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I've been in that area since I was a kid, but now, man, It's amazing how bad it's gotten. The apartments we use to stay-in until I was a teen and moved to the Spring Valley area ( The apartments are now called: Hunter's Way ) are run downed. They look like ghettos now. Spray-paint on the building walls, a big long tall black gate separating the good neighborhood from the bad--not to mention keeping out the hoodlums from going into said,"good," neighborhood. There was a store called: Mini-Mart we use to go to. Back when we were kids, the store catered to the youth by putting some arcades there and even offering jobs to us ( Usually 11 to 13 year olds cleaning up the floors and such ). Now, the store is run-downed and the arcade section replaced by some bullet-proof thing--I don't know, because I wasn't there for long. Wanting to reminisce on my childhood a little by going to one of my friend's house.
So, I went there. Got to the door and ranged the bell a few times. A different lady came out of the house. Very nice woman ( the house was redecorated and looked very nice. ). I told her about the people who use to live here. She said that my friend's father died of cancer years ago. After that, she moved to Lexington. The house sat for years until they came and restored it. She didn't mention where my friend was, so after that I left and drove around some more.
Makes you wanna' cry really. The memories of living in that location during my childhood were the best I've ever had until all of the hoodlums and gangs destroyed it. I just wanted to know if they'll ever restore Decker ever again?
Exactly... Village of the Sandhill and more development occurred on Clemson Road and basically followed the roof tops up along Two Notch. The Decker and Percival are the "older" sections of town and thus became more prone to blight because as people aged and or moved on their properties were either rented out, sold to investors, or lower income residents who couldnt afford to move further out. Not all of the neighborhoods along Decker and Percival are "blighted" but there are a few. The same with Apt complexes.. The ones you remember are now older and cant compete with the newer stuff further out. Thus they defer maintenance and drop rents to keep tenants....some tenants are good.. some not so good.
I also believe that many low income renters from the City are fleeing to some of the older inner suburbs... St Andrews Road/Broad River and Decker/Percival. They can rent a small home in a more decent sections of the metro... access to Richland 2 schools(on the NE side) and may even be more likely to find a job close by given the level of service retail, hotels, and related employers in the older and new suburbs.
Do I think that Decker will come back? Its unlikely that it will return to the full blown commercial corridor that it once was ( the beltway- I-77 also helped it decline in that regard) I do think it will become a different corridor with more international types of businesses on it which makes it a unique destination.. The only problem is that it will be hard to get people to appreciate that aspect of it since its not really pedestrian oriented and is more of a highway than a quaint boulevard. If the old Decker Mall could be converted into and international market place with stores and some events.. that could certainly help. Percival on the other hand will likely see some modest improvements north of I-77. There is new residential going in just off Percival up to Clemson Road.. some a few things may happen in those areas.
This is a unfortunate incident happened recently on Percival in Forest Acres. Forest Acres probably averages one if any murders per year. I highlighted this article just to underscore the fact of some of the older apartment complexes in the area have begun to decline and cause problems in the surrounding communities. These complexes near the intersection of Percival and Forest Drive have had their share of challenges. One of the reasons why they were annexed into Forest Acres is because the City wanted to clean them up (the complexes were not a priority for Richland County Sheriff's Office) because they were becoming a blight on the eastern edge of this fair City. It looks like they will have their work cut out for them.. but atleast that will keep the FPD busy
That's really sad. I remember growing up at that part of town and never, ever hearing about murders. Guess we'll see what happens.
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