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Wow.. I wonder how Camden got these before Sumter? I guess there is no available retail space in the city for these "junior boxes" though I am sure that will change once the Kmart site comes online. I see that Camden offered "incentives" for the site to redevelop.. I wonder if Sumter does the same outside of luring industries and downtown development? One could also argue why one would have to incentivize suburban development since that usually is very market driven compared to old historic or dilapidated areas that need to have a level playing field to complete with suburban areas and green fields....
Wow.. I wonder how Camden got these before Sumter? I guess there is no available retail space in the city for these "junior boxes" though I am sure that will change once the Kmart site comes online. I see that Camden offered "incentives" for the site to redevelop.. I wonder if Sumter does the same outside of luring industries and downtown development? One could also argue why one would have to incentivize suburban development since that usually is very market driven compared to old historic or dilapidated areas that need to have a level playing field to complete with suburban areas and green fields....
Good questions. Typically this is how it 'should' go but just my 2 cents, Camden is a small town that plays above its weight in luring retail while I think Sumter is underdeveloped and under served with retail. The problem is that these retailers are used to and indeed expect the incentives that so many of the Camdens of the world offer.
On the one hand I think the markets should drive the entering/exiting of a business into a community and leave government out of the crony capitalism game. (Probably would be fewer retail closings in the long run) But on the other hand I want Sumter to have a Target. What to do??
Good questions. Typically this is how it 'should' go but just my 2 cents, Camden is a small town that plays above its weight in luring retail while I think Sumter is underdeveloped and under served with retail. The problem is that these retailers are used to and indeed expect the incentives that so many of the Camdens of the world offer.
On the one hand I think the markets should drive the entering/exiting of a business into a community and leave government out of the crony capitalism game. (Probably would be fewer retail closings in the long run) But on the other hand I want Sumter to have a Target. What to do??
Camden is a part of the Columbia metro area of over 800, 000 people. Kershaw county and it's county set of Camden is one of the six counties that makes up the Columbia metro, and that is huge. Sumter is not a part of a larger metro, it stands alone with it's own metro of 107,000 or all of Sumter county. Major retailors don't have to be located in the principal city of a metro region, but just be located anywhere within a given metro. Camden is pretty much a bedroom community of Columbia these days. Sumter don't have the advantage of a interstate highway that connects it directly to other larger cities. So putting things into perspective, being a part of the Columbia metro is a major plus for Camden, and it's taking advantage of that designation. While Sumter borders rural Richland with nothing much between the two cities, except farm and swamp land, Kershaw/Camden borders a rapidly growing and heavy populated area of Richland, with I20 connecting the two in just a short drive.
Camden is a part of the Columbia metro area of over 800, 000 people. Kershaw county and it's county set of Camden is one of the six counties that makes up the Columbia metro, and that is huge. Sumter is not a part of a larger metro, it stands alone with it's own metro of 107,000 or all of Sumter county. Major retailors don't have to be located in the principal city of a metro region, but just be located anywhere within a given metro. Camden is pretty much a bedroom community of Columbia these days. Sumter don't have the advantage of a interstate highway that connects it directly to other larger cities. So putting things into perspective, being a part of the Columbia metro is a major plus for Camden, and it's taking advantage of that designation. While Sumter borders rural Richland with nothing much between the two cities, except farm and swamp land, Kershaw/Camden borders a rapidly growing and heavy populated area of Richland, with I20 connecting the two in just a short drive.
Sumter is the core of the unofficial Sumter-Lee-Clarendon tri-County “metro” area. Media and casual news watchers/readers seem to think so as well.
Wow.. I wonder how Camden got these before Sumter? I guess there is no available retail space in the city for these "junior boxes" though I am sure that will change once the Kmart site comes online. I see that Camden offered "incentives" for the site to redevelop.. I wonder if Sumter does the same outside of luring industries and downtown development? One could also argue why one would have to incentivize suburban development since that usually is very market driven compared to old historic or dilapidated areas that need to have a level playing field to complete with suburban areas and green fields....
I would not mind seeing Camden lure quality supermarkets like Ingle's and Publix.
Camden is a part of the Columbia metro area of over 800, 000 people. Kershaw county and it's county set of Camden is one of the six counties that makes up the Columbia metro, and that is huge. Sumter is not a part of a larger metro, it stands alone with it's own metro of 107,000 or all of Sumter county. Major retailors don't have to be located in the principal city of a metro region, but just be located anywhere within a given metro. Camden is pretty much a bedroom community of Columbia these days. Sumter don't have the advantage of a interstate highway that connects it directly to other larger cities. So putting things into perspective, being a part of the Columbia metro is a major plus for Camden, and it's taking advantage of that designation. While Sumter borders rural Richland with nothing much between the two cities, except farm and swamp land, Kershaw/Camden borders a rapidly growing and heavy populated area of Richland, with I20 connecting the two in just a short drive.
This goes back to the perineal discussion concerning if/can Sumter and Columbia merge MSAs or CSA or whichever one make sense.. I know its controlled by the feds and based on commuting patterns and various other data points.. but it would appear that it could benefit Sumter to do so as it appears Camden is now benefiting to some degree..But.. maybe I am wrong and Sumter is better off alone..... Old school politicos in Sumter have enjoyed their " king fish" status over Mayesville, Bishopville and Manning.. so having to kneel to Columbia may be too much to swallow ... I am only slightly kidding...
I used to drive from Columbia to Sumter and though it was not bumper to bumper like I 26 in NW Columbia.. there was substantial volume. If I had a time machine, I would go back in time and sit in on the SCDOT meeting where the decision was being made to take I-20 north of Fort Jackson instead of south and pulled the fire alarm in order to postpone the meeting...Then I would have tried to meet with Sumter officials and tell them that Wards BBQ was giving away free sandwiches at SCDOT in Columbia to see if they would send a delegation up there to find out what was going on......and maybe the result would have been different and I20 would have followed 378? Or they would have just been mad that there was no BBQ....smh....No seriously.. if I had a time machine.. I would probably do a lot more devious things than crash an 1960s SCDOT Meeting
Last edited by Woodlands; 01-16-2019 at 02:56 PM..
This goes back to the perineal discussion concerning if/can Sumter and Columbia merge MSAs or CSA or whichever one make sense.. I know its controlled by the feds and based on commuting patterns and various other data points.. but it would appear that it could benefit Sumter to do so as it appears Camden is now benefiting to some degree..But.. maybe I am wrong and Sumter is better off alone..... Old school politicos in Sumter have enjoyed their " king fish" status over Mayesville, Bishopville and Manning.. so having to kneel to Columbia may be too much to swallow ... I am only slightly kidding...
I used to drive from Columbia to Sumter and though it was not bumper to bumper like I 26 in NW Columbia.. there was substantial volume. If I had a time machine, I would go back in time and sit in on the SCDOT meeting where the decision was being made to take I-20 north of Fort Jackson instead of south and pulled the fire alarm in order to postpone the meeting...Then I would have tried to meet with Sumter officials and tell them that Wards BBQ was giving away free sandwiches at SCDOT in Columbia to see if they would send a delegation up there to find out what was going on......and maybe the result would have been different and I20 would have followed 378? Or they would have just been mad that there was no BBQ....smh....No seriously.. if I had a time machine.. I would probably do a lot more devious things than crash an 1960s SCDOT Meeting
Sumter have long since missed their opportunity for anything like a major interstate. It's that small town mentality, way of thinking and doing things that have kept us where we are. This town does absolutely nothing fast, no thinking outside of the box, and does little that I know of to grow and expand in various areas. We need new visionaries to lead the way, and until people say something, nothing will change.
Sumter have long since missed their opportunity for anything like a major interstate. It's that small town mentality, way of thinking and doing things that have kept us where we are. This town does absolutely nothing fast, no thinking outside of the box, and does little that I know of to grow and expand in various areas. We need new visionaries to lead the way, and until people say something, nothing will change.
That's the unfortunate part. Clearly Sumter is not a small town at least not in the SC context. The city is fairly good size despite the desire by some that it remain a small town. I get the sense that Sumter views its peers as Camden Orangeburg and Manning rather than Florence Spartanburg and Rock Hill which is unfortunate. Given the city is the size it is. I don't know why or how it retained that small town perspective when it comes to its planning development and economic outlook. It seems the city is obsessed with trying to retain Shaw or land the next industrial plant. There doesn't seem to be a focus to diversify the economy or tax base
To your point the city seems to have been run historically by local business owners or industrialist whose main goals were to maintain the status quo which is their control over he city's economy and fate as it relates to their own interest and profits Thus keep others out maintain control of the land use infrastructure and the economy for their own purposes
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