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I ride Amtrak periodically either to Florence or into Columbia.. mostly Florence because coming from Baltimore/DC it has the better schedule. I pass through cities like Wilson, NC, and crowds of people get off and on the train at this station and it is similar size city Sumter and its metro. According to Amtrak's web site 53,000 people use that station annually. That's more than Columbia at 29k.. though to be fair Columbia arrival departure hours Suck.. I am sure that plays a role. Wilson is about an hour from RDU Airport and just 20 minutes from Rocky Mount (which is along the same train line) but still those ridership numbers. Amtrak is more popular form of transportation than a bus.. In fact Business Class on most of its trains going to Florida/NY are often sold out...though most business travelers are going to/from a NE city to some place in VA, NC, SC or GA as it is similar to driving and not all the way to Florida.. Sure everyone traveling in Business Class isn't a "businessman or business woman" wearing a suit and typing away on their laptop. I have met many who are and they take the train to places like Wilson and either rent a car or have their company pick them up to take them about. I haven't been on the bus to get a sense of business travelers. but I would venture to guess its probably way less coming to these parts.
At any rate.. Airports, Train Stations, and often Bus Stations are the gateways to your city and ports of entry for commerce and tourism.. so the more options one has the likely the better off you are.. especially in stand alone cities like Sumter as opposed to places like Spartanburg or Rock Hill that are next to are nearby other major cities/towns
I agree, but Sumter just have never made any serious or major push to do anything about it. The culture around here is to accept the status quo. Not enough people are willing to get involved in their community or even care. And city and county leaders know this, so they are not going to take up the issues. The city act like they have no authority or influence or power to push for changes. Like the McLaughlin Ford situation, all those years in planning a major roads and highway project, that will really reshape that part of town, only to let the dealership throw a wrench in it. They have no influence or eminent domain to pressure these guys to stick with the plan, and do what's best for the city as a whole.
We most definitely need a new main post office building, the current one in inadequate at best. And along with a new building should hire a new staff. Go there for any reason is a real horrible experience, and you will spend a lot of time there. The people working there are in no hurry to do anything, and don't care about your time. I know this wont happen anytime soon, because the post office is having their own problems, but we still need a new one .
The dealership in dead smack in the middle of that project, and since they are no going anywhere.
Yeah u wonder if the dealer is still owned by locals ...if so you can hang it up if they don't want to move. There are about a dozen names in Sumter that no politico would ever move to "take" their property via some form of condemnation McLaughlin is one of them assuming the family is still around and own it. If they move to take it they would have to pay thru the nose and pay the owners price to avoid court. Now if it is SCDOT project that may be a slightly different story but only slightly.
Maxway downtown (property) was owned by a former Mayor who just happened to be very interested in seeing a hotel downtown so it was easy to convince him to sell and I am sure he was paid well. But if he wasn't interested Maxaway would still be right there assuming they were making money there to begin with and we're not downsizing. This so no different than any other city but leaders have to find a way to sell their vision and sometimes it involves having difficult conversation or taking bold action within reason if it is for the greater good
Yeah u wonder if the dealer is still owned by locals ...if so you can hang it up if they don't want to move. There are about a dozen names in Sumter that no politico would ever move to "take" their property via some form of condemnation McLaughlin is one of them assuming the family is still around and own it. If they move to take it they would have to pay thru the nose and pay the owners price to avoid court. Now if it is SCDOT project that may be a slightly different story but only slightly.
Maxway downtown (property) was owned by a former Mayor who just happened to be very interested in seeing a hotel downtown so it was easy to convince him to sell and I am sure he was paid well. But if he wasn't interested Maxaway would still be right there assuming they were making money there to begin with and we're not downsizing. This so no different than any other city but leaders have to find a way to sell their vision and sometimes it involves having difficult conversation or taking bold action within reason if it is for the greater good
But, the dealership knew what was going on, I'm sure businesses in the area was at those meeting. Apparently they did signed on at some point, thus the sign up in the would be new location. So now that project is held up for the time being, because they backed out of moving. I'm sure that project was designed with the dealership out of the picture. They probably thought it was a slam dunk, and no backup plan was thought out. I would imagine they would have to go back to the drawing board to reconfigure plans. And because everybody is a member of the Chambers, they will be allowed to do what they want, nobody wants to upset anybody, and that's another reason we are where we are.
I thought DOT could enforce eminent domain on any property where the greater good of the community is at stake.
True.. but I a sure the Sumter reps in the General Assembly would have their phones ringing off the hook from the property owner and other business owners who will likely subscribe to the believe that if it can happen to "them" it could happen to "me" so lets stick together. I wonder what would cause them to back out? cant imagine that the North Main location is better than out west....
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