Which city in SC will boom next? (Columbia, Charleston: real estate, university)

[TootsieWootsie]

Which great city in the South Carolina area do you think will boom next? Please consider that SC will draw alot of retirees there in the coming 20 years due to the baby boomer (and SC great tax benefits for them), but, also, consider what businesses will be draw there, too. Where will the next industries build in SC?
So, which city do you think is the next boom city in SC? And WHY?

1. Charleston
2. Columbia
3. Greenville/Spartanburg
4. Hilton Head/Beaumont/Bellfort
5. Myrtle Beach/Conway
6. Aiken
7. York/Lancaster

[Buckeye in SC]

Originally Posted by TootsieWootsie

Which great city in the South Carolina area do you think will boom next? Please consider that SC will draw alot of retirees there in the coming 20 years due to the baby boomer (and SC great tax benefits for them), but, also, consider what businesses will be draw there, too. Where will the next industries build in SC?
So, which city do you think is the next boom city in SC? And WHY?

1. Charleston
2. Columbia
3. Greenville/Spartanburg
4. Hilton Head/Beaumont/Bellfort
5. Myrtle Beach/Conway
6. Aiken
7. York/Lancaster

Keep in mind, there was a similar thread on this not too long ago, but I'll give it a shot.

Charleston & HHI are obvious selections for retirees, great weather & amenities, near the beach, and they already have large established retiree communities. So unless we indeed enter another great depression, see no reason for those 2 areas to not continue to grow over the next 2 decades.

I'll offer up Columbia (granted, I'm a little biased living here) as an upcoming area for new business. Just this week, they are holding a large convention touting the Hydrogen fuel cell technology that the leaders are banking on to help fuel the growth, which has tremendous potential. And it just has better stability being the capital (lots of state jobs) and having the largest University in the state to weather economic storms than most of the other areas. Not saying we haven't been effected by the current recession, but it doesn't hit here quite as hard as some other areas have been hit. I think a couple of things would work to the city's favor, remove the confederate flag from the state house, I know all the arguments about the heritage and it's part of the state's history, but it really does hinder some of the potential growth the city could see, and if they could consolidate a lot of the local governemnt entities - in particular, merge Richland County w/the City of Columbia and all of the services that they offer.

On top of that, continue to tout Lake Murray and the area in general as a more reasonable alternative to the coast for retirees and/or 'half-backers' as real estate and cost of living in general is significantly cheaper here than HHI, Myrtle or Charleston and the weather isn't that much different - just a little hotter in the summer and a little cooler in the winter by not having the ocean impacting our climate.

That's my 2 cents, I think all 7 areas will continue to grow though.

[motonenterprises]

Greenville CSA. Just watch. The area gained 20,000+ last year and is considered the economic engine of the state.

[TootsieWootsie]

I agree with you about the Confederate flag thing. A few years ago, a friend of mine from Georgia suggested I move with her to S.C. I was appalled. Why? Because I associated racism with the Confederate flag--and I'm white and was raised in the northern outpost for the Civil War--but the association of the Confederate flag and racism is a turn-off. I'd wish they would get that flag off the State emblems, too.
HOWEVER, when I started to get down to looking at retirement areas, the great weather, the good tax burden, the great SC people on forums...well, SC looks pretty darn good when you come down to it. See how negative first impressions can form so easily...and be so wrong.

[scyogi]

It could be Aiken...here is why......Local News | Aiken Standard | Aiken, SC

Nice to see some job growth in such a great town!

[adavi215]

I will go with Columbia and Greenville/Spartanburg. Those two areas, from what I hear, are quite booming, with Greenville looking extremely good. Columbia, being a state capital will not be hurting anytime soon. As a Charlottean York/Lancaster will grow, but they will competing with other satelitte cities of Charlotte, and some are in better position.

[Geechie North]

Shanghai, China.

Nearest boom town to any of the states given the present paradigm re:trade.

In my opinion.

[TootsieWootsie]

I found a site on the net last night, and didn't bookmark it unfortunately, that said from 2007-08 the growth was in Charleston. That, however, doesn't mean it will continue there for the next 20 years. A hurricane could come thru and blow that projection to bits as we all know.

[motonenterprises]

Originally Posted by TootsieWootsie

I found a site on the net last night, and didn't bookmark it unfortunately, that said from 2007-08 the growth was in Charleston. That, however, doesn't mean it will continue there for the next 20 years. A hurricane could come thru and blow that projection to bits as we all know.

Not sure where they got this, but the upstate area grew in larger raw numbers than any other area in the state, a region Greenville is the center of.

[adavi215]

From what I read Florence is pretty important to SC. Any reasons why this city is less progressive than the others?