Mt Pleasant Is now South Carolina's 5th largest city

[monsoon]

In case you have not seen this post, maybe you will be as surprised to learn, as I was, that Mt. Pleasant is now larger than Greenville and is now South Carolina's 5th largest city.

Charleston is doing quite well when one realizes that 3 of the state's 5 largest cities are located in the Charleston MSA.

[Mr.Marc]

If you combined the figures you posted for N. Charleston, Charleston and Mt. Pleasant, it would make a grand total of 245,504. That's pretty good news for Charleston, albeit I did not even have a clue that Mt. Pleasant had a population anywhere near the posted figure.

[Charleston native]

This is not surprising, since most experts are saying that Mt. P will reach 60,000 by 2010. However, it is hard to believe how the town has grown from when I remember it as a child. The Snee Farm subdivision used to be the actual outskirts, now it is in the middle of everything!

Now, I think two things need to happen with cities in the metro area. Mt. P needs to incorporate as a town. With its size, it does not make sense for it to maintain a "town" designation. Next, the cities of Chas and N. Chas need to merge, unifying the direction of development in the area. The Noisette and Magnolia projects will help give both cities one identity. Mt. P's growth could also eventually change the MSA designation adding the town to the name. With the merger boosting the population of Chas, the MSA will keep its original identity: Charleston MSA.

[monsoon]

I am confused by the incorporation statement. Is not Mt. Pleasant not already incorporated?

[digital_sandlapper]

Thanks for your research, monsoon! Interesting figures . . .

However, it is almost useless to compare apples and oranges, i.e., center cities and suburbs, in the same list. In doing that, ridiculous

[Charleston native]

I am confused by the incorporation statement. Is not Mt. Pleasant not already incorporated?

It is, but it is incorporated as a town. Considering its size in population and land area, it should now be incorporated as a city, IMO. It makes more sense. It's kind of weird driving into Mt. P with all of the neighborhoods, shopping centers, and traffic and still seeing it called a town!

[monsoon]

Oh I completely agree. But it is an interesting comparison none the less. I think the more interesting number is the combined total of Charleston, Mt. Pleasant, and N. Charleston. In North Carolina these probably would have developed as one city given their very close proximity and annexation laws. We are talking about an urban area of 250K. A very impressive city and would make it the 3rd largest city in the Carolinas after Charlotte and Raleigh. And we are not talking about an MSA pop spread over 1000's of square miles either.

[Charleston native]

...Therefore, I believe suburbs like North Charleston, Mt. Pleasant, Goose Creek, etc. should be omitted from listings of the largest cities of a given state. If you combine the populations of suburbs with the real cities they surround, however, you get the true representation of an area

[Mr.Marc]

It is, but it is incorporated as a town. Considering its size in population and land area, it should now be incorporated as a city, IMO. It makes more sense. It's kind of weird driving into Mt. P with all of the neighborhoods, shopping centers, and traffic and still seeing it called a town!

That maybe true and I see your point. However, how many people outside of Charleston actually view Mt. Pleasant as a totally separate city? I'm from SC and when I go to Mt. Pleasant, I know I'm not actually in Charleston proper but I still see the town as just an extension (or suburb) of Charleston.

So for example if I'm in Mt. Pleasant and I'm on the phone with someone that asks about my location. I'll simply reply that I'm in Charleston. They may then say "What part?" and I would reply with "Mt. Pleasant". I'm sure the tourists that visit the town have the same view.

[monsoon]

Politics would most certainly stop it, but the 3 cities out to consider incorporating into one city. This is not unprecidented in South Carolina as the towns of Windy Hill Beach, Crescent Beach and Ocean Drive, re-incorporated themselves into the city of North Myrtle Beach. They did this mainly to save money and the increased recognition that comes from the larger size of being a bigger town.

[DigitalSky]

That's kinda sad for Greenville.

[GvilleSC]

Y'all laugh at me when I say that Greenville will not be that low for long, but whatever. Yes, dense infill is taking place all over and the state's largest master planned development is about to take off. Congrats to Mt Pleasant, but Greenville won't stand at 6th for long, I rest assured.

[krazeeboi]

Infill is certainly important, but the other cities now ahead of Greenville have actively pursued annexation and they also have infill projects planned/under construction. Of course, projects of such magnitude take YEARS to fill out, but unless Greenville gets past the 26 sq mi mark, I'm not sure how much farther up the list it will climb, if at all.

[GvilleSC]

Infill is certainly important, but the other cities now ahead of Greenville have actively pursued annexation and they also have infill projects planned/under construction. Of course, projects of such magnitude take YEARS to fill out, but unless Greenville gets past the 26 sq mi mark, I'm not sure how much farther up the list it will climb, if at all.

The city is pushing voluntary annexation. One neighborhood has come on board and I'm almost certain more will follow. We'll certainly have to wait and see- unless someone can see the future and clue me in. But I certainly don't think people realize how much Greenville is growing without expanding its borders.

[Greenville]

That's great about Mount Pleasant. Did you guys know that the city of Greenville, while only the 6th largest in terms of population, is the most dense city in SC?

Also of note, Greenville County is the largest county in SC and also the most densely populated.

EDIT: while my statements are true and appropriate to this discussion, it was only after I responded to the thread that I realized it had been moved to the Charleston forum (I clicked the link from the main South Carolina forum). I just wanted to clear that up, because I would not normally have posted such a pro-Greenville post in the Charleston forum.

[krazeeboi]

I knew the "density" comment would pop up sooner or later.

[monsoon]

That's great about Mount Pleasant. Did you guys know that the city of Greenville, while only the 6th largest in terms of population, is the most dense city in SC?

While that may be true from an overall city limits sense, downtown Charleston actually has the highest density, by far, of any city in South Carolina.

[vicupstate]

Politics would most certainly stop it, but the 3 cities out to consider incorporating into one city. This is not unprecidented in South Carolina as the towns of Windy Hill Beach, Crescent Beach and Ocean Drive, re-incorporated themselves into the city of North Myrtle Beach. They did this mainly to save money and the increased recognition that comes from the larger size of being a bigger town.

Don't forget Cherry Grove. They were incorporated into North Myrtle Beach as well.

Other examples: Batesburg and Leesville merged to form the city of Batesburg-Leesville. Eau Claire and Columbia merged in the 1950s.

When I lived in Cola, there was discussion of merging West Columbia, Cayce and Springdale into one city. It didn't go past the talking stage though. West Caycedale was a suggested name, half jokingly of course.

As for Greenville catching up to Mount Pleasant, that is very unlikely. M.P. is growing like crazy. It will take years for Verdae (in Greenville) to complete build-out. Even then, it is only expected to bring up the population by 10,000. M.P. will have doubled in population from 1990, when the 2010 census is completed.

[sonofaque86]

People not from Columbia still don't understand how right across the bridge is a entirely seperate city from Columbia..I have to always explain it too them. it really is silly lol.

[krazeeboi]

^LOL, true. I think W. Columbia and Cayce should merge with Columbia.

[Jerseyman4]

It will eventually come to a stop once it gets towards FMNF. I will not be suprised then, the town will be trying to buy up any open space leftover to turn that into parkland. I agree, Greenville will beat Mt Pleasant at some point simply because there is much more room to grow outside of their city limits.

[goodbye]

^LOL, true. I think W. Columbia and Cayce should merge with Columbia.

Maybe Greenville should merge with all of its suburbs as well, to form a city the stats-obsessed individuals would recognize as apparently more relevant. In Greenville's case (as in many others as well), the "city" is made up of tens of thousands of people outside its actual limits. Just a thought.

It is great to see so much growth also taking place in other areas around the state.

[Charleston native]

Actually, it would make sense to see G'ville's urban area merged into the city. Unfortunately, people use perceptions based on what a map says in judging a big a city is. Many people I worked with in the Air Force had no idea that Chas had a metro area over half-a-million people. If G'ville had these areas merged, the city would look far more equal with the other Big 2 in the state and be percieved as being bigger than people currently think it is.

[digital_sandlapper]

People not from Columbia still don't understand how right across the bridge is a entirely seperate city from Columbia..I have to always explain it too them. it really is silly lol.

Lol, yeah, I live just over the west bank of the river and it is frustrating that Columbia doesn

[krazeeboi]

It is just so wild how in any of our Big Three, you can be in one totally separate municipality and then within a matter of seconds or minutes, you can be in the CBD of the core city. I can't wait until we can get some pro-urban legislators in the statehouse who understand that stronger cities equal a stronger South Carolina.