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That is true, but the entire premise from the name of the title to the general tone of the conversation is like a moving target. It would be much more interesting, and possibly useful if the subject was actually something like, "How can Richland and Lexington counties work to bring a job base like those of Raleigh and Austin." I won't include Nashville because their economy is really based on tourism, and Atlanta is just way bigger.
The reasons are as follows:
Columbia has very little power to do anything because of South Carolina laws dictating annexation rules. Columbia is forced to fight with Richland County, who essentially operate a larger city than Columbia because of said annexation laws.
Columbia has a weak mayor system and makes up about 15% of the total metro population. There is no way to attract jobs without a joint effort and leadership.
South Carolina focuses on manufacturing. Period. So no help there.
The University of South Carolina is behind the 8 ball because of poor management a long time ago, and interference from the General Assembly. I have literally heard lawmakers say, "USC should be only focused on providing higher education to the people of South Carolina."
Yeah... Regionalism is a bad word in these parts unfortunately.. There over a dozen municipalities just in the Midlands alone.. It makes it hard for anything to happen in a collaborative manner. Half of the municipalities on this list are adjacent to and in some cases directly in competition with the City of Columbia... Its like those little tick birds that ride on the back of an elephant.. but rather than eating the ticks..they are eating into the elephant..... LOL
Richland and Lexington Counties
City of Columbia
Town of Lexington
City of Cayce
City of West Columbia
Town of Irmo
Town of Blythewood
City of Forest Acres
Town of Arcadia Lakes
Town of Chapin
Town of Springdale
Town of South Congaree
Town of Eastover
Town of Pineridge
Town of Swansea
There are a handful of others but you get the point...
Incidentally.... When is Lexington going to become a City of...? I guess they like the town moniker.. but clearly they are not a Town by SC standards nor really is Irmo....
Yeah... Regionalism is a bad word in these parts unfortunately.. There over a dozen municipalities just in the Midlands alone.. It makes it hard for anything to happen in a collaborative manner. Half of the municipalities on this list are adjacent to and in some cases directly in competition with the City of Columbia... Its like those little tick birds that ride on the back of an elephant.. but rather than eating the ticks..they are eating into the elephant..... LOL
Richland and Lexington Counties
City of Columbia
Town of Lexington
City of Cayce
City of West Columbia
Town of Irmo
Town of Blythewood
City of Forest Acres
Town of Arcadia Lakes
Town of Chapin
Town of Springdale
Town of South Congaree
Town of Eastover
Town of Pineridge
Town of Swansea
There are a handful of others but you get the point...
Incidentally.... When is Lexington going to become a City of...? I guess they like the town moniker.. but clearly they are not a Town by SC standards nor really is Irmo....
I think it just requires a lot of time, paperwork, and money to recharter the town as a city. Plus, think of the possible headaches for the residents.
Yeah... Regionalism is a bad word in these parts unfortunately.. There over a dozen municipalities just in the Midlands alone.. It makes it hard for anything to happen in a collaborative manner. Half of the municipalities on this list are adjacent to and in some cases directly in competition with the City of Columbia... Its like those little tick birds that ride on the back of an elephant.. but rather than eating the ticks..they are eating into the elephant..... LOL
Richland and Lexington Counties
City of Columbia
Town of Lexington
City of Cayce
City of West Columbia
Town of Irmo
Town of Blythewood
City of Forest Acres
Town of Arcadia Lakes
Town of Chapin
Town of Springdale
Town of South Congaree
Town of Eastover
Town of Pineridge
Town of Swansea
There are a handful of others but you get the point...
Incidentally.... When is Lexington going to become a City of...? I guess they like the town moniker.. but clearly they are not a Town by SC standards nor really is Irmo....
It seems like just about every metro area complains about a lack of regional cooperation to one extent or another and honestly things really aren't that bad in the Columbia area comparatively speaking. The only suburbs of any real consequence are Cayce, West Columbia, and Lexington due to their proximity to the urban core. Irmo, Blythewood, and Forest Acres are important as well but for different reasons. The rest of those towns don't have much clout and aren't typically pushing back significantly when it comes to regional matters. The Charleston area is even more balkanized with three counties and several large and growing suburbs, including one almost as big as Charleston itself, yet they tend to do pretty well on regional matters, although they aren't exactly free of skirmishes either.
And I'm pretty sure Lexington wants to retain the town moniker for what the term evokes. It could be worse; the "town" of Cary, NC (a Raleigh suburb) is more populous than Columbia.
Good think I didn't bring up Charleston. Anyway, I think Columbians would have been much better served if the city had agreed to spend some of the millions it spent on the minor league ballpark on the riverwalk part of the Sasaki masterplan and connected Coble Plaza and Granby Park by now. I bet the Guignards would have agreed.
Good think I didn't bring up Charleston. Anyway, I think Columbians would have been much better served if the city had agreed to spend some of the millions it spent on the minor league ballpark on the riverwalk part of the Sasaki masterplan and connected Coble Plaza and Granby Park by now. I bet the Guignards would have agreed.
It would have been better if USC would just share their ballpark with a minor league team and the millions spent on the minor league ballpark were spent on economic development efforts to get more jobs to downtown/Innovista. That would naturally create more demand for private development.
It would have been better if USC would just share their ballpark with a minor league team and the millions spent on the minor league ballpark were spent on economic development efforts to get more jobs to downtown/Innovista. That would naturally create more demand for private development.
Totally agree. Having been to over 60 MiLB ballparks throughout the US, Founders Park could definitely be a Low A ballpark, heck it's nice enough to be a High A or even AA ballpark. If they really wanted to build a new minor league stadium, they should have built it near Huger and Hampton instead of Bull St.
Totally agree. Having been to over 60 MiLB ballparks throughout the US, Founders Park could definitely be a Low A ballpark, heck it's nice enough to be a High A or even AA ballpark. If they really wanted to build a new minor league stadium, they should have built it near Huger and Hampton instead of Bull St.
A ballpark was central to the Bull Street redevelopment plans from the beginning so it was doubtful the city would have built it elsewhere.
From the posts, it seems that Columbia has a serious problem with its ability to cooperate and form a decent riverwalk, manage the town or utilize USC. I would definitely think that is almost the definition of underperforming when you squander such great assets. Hopefully this will turn around soon.
Secondary question, do people walking around the area even realize this as a problem? Just wondering if people know how good they have it, just in case the area does take off and people at some hypothetical future worry about gentrification.
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had that happened
