Carolina Forest community

[erm1981]

I found out something while reading on wikipedia today. I didnt know that Carolina Forest was unincorporated but is one of myrtle beaches fastest growing areas. Heres the info i found. Some of you might already know this stuff, but here goes..

Carolina Forest is an unincorporated community in Horry County, South Carolina, located between Myrtle Beach and Conway. The area has the 29579 zip code and uses a Myrtle Beach address. The area was first established in 1996 with the first subdivision, Waterford Plantation. There are over twenty-four subdivisions now, and it is Myrtle Beach's fastest-growing area.

The community of Carolina Forest eventually would house 56,000 residents. This community would either be annexed into Myrtle Beach at a later date or would become its own community. Carolina Forest has become home to many non-native residents, many of whom come from the Northeast. Because of relatively low cost of living and many amenities, it has attracted many retirees, some of whom became acquainted with the area while vacationing.

That is what i dug up about carolina forest. I dont think myrtle beach has annexed this area yet, but i might be wrong. If it does eventually that would give them a big population boost.

[crescentmoon]

I've got to wonder what makes anyone think this area will one day be annexed ... seems like it would be nearly impossible considering South Carolina's current annexation laws.

[Jerseyman4]

My question is, where is Carolina Forest? Is it here?

[erm1981]

It appears its not too far outside the myrtle beach area

[myrtlesquare]

My question is, where is Carolina Forest? Is it here?

That's actually the Forestbrook neighborhood that you are looking at. I live in the Carolina Forest area, and we haven't been incorporated yet. When typing Carolina Forest into Google, it probably goes to the zip code 29579, which we share with Forestbrook.

I don't think that we are going to be annexed or incorporated anytime soon. Half of the entire development hasn't been developed. This means that 56,000 people will someday live off of one two-lane road (Carolina Forest Boulevard) before our county decides to widen it.

[erm1981]

Do you think myrtle beach will have a hard time annexing it if it ever wants to?

[myrtlesquare]

Do you think myrtle beach will have a hard time annexing it if it ever wants to?

I'm not sure. I don't think that Myrtle Beach wants to annex it anytime soon, as it would require utility maintenance and probably a lot of other services. However, I think that if Myrtle Beach were to annex, they would do it before the 2010 Census, as the population of the city proper would at least double. Myrtle Beach seems to be having a hard time annexing land west of the Intracoastal Waterway, as the Grand Dunes development is the only land parcel west of the waterway that is annexed into the city proper.

[monsoon]

My guess is that it won't be annexed by Myrtle Beach anytime soon. Right now, it is a tough place to live if you have anything to do in Myrtle Beach because the traffic on 501 has become horrible as it all chokes down to the 501 bridge over the Intercoastal. (It was opened in 1960-61) The congestion might be mitigated some when the new bridge over the Intercoastal for the Hard Rock park is opened, but a lot will depend upon how it is connected. This is why property is so much more expensive on the east side of the bridge.

It will be interesting to see what the 2010 census reveals for the population of Horry country. I think the current estimates way underestimate the number of people moving there.