Will Hardeeville be largest SC city in 20 years?

[krazeeboi]

I haven't thought about it. But gosh, do you REALLY want your entire town to basically consist of retirees?

[Charleston native]

^ Very good question. And the answer is an emphatic NO! Charleston ran the risk of having many retirees moving into the city in the early and mid '90s, and the city realized that you can't have a thriving, important city if it becomes a huge retirement community. Take Palm Coast down in Florida which is also next to I-95, for example. It's a nice town to live in...if you're retired! The city has a nice size population, but it is not a destination city, nor a city that young families and singles want to live in...they go north to Jax.

I like Hardeeville's drive and ambition, but they definitely need to devise a plan to bring in different economic boosters to their city. And many of you had a great point earlier in that it is highly improbable for Hardeeville to become the biggest city in SC. My hometown is booming, and it is possible that it will take the ranking of the state's largest city by the next census. Columbia is growing as well as Greenville and Spartanburg, too. Hardeeville would need to have the country's highest paying jobs with the lowest real estate prices with direct access to the beach to pass the major cities in this state!

[Topher1]

What are the chances of a city like Rock Hill (already booming) annexing a ton of land like Hardeeville is planning? I see no reason why some already established, already booming city/suburbs can't follow the same path that Hardeeville is trying to follow and start a boom of their own. If the largest city in the state is going to be a suburb, it may as well be an already established city, like Rock Hill, Greer, etc..., and these cities are in far better locations for huge, extended growth.

[Charleston native]

What are the chances of a city like Rock Hill (already booming) annexing a ton of land like Hardeeville is planning? I see no reason why some already established, already booming city/suburbs can't follow the same path that Hardeeville is trying to follow and start a boom of their own. If the largest city in the state is going to be a suburb, it may as well be an already established city, like Rock Hill, Greer, etc..., and these cities are in far better locations for huge, extended growth.

The largest city in the state won't be a suburb. My hometown has annexed many square miles of developable land with Cainhoy and Daniel Island that will allow for a continuing boom for many years. And, there is still plenty of area to annex more land, if necessary.

[sonofaque86]

^ My sentiments exactly. Even if Hardeeville's municipal population surpasses, say, Greenville's, it will still only be known as a suburb and not a major center of true urbanity.

Exactly....Rock Hill's municipal population has already surpassed Greenville's but Rock Hill is still looked on as a suburb of Charlotte and it's not a major center as Greenville is

[where_am_I]

Hey guys, here is a heads up from someone that is in the Savannah/Hardeeville/Hilton Head coastal area. It seems that Hardeeville is experiencing the same thing that the western suburbs of Savannah is experincing in Georgia. They are both parts of the region that are anticipating a huge migration to this area, (I still don't see what would draw this possibly huge amount of people to this area compared to other cities, except for maybe retirees). The main thing that Hardeeville has going for it is it's central geographical location right in the middle of Savannah and Hilton Head Island and short distance to them both. It is also feeding off of planned developments of highway US 278 in southern Beaufort county from Bluffton and Hilton Head Island. The city is seriously using these as a marketing tool for growth and seems to be making Hardeeville a point of interest in developer's eyes. My last reading about the projected population of Hardeeville was that it was anticipating in 20 years it could possibly have about 100,000 residents in the city limits compared to currently 2,200 and could closely rival the city of Savannah and Hilton Head as a destination city for new residents in the area. I think Hardeeville will experience a nice growth in population in the next 20 years but I defintely can't see it becoming the largest city in S.C.

Here are some related articles about Hardeeville's proposed growth:

http://savannahnow.com/stories/072905/3190228.shtml

http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/sto...p-4534073c.html

There is currently a proposal by developers for a 10-12,000 seat arena, ice rinks, hotels, retail, and entertainment in Hardeeville on 225 acres that they purchased across from the new Coastal Carolina Medical Center near I-95 on US 278 on the way to Hilton Head Island. I think that if it is developed, it could be a jump start for the city in its general purpose establishing a name for itself in the region. http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/sto...p-4504653c.html

Oh, the SCAD development in Hardeeville I think everyone was referring to is the development of SCAD's athletic complex and equestrian center just across the Talmadge Bridge on U.S. 17 in South Carolina near or in Hardeeville. The only additional campus of SCAD that I know of is the SCAD campus in Atlanta and no other.

http://savannahnow.com/stories/043005/2997819.shtml

[btoy]

Oh, the SCAD development in Hardeeville I think everyone was referring to is the development of SCAD's athletic complex and equestrian center just across the Talmadge Bridge on U.S. 17 in South Carolina near or in Hardeeville. The only additional campus of SCAD that I know of is the SCAD campus in Atlanta and no other.

Ya that has got to be what I saw.

[krazeeboi]

A 10-12,000 seat arena?????

[Spartan]

I am not even sure I've heard of Hardeeville, and I certainly didn't know where it is located. Their ambitions are unrealistic and will never happen.

I have heard of it only because it ishas quite a few restaurants along the interstate....

What are the chances of a city like Rock Hill (already booming) annexing a ton of land like Hardeeville is planning?

It could not be done as easily because in the larger cities most of the land is built up, and split up into smaller parcels, making it much hard to annex large tracts of land like that. Hardeeville is smart to do it now. It will make things much easier later on.

(I still don't see what would draw this possibly huge amount of people to this area compared to other cities, except for maybe retirees).

The South in general is expected to continue growing. Areas along the coast will continue to get a large share of that. The Savannah area is bound to take off sooner or later since it is right there on the coast. Also, Savannah is in an area that is less prone to hurricane landfalls. I think that once people start puttin gthat together it will mean good things for Savannah.

[krazeeboi]

The following is from today's "Letters to the Editor" in The State:

While your long and lovely article on Hardeeville was chock-full of opinions, it neglected to spotlight all of the facts (

[Spartan]

The Nature Conservancy of S.C.

[digital_sandlapper]

In response to this post: the answer is yes.

There are already some massive developments underway in Hardeeville. Hardeeville has the stadard Lowcountry flavor, and is onle 15-20 minutes from two major tourist destinations. As Bluffton builds out and Savannah and Hilton Head increase in popularity and price, this is the next logical place to build.

For example:

Tradition, South Carolina

Also, many of these new communities are already annexed into the city. Jasper County has a suprisingly progressive planning department. The County itself has put a moratorium on development, so in order to build anything you must annex into Hardeeville or Ridgeland. This is a defacto urban growth boundary... so most of these new master-planned communities have been or are going to be annexed into Hardeeville, so infrastructure and design must be approved by the city.

I should also add that my opinion on what is happening in Hardeeville has changed alot since my past posts. From what I can tell, Hardeeville is actually trying and succeeding at becoming something more than another Bluffton.

[g-man430]

Sounds like a city for a certain fast food joint, not a place for thousands upon thousands of homes. Wasn't there an article recently that said home sales along the coast were starting to drop like a rock? If Hardeeville becomes the next largest SC city in 20 years, then I will pat my head, rub my belly, and hop on one foot all at the same time.

[krazeeboi]

Well, it looks as if the NY Times has caught wind of the progressive planning policies of Jasper County. I've got to say, I'm impressed with what I see going on in this Lowcountry county. Things appear to be looking up down there, particularly with the future jointly-owned port facility to be operated by both SC and Georgia.

[Spartan]

Yikes, has the UrbanPlanet effect made it to the NY Times!? This is mighty convenient!

A good article none-the-less.

Hardeeville stands a chance becoming one of the largest municipalities in the state because of their arragement with Ridgeland and Jasper County. If then only way to develop anythign is to annex, then thats what developers will do.

[krazeeboi]

^That arrangement clearly shows the positive effects annexation can have on curbing sprawl. Too many of this state's counties hand developers our pristine land on a silver platter, with very little to no strings attached; kudos to Jasper County for wanting to avoid this. Hopefully it can serve as a model for other counties in our state in that regard.

[Topher1]

^ Are they really curbing sprawl though? A recent drive through Hardeeville on the way to Hilton Head showed no signs that Hardeeville development will be anything to set itself apart from Bluffton or any other low-country sprawl-ville. It was just huge disconnected, auto-oriented subdivisions off of HWY 278 and 17. While I'm certain large developments like Tradition will be nice on the inside (similar to the Tradition development in Brevard Co. FL), when it all comes down to it, it's still a disconnected sprawling community, just on a huge enough scale that it can afford to provide a few services and amenities inside of the development.

For a region that's trying to sell itself as an alternative to congested Florida, it's hard to see any difference in the way the low-country (outside of Charleston) is developing when compared to Cape Coral, or Port St. Lucie, or Sarasota, or Naples, or Ft. Myers, or The Villages, etc... As someone who drives through Hardeeville a lot, I can attest that the place itself has nothing to offer outside of the new development that's flooding the area...

[krazeeboi]

The article did mention that there would be a moratorium on new development until zoning policies were updated, so it appears that they are trying to go in a different direction. So it's not saying that sprawl doesn't currently exist, or that more won't in the future, but that the town and county are trying to get it under control.

[Spartan]

^ Are they really curbing sprawl though? A recent drive through Hardeeville on the way to Hilton Head showed no signs that Hardeeville development will be anything to set itself apart from Bluffton or any other low-country sprawl-ville. It was just huge disconnected, auto-oriented subdivisions off of HWY 278 and 17. While I'm certain large developments like Tradition will be nice on the inside (similar to the Tradition development in Brevard Co. FL), when it all comes down to it, it's still a disconnected sprawling community, just on a huge enough scale that it can afford to provide a few services and amenities inside of the development.

For a region that's trying to sell itself as an alternative to congested Florida, it's hard to see any difference in the way the low-country (outside of Charleston) is developing when compared to Cape Coral, or Port St. Lucie, or Sarasota, or Naples, or Ft. Myers, or The Villages, etc... As someone who drives through Hardeeville a lot, I can attest that the place itself has nothing to offer outside of the new development that's flooding the area...

[vicupstate]

Indeed they do seem to be avoiding a lot of mistakes that others didn't avoid. The planning is coordinated and the developers have to pay there own way, for the most part at least. The prices all seem at the high end though.

Considering that all my life and for decades before, Jasper was a very sparely populated, poor area, yet it could do a 180, in just 20-30 years. Amazing.

Just since this thread started, it has grown from 40 to 50 square miles. And that is with a down market nationally and regionally. If you exclude Ft. Jax from Columbia, that makes Hardeeville the third largest city by land area, after Charleston and North Charleston.

Someone might want to start practicing their hopping and rubbing. It might not make 1st place, but second is looking more likely, IMO.

[krazeeboi]

^That is indeed an impressive size for a city that small in SC.

It just occurred to me that another town that might want to follow Hardeeville's progressive model is Conway. I don't know what Horry County's policy is on new development, land use, and zoning, but that doesn't mean the town can't try to implement smart growth policies itself or in conjunction with the county.