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The Lexington article probably tagged along for the ride because it is in the Columbia metro area and The State Newspaper is based in Columbia. But for many years, Lexington and Lexington County have been covered by that newspaper as though they, in and of themselves, are the reason for their growth and success, not because they are part of the Columbia metro.
I have never liked the way they cover Lexington, with seldom a mention of Columbia/suburban Columbia as the reason it has grown. Without Columbia, Lexington would not be the place it is today, unless it had become the main city in the Midlands without the existence of the Capital City that was built where it is because of its central location.
If the capital had never been moved, maybe Lexington or Orangeburg, or Sumter, or Camden, or Newberry, would be the big city in the Midlands. Or maybe they would all at least be larger and equal in importance.
A lot of people retire in Lexington County because of the lake there. That was the case for my grandparents and parents. Many people in Lexington County work in Lexington country or Richland County outside of the Columbia city limits.
There are state capital cities that are not big in population.
It is hard to believe The State newspaper, which has a liberal slant, is all about the Republican Lexington County.
Columbia proper's population growth rate over the past decade lagged several other cities in the state, and the metro's economic growth rate lagged a bit also.
That happens all the time as the sprawl from a central city spreads further and further outward and engulfs surrounding towns, but the question being asked is, can Rock Hill sufficiently distinguish itself within the metropolitan area as Charlotte continues to sprawl ever outward. And at this point, I believe the answer is that it's already doing that. That certainly wasn't the case back when I was an Eagle and newly-minted alum, but several positive developments have happened in the years since which have helped to solidify Rock Hill's distinct identity.
Of course cities can be described as successful, and Greenville fits the bill in two distinct ways: economically (transitioning from textiles to automotive, engineering, banking, etc.) and the revitalization of its urban core.
My biggest criticism of this series is including Lexington as one of the seven leading cities of the state. There's no justification for including Lexington and totally excluding Florence or Spartanburg.
Why should any SC city be excluded. Every city matters regardless of population in my view. Clemson probably has more name recognition nationally than any town in SC outside of Charleston and Myrtle Beach. It looks like they also excluded Myrtle Beach.
The only people who are not familiar with Rock Hill are people not familiar with SC. It is a good drive from there to Uptown. It doesn't seem to matter if it other people consider it part of Charlotte or not, as long as the residents like living there.
My brother lives in Marietta Georgia. Most outsiders probably would call that Atlanta and it is more populated than Rock Hill. He doesn't go into Atlanta very often.
I would say the revitalization of the Vista area in Columbia was the most impressive one in the state based on where it was in the late 90s. I don't think there had been many restaurants and stores over there at any point so it was really a reinvention. It feels like Columbia downtown is least as good as Raleigh's.
Last edited by Vaccinated Masker; 10-28-2021 at 07:51 PM..
Why should any SC city be excluded. Every city matters regardless of population in my view. Clemson probably has more name recognition nationally than any town in SC outside of Charleston and Myrtle Beach. It looks like they also excluded Myrtle Beach.
I think they should have done top 10 with every city anchoring an MSA automatically included which would be the Big Three, Myrtle Beach (which was included), Spartanburg, Florence, Hilton Head (which could realistically be coupled with Beaufort in one story), and Sumter. Rock Hill and Aiken, which anchor the SC side of their bi-state metros, would round out the top 10.
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The only people who are not familiar with Rock Hill are people not familiar with SC. It is a good drive from there to Uptown. It doesn't seem to matter if it other people consider it part of Charlotte or not, as long as the residents like living there.
Being in another state than Charlotte will ensure that Rock Hill remains distinct within the metro to a degree, similar to Northern KY in relation to Cincinnati, Northern VA and MD in relation to DC, south and north Jersey in relation to Philly and NYC respectively, etc.
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My brother lives in Marietta Georgia. Most outsiders probably would call that Atlanta and it is more populated than Rock Hill. He doesn't go into Atlanta very often.
I agree and Marietta and Decatur were actually two examples that came to mind in responding to your post. Both have managed to retain their distinct identities even while being surrounded by Atlanta's sprawl. It helps that both are historic neighboring county seats with vibrant downtown cores that are draws unto themselves.
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I would say the revitalization of the Vista area in Columbia was the most impressive one in the state based on where it was in the late 90s. I don't think there had been many restaurants and stores over there at any point so it was really a reinvention. It feels like Columbia downtown is least as good as Raleigh's.
Yeah the Vista is certainly a success story in its own right and is still developing. I believe National Geographic declared it the ugliest urban corridor the country in the 80s.
One thing the article on Columbia should've mentioned was its spacious urban core footprint which makes infill that comprehensively knits together the core urban fabric more of a challenge. That's a result of being a planned capital city but it is beneficial over the long run IMO.
The last time I was in Raleigh about a year ago, I didn't make it downtown but I can tell from streetview that downtown Raleigh has definitely been getting more new development than downtown Columbia over recent years. That said, their main streets (named Fayetteville St in Raleigh) may not be too far apart in terms of activity or their respective warehouse districts (Vista, Glenwood South). It's interesting that both cities' old state mental health campuses in their urban cores became available for redevelopment around the same time but they went different routes as Raleigh transformed theirs' into the city's new premier park.
I think if the Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote an article about the seven to ten cities that will shape that state, if they included Marietta it would be because they were afraid if they didn’t the Marietta locals might unsubscribe, which I believe is why The State felt it couldn’t get away with not covering Lexington as though the “town” as they call it is relevant to the topic in and of itself without being a part of the Columbia MSA.
People who would like to live in SC near Charlotte might want to take a look at Lancaster County. SmartAsset recently released a list of counties nationwide ranked by purchasing power or income versus cost of living.
South Carolina’s top 10 in order: Lancaster, Beaufort, Charleston, Greenville, York, Berkeley, Lexington, Dorchester, Oconee, Spartanburg.
Published in The Post and Courier - That’s as far as the list went in the P&C.
I think if the Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote an article about the seven to ten cities that will shape that state, if they included Marietta it would be because they were afraid if they didn’t the Marietta locals might unsubscribe, which I believe is why The State felt it couldn’t get away with not covering Lexington as though the “town” as they call it is relevant to the topic in and of itself without being a part of the Columbia MSA.
In the Atlanta area, Alpharetta or Sandy Springs would be included before Marietta.
I would disagree with including them in such a write-up as well. My spouse’s nieces live in Alpharetta, but all I hear them say is they live in Atlanta. On a local level to let other locals know where they live I’m sure they say Alpharetta. Or once they tell someone on a trip that they’re from or live in Atlanta, I’m sure they say Alpharetta if asked which part.
The Lexington article probably tagged along for the ride because it is in the Columbia metro area and The State Newspaper is based in Columbia. But for many years, Lexington and Lexington County have been covered by that newspaper as though they, in and of themselves, are the reason for their growth and success, not because they are part of the Columbia metro.
I have never liked the way they cover Lexington, with seldom a mention of Columbia/suburban Columbia as the reason it has grown. Without Columbia, Lexington would not be the place it is today, unless it had become the main city in the Midlands without the existence of the Capital City that was built where it is because of its central location.
If the capital had never been moved, maybe Lexington or Orangeburg, or Sumter, or Camden, or Newberry, would be the big city in the Midlands. Or maybe they would all at least be larger and equal in importance.
I would agree.. Lexington seems to want to stand on its own and disassociate its self from Columbia.. Part of that may just be natural as a city/town comes into its own.. the other part of it.. is well political.. Both jurisdictions are a 180 degree opposites from each other...along with Richland County. I think the State just played into that and its Lexington readers..
I agree with Mutiny that it seems odd that Florence and Spartanburg were not included but it seems that the target audience is in Columbia and the others members of big three (and their politicos) who are likely more concerned/interested in the cities discussed in the article as opposed to some of the other cities that were not in it...
Why should any SC city be excluded. Every city matters regardless of population in my view. Clemson probably has more name recognition nationally than any town in SC outside of Charleston and Myrtle Beach. It looks like they also excluded Myrtle Beach.
The only people who are not familiar with Rock Hill are people not familiar with SC. It is a good drive from there to Uptown. It doesn't seem to matter if it other people consider it part of Charlotte or not, as long as the residents like living there.
My brother lives in Marietta Georgia. Most outsiders probably would call that Atlanta and it is more populated than Rock Hill. He doesn't go into Atlanta very often.
I would say the revitalization of the Vista area in Columbia was the most impressive one in the state based on where it was in the late 90s. I don't think there had been many restaurants and stores over there at any point so it was really a reinvention. It feels like Columbia downtown is least as good as Raleigh's.
Yeah it would have been informative to feature some of the other SC Cities to include Sumter, Anderson, Florence, Aiken/North Augusta, Spartanburg .. at a minimum...
I would disagree with including them in such a write-up as well. My spouse’s nieces live in Alpharetta, but all I hear them say is they live in Atlanta. On a local level to let other locals know where they live I’m sure they say Alpharetta. Or once they tell someone on a trip that they’re from or live in Atlanta, I’m sure they say Alpharetta if asked which part.
Sandy Springs could get included simply for being the second-largest municipality in metro Atlanta and having the region's largest office submarket (which is shared with neighboring Dunwoody), but in truth it's just a city on paper that incorporated less than 20 years ago to prevent Atlanta from annexing it. It has little history and identity of its own. While Alpharetta was basically just a hamlet for most of its history and didn't hit 10K until about 30 years ago, for a time it was the county seat of what was then Milton County (basically the knob-shaped top of Fulton County north of the Chattahoochee River). During the Depression, it went bankrupt and was merged with Fulton County. With the construction of GA 400 in the 60s and 70s, population and economic growth exploded and today, Alpharetta is the hub of the prosperous northern Atlanta suburbs which has the third-largest amount of office space (North Fulton CBD) in the metro after Central Perimeter and Midtown Atlanta. Alpharetta itself is a burgeoning tech hub and home to about 700 tech-related companies. Its core is rapidly developing and adding more and more amenities; Alpharetta City Center and Avalon are the city's two core anchor developments and have been nothing short of a game-changer for the city. Since those were built, there's been a pretty steady wave of impactful developments proposed. While Marietta is more historic with a well-built, pedestrian-friendly town square that's quite popular regionally, as a satellite city/suburb, it's lost clout to the north Fulton 'burbs in particular.
As far as your nieces go, that doesn't surprise me at all since that's usually how it goes for the metro area but within Georgia itself, they could mention Alpharetta specifically and most folks would know where it is.
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