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

[g-man430]

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.

This is only because the size of Greenville in square mileage wise is smaller than that of Mt. Pleasant's, Charleston's, or Columbia's. If you combine the counties of Greenville and Spartanburg then combine the counties of Richland and Lexington or the counties of Charleston and the one north of Charleston (don't remember the name of it), Greenville and Spartanburg are bigger. More info: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTa...T1_ST2&-_sse=on

-But who really cares, because all of South Carolina rocks anyways. Does anybody know how big the city of Mt. Pleasant is in square mileage wise?

[monsoon]

-But who really cares,.......

Well obviously you do or you would not be posting about Greenville/Spartanburg in the Charleston forum.

[lsgchas]

So on your next visit to Columbia, take a little detour-you might be surprised at my neighborhood, Brookland-Cayce!

Sounds like a cool little area. I'll be sure to check it out next time I'm in Columbia.

[lsgchas]

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!

Maybe they should think of a new category for a place like Mt. Pleasant. It's really neither a town nor a city. Maybe when you cross the Cooper River Bridge, there should be a sign saying "Welcome to the Mt. Pleasant Sprawl (established 1990)". It would prepare people for what they'd really find there, and heck, I'm all for truth in advertising.

[g-man430]

Maybe they should think of a new category for a place like Mt. Pleasant. It's really neither a town nor a city. Maybe when you cross the Cooper River Bridge, there should be a sign saying "Welcome to the Mt. Pleasant Sprawl (established 1990)". It would prepare people for what they'd really find there, and heck, I'm all for truth in advertising.

I totally agree with you.

[krazeeboi]

This is only because the size of Greenville in square mileage wise is smaller than that of Mt. Pleasant's, Charleston's, or Columbia's. If you combine the counties of Greenville and Spartanburg then combine the counties of Richland and Lexington or the counties of Charleston and the one north of Charleston (don't remember the name of it), Greenville and Spartanburg are bigger. More info: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTa...T1_ST2&-_sse=on

Of course this will be the case, since Greenville and Spartanburg are primary cities in their own right. But I'm not sure what this has to do with the municipal growth of Mt. Pleasant.

[Charleston native]

Maybe they should think of a new category for a place like Mt. Pleasant. It's really neither a town nor a city. Maybe when you cross the Cooper River Bridge, there should be a sign saying "Welcome to the Mt. Pleasant Sprawl (established 1990)". It would prepare people for what they'd really find there, and heck, I'm all for truth in advertising.

This is very true. The problem with that is the original town was formed in the late 1700s. Maybe it should say, "Welcome to Mt. Pleasant, huge suburb of Charleston"?

[Spartan]

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?

Actually, West Columbia is SC most dense "city." But that is neither here nor there.

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.

I think that all if SC's cities should do that. Stats-wise it would put everything on the sme playing field.

West Columbia was formerly Brookland (which they should go back to, IMO),

The Avenues is supposedly a hot market these days.

West Cola used to be "New Brookland" though. I agree that this name is much better.

As far as Mt P with its "town" status. I recently did a little reserch on this. The only thing that I found was that a place can incorporate as a town or city. It was not clear as to why one would be picked over the other, so I can only assume that it is the locality's choise. The only way to get rid of the "town" status would be to get a new charter from the state. The "town" moniker is just a name...

[krazeeboi]

^This is true. Even in NC, Cary (which is near Raleigh) is officially a "town," although it has 100K+ residents.

[digital_sandlapper]

West Cola used to be "New Brookland" though. I agree that this name is much better.

Spartan, you are right--it was "New Brookland" for a time. But originally it was just "Brookland." Check this out for an explanation: http://www.westcolumbiasc.gov/history/

New Brookland is still sometimes used in a few places, such as New Brookland Tavern on State Street in Vista West.

[Spartan]

^either way, its still better than West Columbia.

[randy1]

!!!!!!!

[MikesLogic]

Something interesting to note also, back in '01 Mt. Pleasnt put a growth cap in place. Since then Summerville has become the fastest growing municipality in the Charleston area, they have grown by about 20% in size. And thats not counting homes being built right outside city limits either.

[Spartan]

Interesting. I wonder how long it will be before Monks Corner is a part of Charleston's built up area?

[knightrider162]

Interesting. I wonder how long it will be before Monks Corner is a part of Charleston's built up area?

I almost consider it that now.... With more and more developers building between Monks Corner and Goose Creek it seems like the only wooded area in 5 years will be the Mount Holly Business Park on that stretch o5 52 and also 176 is also heating up with the developer of Daniel Island, The Parks, and Cane Bay. There is also several small developments on 52 in that direction.. It is will be very interesting in 5 years becuase there will essentially be a new burst of development there... It seems like its almost playing musical chairs with these minibursts of development between Mt. Pleasant, Goose Creek, and Summerville.... but its starting to get much like a crowded game as West Ashley, Daniel Island, and Mid-Berkeley county follow suit.

[lsgchas]

Interesting. I wonder how long it will be before Monks Corner is a part of Charleston's built up area?

There are already people who commute to D'town Charleston from Moncks Corner and even Bonneau. I find it funny when they complain about the traffic.

[Infinite1]

It won't be long before there is contigous development to Moncks Corner. I think the link will occur up 17A rather than 52. With the Sheep Island road development (already approved) and plans to create a "downtown" at Carnes Crossroads (US17A and US176) its only a matter of time.

[Jerseyman4]

Summerville and Moncks Corner is the place to go to find more reasonable priced-homes over Mt Pleasant.

[knightrider162]

Summerville and Moncks Corner is the place to go to find more reasonable priced-homes over Mt Pleasant.

and Goose Creek... just had to add that

[davidals]

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.

So are all attempts at revising the annexation laws in SC dead for the moment?

Just curious - I wonder what the past history (50s-80s) was like in the SC big 3 regarding annexation. Were there attempts at convincing developers to voluntarily annex in when suburban developments were being approved and built?

Recently - in spite of the liberal NC laws - Cary and most of the Wake Co cities have gone back to voluntary-only annexations, with it being discussed in Asheville and Wilmington as well. Cary has grown tremendously - to get approval for new developments, I believe you have to voluntarily petition for annexation.

As mentioned in another thread, city/county consolidation might be another method to study, in spite of SC's comparatively large counties.

[monsoon]

There are two reasons for a city to annex an area in NC. The first is to increase the tax base in return for providing city services. The second is to gain zoning control over new development. Unfortunately what happens in NC and SC is that by the time an area is developed enough to annex, it is already developed often haphazardly without any consideration of a city's development plans. (many cities don't have these which is a different problem).

What is important, in regards to stopping sprawl, is the ability to zone land to keep this from happening. But given above it is often difficult for progressive city governments to do this. In NC this was fixed in 1996 where the Legislature now allows a county to be divided into EJTs, and the city owning the EJT has zoning authority over the area, even though the land has not been annexed. This has been used by great success by more progressive cities to only allow TOD development and to stop sprawl.

If Cary and Wake counties are not doing annexations, it may be because they are choosing not to do so and are instead using their EJT authority to control development. However in NC, cities can't change the annexation laws as that is bestowed by the NC Legislature, and I have not heard they have changed the law specifically for those places.

Back to the subject at hand. I think it would have been far better for the Charleston area if North Charleston and Mt. Pleasant had not incorporated as separate places. As a result you have 3 relative large cities (for SC) all in one area competing against each other and that is what is causing the unrelenting sprawl across the metro now. Some may not know that N. Charleston is the newest large city in SC having incorporated only in 1972.

[Spartan]

This is true. SC cities can also set up extra-territorial jurisdictions if the county approves. But given that this is SC, they are very unlikely to happen. Charleston County may be a good candidate for it though.

[ChasDeign]

Hello...new to this site as a member, but I've been "monitoring" the posts since I was an undergraduate. Very interesting discussions help make the work day pass So I live in Mount Pleasant and am over it. I've lived downtown and on James Island, and this side of the bridge is a little too "soccer mom driving a Chevy Tahoe into (insert name here) Plantation with a backseat full of Whole Foods" for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm originally from Sullivans and wouldn't leave Charleston if you paid me, but I don't like the direction Mount Pleasant is heading...the traffic alone is enough to make one yearn for something else. That being said, I'm really interested in the development occuring in Summerville. The downtown area is admittedly cliche & Southern...and I love that. But the growth outside this area is tremendous, and largely driven by the affordability of the area and a great school system. Ok, so here's my question. I've got a few dollars laying around and I'm wondering if that'd be a smart area to invest...nothing grand, but just a nice little ranch or cottage that I could fix up and use at my leisure, or rent. Is it worth my while? Just curious if anyone else feels the area is a solid investment.

[Spartan]

Welcome to the forum! I'm glad you decided to stop lurking and joirn in the discussions I hope that others will do the same.

I honestly don't know anything about Summerville. Please start a new thread and tell us about what is going on up there. I am certain that there is quite a bit happening though

[lsgchas]

That being said, I'm really interested in the development occuring in Summerville.

I think you'd be joining a mass exodus of natives to the hinterlands. Would it be wise to follow the crowd? I'm no expert, but I'd recommend reading up on what economists have to say about the future of the real estate market first.