State of the City Series:
North Charleston is Booming
July 18, 2006: Today, Mayor Keith Summey, told Rotarians how pleased he was to come to “south Charleston” to speak. He was more pleased to report on the astounding growth experienced by North Charleston in recent years, especially in the retail sector. Although Mayor Summey said the Governor does not share his beliefs that retail is an “industry”, the Mayor begs to differ, and the $6 billion in retail sales last year is his proof. In fact, North Charleston saw a 15% increase in retail sales last year, and that’s even before Tanger Outlets opens in August!
Mayor Summey also discussed the increased population growth experienced by the City in recent years, especially in the Dorchester Road and Ladson Road corridors, and Deer Park. The question remains: how do we control this growth and handle it so that we provide proper planning for the City and provide the necessary infrastructure to serve future generations? The Mayor stressed that we need to take a regional approach to planning and growth management. We need to create inner city density to abate sprawl and create communities that enhance our quality of life. Living in a place that you can afford, where you can walk or ride a bike, or just have a shorter commute to work, will help us enhance our quality of life, and we need to create these places because they haven’t happened in the past. He pointed to Hilton Head Island as an example of needing to plan for the future of the whole community. Hilton Head did not include “workforce housing” in its long-term planning, and as a result, no one who services the Island can afford to live there, and must drive many miles from Bluffton and beyond to go to work on Hilton Head. Which led us to another issue: traffic and transportation.
Traffic has gotten so bad in the region that we have to work together regionally to solve the issues. Mayor Summey was quick to point out that “while he was no engineer, he knew a four-foot pipe would quickly back up when dumped into a two-foot pipe.” We should support a sales tax referendum in all three counties to support regional infrastructure to support all those moving to our region.
Reported by Amy Riley, Keyway Committee