice place for retireees basically........krazee i go to school in CLT