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First SC city to break away from the pack


krazeeboi

Which city will be the first to break away from the pack?  

69 members have voted

  1. 1. Which city will become the "leader" in SC in years to come?

    • Charleston
      10
    • Columbia
      23
    • Greenville
      34
    • Other
      2


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Hammett, you brought up an excellent point: hospital growth. For a city to breakout, it must also be able to adequately sustain quality health care for a continuing aging population. It must also have medical facilities which provide the latest technology to attract other medical industries, which is being done in Charleston. All of the major hospitals in the Charleston area are expanding rapidly. MUSC is currently building an expansion and has plans for 2 additional towers DT, Trident is expanding all of its branches, St. Francis/Roper is building a new tower for their DT location and adding floors to its West Ashley hospital, and East Cooper has plans to build a tower in Mt. Pleasant.

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Even though I would love all three cities to become major cities my pick would be Charleston. Charleston is already more nationally known than any of the three. Plus Charleston Native made a good point about being a tourist destination along with a high population as well as a place that attracts businesses (if you attract people through tourism, you best believe you can attract businesses). Plus Charleston's MUSC hospital is one of the best hospitals in the state and if I'm not mistaken, there are plans to add to the already large complex.

Charleston... Charlotte... Columbia.... hmmm, More like nationally confused :rofl: . just messin with ya.

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I concur with the above comments regarding 'reputation' & 'image', Greenville & Columbia have yet to become anything larger than a blip nationwide. But Charleston is known. Also - ignoring the Greenville - Spartanburg relationship (which will become more problematic for Greenville's identity & vice versa), Charleston is indeed similarly sized in population to the other two still. Also, consider the 'neck' of Charleston, from downtown north to North Charleston & a massive redevelopment site.

Because it would similarly require large areas of Greenville & Columbia to densify as well, which Charleston is already ahead of those. In fact - as Charleston grows, it will / hopefully grow denser than Gville & Cola, thus establishing a larger urban environment - which Charleston already has which Gville & Cola have yet to develop of note.

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Me personally i think it will be Columbia that pulls away from the pack. The only city we have to worry about is Charleston. Columbia city pop. stay in Charleston's reach it has beaten charleston by a land slide yet. But Columbia has alot going on right now especially downtown and N.E. , Lexington and towards Camden and Newberry. I think Charleston might be the next N.O.

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Well, Columbia can go ahead and only worry about Charleston, because Greenville will come with steam and past both on them.

803Metlife, You have NO respect at all for Greenville, which I've gathered through just about every post you've ever put up. Why? Believe what you want, but I think you must be blind to what's really going on outside your metro.

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Well, actually in my heart of hearts I believe that Charleston or even Myrtle Beach (which is growing faster than any other SC metro but somehow always gets overlooked :blink: ) both are clearly in positions to lead. Both cities are already known nationally, and are growing significantly faster than any other SC metro. If I were to aks anyone here in KY what cities do you think of when you say SC I'm sure it would be a no brainer. As long as babyboomers are retiring and moving to the coast I don't see it stalling. However that doesn't stop me from shamelessly boosting my hometown! :D

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All of our major metros are growing nicely and with current trends I honestly can't really say which will 'break away.' I don't see any signs of catalyst to make this happen yet. I'm waiting for more information from developers and cities. I would vote for Charleston but the people in charge concern me in all of the Charleston metro area and I still am waiting to see how they trend in the not to distant future before I can make a 'break away' type decision. :P

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All of our major metros are growing nicely and with current trends I honestly can't really say which will 'break away.' I don't see any signs of catalyst to make this happen yet. I'm waiting for more information from developers and cities. I would vote for Charleston but the people in charge concern me in all of the Charleston metro area and I still am waiting to see how they trend in the not to distant future before I can make a 'break away' type decision. :P

I do think Charleston will be the first to "break away", but I agree...I'm concerned with how the current leaders are managing the growth. Leaders there have been known to impede growth in the past.

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Great cities of the future will be built around research institutions with resulting jobs and lifelong learning opportunities where there are lots of outdoor recreational ammenities, a strong performing arts scene and green space in an urban (not suburban) setting. It will be no different in South Carolina. All three of the state's larges cities and metro areas stand to gain substantially, but Columbia's existing infrastructure within the city center makes me believe it will emerge as the largest, most centralized and most urban city of the three.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, actually in my heart of hearts I believe that Charleston or even Myrtle Beach (which is growing faster than any other SC metro but somehow always gets overlooked :blink: ) both are clearly in positions to lead. Both cities are already known nationally, and are growing significantly faster than any other SC metro. If I were to aks anyone here in KY what cities do you think of when you say SC I'm sure it would be a no brainer. As long as babyboomers are retiring and moving to the coast I don't see it stalling. However that doesn't stop me from shamelessly boosting my hometown! :D

Don't worry, man, you're not the only one that shamelessly boosts their hometown! ;) But hey, I think that is an admirable trait...pride in the city you came from and grew up in.

I do think that Chas or MB can "break away", but Greenville is a consideration that should not be ignored. The fact that it is so close to 2 major US cities gives the Upstate city a big strength. The major things that really give Charleston the edge is its national notoriety, tourist attractions, and lure of the coast.

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Great cities of the future will be built around research institutions with resulting jobs and lifelong learning opportunities where there are lots of outdoor recreational ammenities, a strong performing arts scene and green space in an urban (not suburban) setting. It will be no different in South Carolina. All three of the state's larges cities and metro areas stand to gain substantially, but Columbia's existing infrastructure within the city center makes me believe it will emerge as the largest, most centralized and most urban city of the three.

I also agree

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Of the three cities, I think Greenville has more of the pieces in place to become a major city (especially in the job sector). However, I doubt Greenville is ever going to be a household, recognizable name nationwide -- it is always going to be overshadowed by Atlanta and Charlotte. That is probably part of the appeal of a city like Greenville. Its not such a bad thing.

However, Charleston is already a recognized name nationwide and over the long term I think it has the most potential to become a MAJOR city. Obviously it has a lot of charm and history that makes it a unique tourist destination; the port is also a big plus (port expansion is limited). However, IMO for Charleston to really take it to the next level it needs to create a more diverse job sector. Several companies have already decided to relocate to the Charleston area, but the city has a ways to go with job growth especially high-end, white collar jobs. The aeronautical industry seems to have a bright future

Columbia is always going to be a prominent city since it is the political hub of the state. However, for me it does not have the character of Charleston nor the economic vibrancy of Greenville.

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I've been thinking about this one, and I have decided that Greenville is the most likely candidate. The population growth, regardless of its lack of centrality- but keeping in mind the sheer numbers of the Upstate (over 1 million) -will give it the leg up and let it become the leader of the state.

Those of you who support the others have made some very good cases.

Columbia does have the centrality and an excellent grid downtown which give it the potential to be the most focused metro.

Charelston has that density thing, and a really awsome downtown. I think it will definately lead the state in terms of future transit developments. It can easily give Columbia a run for its money, but I think that Greenville will emerge as the leader.

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I think it will be somewhat of a co-evolutionary situation, in which all three of our major cities will reach a critical point in establishing themselves more on a regional level relatively around the same time in different ways. Right now, the Charleston metro area has the majority of the growth; numbers play a very significant part in the recognition of a city/metro. As for Columbia, we already have successful models of universities becoming economic catalysts for an area, so Innovista definitely bodes well for Columbia, as well as downtown residential development, including two fairly large projects. Greenville's got it as far as economics is concerned (ICAR, Millenium Campus), with a good mix of residential as well. Let's pose this question in 10 years and see what kind of response we get. :)

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Of the three cities, I think Greenville has more of the pieces in place to become a major city (especially in the job sector). However, I doubt Greenville is ever going to be a household, recognizable name nationwide -- it is always going to be overshadowed by Atlanta and Charlotte. That is probably part of the appeal of a city like Greenville. Its not such a bad thing.

However, Charleston is already a recognized name nationwide and over the long term I think it has the most potential to become a MAJOR city. Obviously it has a lot of charm and history that makes it a unique tourist destination; the port is also a big plus (port expansion is limited). However, IMO for Charleston to really take it to the next level it needs to create a more diverse job sector. Several companies have already decided to relocate to the Charleston area, but the city has a ways to go with job growth especially high-end, white collar jobs. The aeronautical industry seems to have a bright future...

I agree, Charleston has a ways to go with bringing in high-end jobs, but the growth sector in that category for the area is increasing nicely. The Charleston Business Journal sent me this little excerpt from their daily journal:

Companies that are part of the Charleston Digital Corridor report paying an average wage of $64,185 in 2005, according to the digital corridor's recent wage survey.

This figure represents almost twice the average annual wage for the Charleston-North Charleston statistical metropolitan area and is double that of the State of South Carolina.

The link for the journal is here. If Chas continues high growth in the digital corridor, aeronautical industry, and engineering, the city will outpace other cities in the state, giving it the momentum needed to become a major city nationally.

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It's really hard to predict the future. But the reason I chose Columbia because like someone stated before most great cities will be built around research institutions. Innovista is going to bring high end jobs to Cola and SC. Hydrogen Fuel to Columbia has been compared many times as oil to Houston.And that says enough right there!! Then cola has government jobs,not to mention that Innovista is partnering with 3 German companies to produce Hydrogen Fuel. Does anyone knows what that means? COLUMBIA will be the leading* distributor of Hydrogen Fuel. Meaning other cities will depend on us for energy. You can do alot with hydogen fuel as far as vehicle fuel,battery power in laptops, electic and gas etc anything dealing with energy.ICAR only deals with cars. ICAR is pretty promising but we've seen motor cities come and go!! But to break away from the pack, I will bet my last on Columbia. It just has too much going for itself. The downtown area is booming right now with commerical and residential developments !! Columbia just annexed more than 200 acres of land yesterday. The city is growing like wildfire. By far most of the residents that move to cola are not retiree's as far as the coast. Columbia has a youthful scene, and a much faster pace. With more than 9 colleges and universities, so more than half of the population is educated. The biggest metropolitian area since spartanburg was taken off Greenvilles CSA, . So, the numbers will win over more big developments, the ball just keeps on rolling :rofl:

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Well, the Greenville News article today further supports what most people in this poll already stated. Greenville is right in the middle of the one of the nation's top ten growth corridors. A hot spot for growth. Greenville. :thumbsup:

And how many other cities are located on I-85???? Thank you!! There only 2 cities really benefitting from the I-85 corridor are the same two that always benefited. Come on man don't second your city to Charlotte and Atlanta, because there's always some new hot city in the next couple of years. So if Greenville is going to benefit yall best to be hurrying up before the flame goes out. Atl is nothing more than another Detroit, and D.C. in the 70's and 80's. Once the city is burnt out, out emerges another young city. So I wouldn't put all my egss in one basket.

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Well, the Greenville News article today further supports what most people in this poll already stated. Greenville is right in the middle of the one of the nation's top ten growth corridors. A hot spot for growth. Greenville. :thumbsup:

But notice it talks about strip shopping centers and suburbia around Greenville. I saw a magazine the other day (I think it is called Business 2.0, or something like that) that has a big article on America's next population boom. They have a 3-D map that shows corridors of growth. The I-85 corridor includes Columbia in this article and the graphics demonstrate as much future development in Columbia and environs as in Greenville and environs. The map does not envelope Charleston or Savannah. It says cities with easy access to ports, complex transportation systems (as in 4 interstates in effect serving Columbia and a major UPS hub) and research will boom. It'll be nice to boom without just being a run-through between Atlanta and Charlotte.

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I think one of the biggest misconceptions people have on this forum, and others is that the Columbia area isn't growing as fast as say Greenville or Charleston. But I think that is due more to speculation since we don't have a high sprawl index (being the only major city in our region), & we are not a popular tourist attraction. With that said it doesn't mean that the Columbia area hasn't grown as fast or faster than Greenville, or Charleston. The area has kept pace without any "major" developments until recently. In fact Columbia's MSA was the fastest growing large MSA in the state from 1990-2000. Currently it is 2nd to Charleston. I do sometimes think sprawl is confused with growth because on the same list that many cities were noted for having a high sprawl index, it also included cities that didn't have such high growth rates, (ie Raleigh high sprawl index, & high growth rate: Greensboro high sprawl index but low-ave. growth rate), and on that same list Charleston had a low sprawl index but has a high growth rate.

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Sandlapper is right; Columbia is growing at least as fast as Greenville and Charleston and has had over a billion dollars in investi=ment avnnouned or ongoing in 2005 alone. I don't think either of the other cities can match the amount of development going on in Columbia right now. There is a thread in the Columbia section showing the dozens of projects currently underway and another $200+ million in developments were approved by City Council yesterday.

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