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- I buy that the city's lower tax collections have reduced its competitiveness relative to Greenville and Charleston as it has less ability to invest in rehabbing downtown and preparing sites for commercial development.
- I don't think that's within the top 5 reasons why Greenville and Charleston have drastically outpaced Columbia in growth; it comes down to jobs (more investment from the state level), location (major highways and ports), attractiveness for newcomers (beaches, mountains), really good marketing, and probably overall perception that's influenced by both home price growth and word of mouth.
- It's interesting that nontaxable land does not seem to be the culprit as that has been the narrative from Benjamin and maybe some other leaders for years.
- Removing the 15% taxable value appreciation cap seems helpful, but will tick people off.
- Much of Richland's challenge has to do with ultra low priced Lexington sitting right across the river.
- The setup of the school districts across South Carolina is absolutely insane; I can't think of another state that has multiple school districts within the same county. I'd be curious to learn the history if anyone knows it as my first through goes to racism/segregation.
- I hope this triggers a discussion about school district consolidation in Richland County for efficiency. That said, per pupil spending is not a problem if the students have better outcomes; in fact schools are probably the biggest or second biggest factor in where most families with school aged kids choose to locate.
I'm surprised this article omitted relevant factors like annexation and special purpose districts. While Charleston and Greenville might have found ways to grow and prosper, it has been in spite of SC's anti-urban policies and still face their own challenges.
The School Districts will resist consolidation as would the City and the County. School Consolidation is a double edge sword.. It would certainly open up new land for development especially in north Richland County ( Fairfield Road and Monticello) large tracts of land that are currently in District One though are physically closer to District Two Schools. If those lines are redrawn by consolidation or otherwise.. it would likely cause an explosion of development in those areas.. That said, sprawl and rapid growth likely contributed to the rapid rise in taxes in Richland Two as the rushed to build new schools to keep up with the growth.. When I was in high school in the 90s Richland Two had only two high schools.. (Richland NE and Spring Valley) They have since added three more and maybe considering a fourth? I cant tell you how many middle and elementary schools have/are being added. Much of the growth in Kershaw County School Districts is because of the boundary issue in Richland.. If not for that much of it may have already gone to north Richland.
Tax rate aside.. I totally agree that annexation is the elephant in the room that no one wants to address. Annexation battles have been waged in Columbia and Charleston areas.. not sure about other areas of the state...But, those scars are real and the State doesnt seem in a rush to fix/address it being the state is primarily rural centric in terms of the legislature
Here is a report that survey the historic properties in Columbia and tells some of their history from an architectural and cultural perspective. Since history is not static.. it features buildings/structures up to the 1970s which for us old heads is 50 years ago.. but seems like yesterday.. It features buildings that we likely have seen but may have not known the history of them or what they may have been originally.. Especially those from the 1950s/60s on through the 70s
Many buildings like the Wade Hampton Hotel are long gone..but I did learn that the Food Lion strip center in Five Points used to be a Sears in the late 50s
There is a City Plan from the 1960s that called for Main Street to be a Pedestrian mall flanked by modern 10 story buildings with parking along Assembly Street and a people mover that shuttled people around that was interesting..I remember seeing old videos of downtown during the 60s that showed a version of this.. one of those "golf cart trains" that used to ferry people around in the 60s and 70s at amusement parks and timeshare sales property tours..
Here is another that was done a few years ago.. a survey of Eau Claire, which up until 1955 used to be a city of nearly 12,000 people.. Its a great read on how it was founded by the Hyatt family to rival Shandon but didn't develop as quickly and lost ground to places like Elmwood Park, Cottontown, and even Cayce.. despite having a street car line up North Main and Colonial Dr. You can see evidence of this in Seminary Ridge, Windermere Springs, parts of College Place, and near Hyatt Park where there are Four Squares, craftsman cottages and other housing types that you find in Shandon and Elmwood Park. It eventually hit its stride after WW II as many of the lots began to fill in and it shifted from its vision of "upper income" to middle and working class and ranchers and simple bungalows being constructed and becoming the dominate housing type that you see today. The area struggled with infrastructure and other amenities/services from a small tax base which is the reason why it eventually (voted) to go into Columbia though there was still sizable opposition to that.
Both the rise and fall of Eau Claire was also based partially on the issue of race.. According to this report.. The area incorporated in 1899 to prevent an African American Cemetery from being established in the town though later to allow African Americans to settle near Lincoln Park, Ridgewood, and near College Place.. During the 1960s the area suffered, in part, to white flight, followed by the flow of upper income African Americans to the NE and NW sections of Richland County. This was a result of newer housing choices, the introduction of subsidized apartments/duplexes and the integration of Eau Claire HS. The area has struggled through the 70s through the 90s and is being rediscovered in sections in the 21st Century.
I wonder if Eau Claire had won the development race (as a city)against Shandon and built out as such.. If it would have been similar to West Columbia and development along Fairfield, Monticello and North Main would be totally different than what is there today especially with the arrival of I-20 with North Main resembling the 378 corridor. But, the loss in becoming the "upper income" city that was envision certainly explains why Devine, Millwood, and Gervais/Trenholm look the way they do in terms of development pattern with most of Columbia (proper) upper income areas being along or close to those corridors because of the pattern set in place by Shandon.
I also discovered that there used to be a Town of Arden just above Columbia College that included most of what is now College Place. It was annexed into Eau Claire some time before it merged into the City of Columbia. Arden Elementary is named after it.
Anyway... if you enjoy learning about the history of neighborhoods and the City... its a good read
Looks like The State has done a number on the county with this one. I will have to agree with a lot of what is said in this one. The street beautification was nice around Innovista, but definitely wasn’t needed as the area worked fine before then. The only thing really needed was the bridge as it will be a detour when the blossom street bridge is rebuilt. Widenings that were needed have been scrapped, north main is still under construction which was one of the first projects started 5+ years ago. And of course Lower Richland was neglected as usual.
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