What is holding Sumter back? (Columbia, Florence: 2009, upkeep, live)

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by rubber_factory

You are focusing on city limit populations. In the state of SC, especially, city limit populations are not a good indication of how populated a metro area is.

In terms of MSAs, Sumter has about as many people as Orangeburg, and is about half the size of Florence.

South Carolina census statistical areas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So no, I don't think it is a misperception - I think it is a reality that the Sumter area is much smaller than Spartanburg, Mt. Pleasant, and Rock Hill. I think we used to be in the ballpark with Florence, but like you say, it is that proximity to the interstate that caused their growth to outpace Sumter's.

Wow.. thanks for that link.. that was quite revealing. I always thought that Sumter was getting the short end of the stick but that data shows that it is what is it is and where it is..What a difference an Interstate makes. I imagine that eventually Orangeburg will pass Sumter..given its direct interstate access to both Columbia and Charleston?

[Akhenaton06]

Originally Posted by Woodlands

I imagine that eventually Orangeburg will pass Sumter..given its direct interstate access to both Columbia and Charleston?

I'd say yes, primarily due to the huge proposed Economic World Zones distribution/manufacturing hub project at the intersection of US 301 and I-95. Interstates do indeed make a difference.

[Ceezer]

I was out with my daughter this evening, checking out the lights at Swan Lake and other locations. I decided to check downtown, and while we were down there I swung by the new transportation depot to check it out. At 6:45PM all the lights were off. What gives? I thought it was supposed to be open 24 hours...

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by Ceezer

I was out with my daughter this evening, checking out the lights at Swan Lake and other locations. I decided to check downtown, and while we were down there I swung by the new transportation depot to check it out. At 6:45PM all the lights were off. What gives? I thought it was supposed to be open 24 hours...

I do not think it is 24hrs because it only receives about 8 or 10 interstate buses daily.. with the last one being close to 1:00am then the first one out leaving about 5:00am... I would have to verify the schedule.. so the overall building may be closed but the actual bus station in the rear may be open 20 hrs or so but maybe not 24 hr. The bulk of the building..2nd floor is the RTA headquarters/operations center...though as I understand it, the first floor is available for rent/lease for retail and office space. Last I talked with someone there, they were working to attract a restaurant to serve downtown workers and passengers in the facility. The facility also serves as the city bus transfer station in addition to regional bus service location for workers communting to Columbia and Myrtle Beach. And of course the proposed CCTC Allied Health Center in the old Western Auto..will serve students who may have to commute into Sumter by bus.

I remember back when the facility was planned..there was discussions on how it could potentially serve also as a train station as part of the emerging highspeed rail network proposed for up and down the east coast. An old spur that was removed years ago would have to be reconstructed under they lafayette st bridge would connect the tracks that run next to the Center along Telephone Street(which go towards Florence and dead end east of town) to the line running to Charleston somewhere in the vicinity of the old Sumter Furniture Plant.

Since then, the highspeed route was designated and does not include Sumter.. there was some interest to have Sumter join forces with the Columbia Region, who is exploring a regional commuter rail system that could connect Camden, Newberry, Batesburg-Leesville with Columbia. That will probably be Sumter best chance to see passenger rail service return to the City. Other ideas such as a park n ride airport shuttle were considered as well.

Dont know what the status of all these "plans" ..but if the President and Congress push for the what some are calling an "Infrastructure Bill" some of these efforts may be explored/studied further.

http://www.centralmidlands.org/pdf/c...%20(draft).pdf

[BJewellB]

There are too many things holding Sumter back to list in this thread. I lived in Sumter for 16 years with my family because my step-dad got stationed at Shaw from Myrtle Beach AFB when it closed in '92. I moved away from Sumter FOR GOOD in 2008 to North Carolina. I had plans to move much earlier than that. I agree with the others who say they have to do all their shopping in either Columbia, Florence, Charleston or even Charlotte. And, the healthcare is EXTREMELY lacking. That is one reason of many why I moved to another state. I now live 10 miles away from Duke University. I love it here.

I would never recommend that anyone move to Sumter unless they are coming from a much smaller and worse off area like Timmonsville or Bishopville. In that case, Sumter would seem like a god-send. Sumter IS NOT for young, liberal, free-thinking individuals who have great life and career goals. There aren't many good paying civilian jobs, there is a lot of nepotism in many of the companies in Sumter like Tuomey Healthcare System and the city and county government. I could go on and on about the problems with Sumter, SC. But, it would be a waste of breath. Its basically a good place for those who are older and are retiring or looking to settle down in a relatively quiet, small town. If you are on the up, and up like many folks my age, then it is not for you.

[BJewellB]

Originally Posted by Rophlmao

Cherryvale is an example of white exit. It used to have many white owners and G.I. renters, but it started to go dark as the owners died off. That drove the G.I.s out, and the rest is history.

Yes, indeed. When we got stationed at Shaw from Myrtle Beach AFB, we moved into Cherryvale and lived there about 3 years then moved into base housing. That was 1993-1996 or so. I wouldn't DARE go to that side of Sumter nowadays. A few guys I know thru a friend just got shot over there a few weeks ago. I am not racist, but yeah, because of the white exit that part of town has gone to .

[BJewellB]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

"Started to go dark"? Yeesh.

I don't really see Sumter as being a great example for the sort of white flight you see in, say, Detroit, because it's just not that big. It doesn't have quite the urban/suburban structure that larger cities have, and the areas kind of run together more. There are only so many areas to head to.

It was and is definitely evident in the schools. Wilson Hall and Thomas Sumter, as well as Laurence Manning and Clarendon Hall in Manning and Robert E Lee (the name says it all...) in Bishopville were all founded between 1964 and 1972 (during integration, busing, etc.)

I can say that there's a fair amount of the aforementioned brain drain. There just aren't many jobs in Sumter... and besides family, not all that many reasons to stay in Sumter if you have other options. Still, as I've said on this board many times, it wasn't a bad place to grow up.

Hey, I totoally agree with you that it wasn't a bad place to grow up. But, once I got older (like 18) I had goals, wants, and needs that I knew I could never meet living in a place like Sumter. I lived there 16 years- during the prime of my life, since I am only 25. So, we moved there in '93, and I moved away in mid '08. I would've moved years back out of high school but decided to go to college locally because of fam and friends being in close proximity. You are right that there aren't many jobs, and those that are present don't pay well, and the employers/companies are overrun with nepotism (i.e. Tuomey Healthcare System, Central Carolina Tech, and even many civilian gov't jobs on Shaw AFB like the Commissary...I know because I worked there)!

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by BJewellB

Hey, I totoally agree with you that it wasn't a bad place to grow up. But, once I got older (like 18) I had goals, wants, and needs that I knew I could never meet living in a place like Sumter. I lived there 16 years- during the prime of my life, since I am only 25. So, we moved there in '93, and I moved away in mid '08. I would've moved years back out of high school but decided to go to college locally because of fam and friends being in close proximity. You are right that there aren't many jobs, and those that are present don't pay well, and the employers/companies are overrun with nepotism (i.e. Tuomey Healthcare System, Central Carolina Tech, and even many civilian gov't jobs on Shaw AFB like the Commissary...I know because I worked there)!

BJewellB- I think you have addressed some of what some have said is part of the problem.. Many have often noted that Sumter could be in danger of falling into a "brain drain" or atleast a scenario where younger folks/families opt to leave the community in search of better opportunities or are simply station here and leave after their tour of duty is up.. More people seem to come to Sumter to retire, which is not a bad thing, but most communities want to maintain a balance with new families moving in and contributing in various ways to the community (unless your are Hilton Head or some resort community then it may not matter as much)

The challenge for Sumter is it is a double edge sword in some cases. Many industries both white and blue collar not only look at tax incentives, water/sewer, highways, spec buildings etc when evaluating a community(since these are a given and just about every community actively seeking an industry/business will provide these). Many consider other factors such as the existing workforce, schools, housing cost, transportation, community amenities etc as well since they want to attract and retain the best talent once they arrive in that community. If a potential relocating company determines that X city meets all of their basic needs but does not have the workforce/demographic, community amenities as in Y city.. then they may opt to go to Y city (all other things being equal) This could then further pushes younger residents seeking other employment opportunites out of X community. As more and more of that population leaves it could impact schools with fewer kids enrolled by their parents, local retail businesses existing and those being recruited because there is not enough of a certain demographic living in a community to support them. On the same note retirees coming to your community do bring income in to offset some of the economic demographic challenges presented to the retail business community, but it may not help your white collar/blue collar industry recruitment... Those younger residents that do remain behind face limited opportunities or may end up having stagnant wages/salary.. because there is limited room for advancement due to limited opportunities.. and the cycle continues. I am not saying Sumter is a horrible place to live .. However; there are some issues that the community may need to continue to look at in order to remain viable and to continue to grow.

[Doug Hebert]

I'm currently stationed at Shaw with about 4 yrs until retirement. Afterwards, I was considering staying in the area and possibly opening up an authentic Cajun restaurant. Of course, it's currently in the planning stages only, but I was raised in the family food business (Cajun food, naturally), and La is my home state. I thought it might be a good idea to have one in Sumter, and I wondered what people might think of it.
Eventually, I'd like for it to be a building on stilts in a swamp setting, just as one would see back home in La, and I've scoped out some areas already. I'd like to have live Cajun music and dancing, too. It's an idea at the moment, but I would love input from the locals. I promise it would be entertaining, and I think you all would really love the food. If you wouldn't mind, please tell me what you all think...It would give me an idea of whether or not it would be worth a try.

Thanks in advance!

Doug

[swampwolf]

Sumter is like so many other small inland towns in SC and elsewhere. Military bases aside, the economic base was once small local family-owned agriculture, and the bottom fell out of that decades ago. The deficit left is not going to change naturally anytime soon.