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Will Hardeeville be largest SC city in 20 years?


vicupstate

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This is from Sunday's State newspaper. I believe the timetable listed is very aggressive and unrealistic, but even if it takes 40 years, it would still be an amazing transformation.

The town's population is 2,000 now, and the entire county is only around 15,000.

The article estimates a population of 125,000 in 20 years. While that wuld be the largest SC city, TODAY, I would expect Charleston to be between 200,000-300,000 by that time.

Hardeeville eeks to become largest SC city

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Yes, I saw that in today's edition of The State and when I read the title of the article, I was like "Huh?"

Sure the Hilton Head/Beaufort area is growing, but not any faster than any other metro in the state. What type of economic development plans are in place to bring jobs to the area? Furthermore, it seems as though the leadership of Hardeeville only wishes to make his town a glorified bedroom community and not a central business/industrial hub of any type. I'm not sure if that's something you want to brag about.

Somebody done bumped their head.

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Several years ago, I heard that Disney wanted to build some kind of awesome and large resort in Hardeeville. It would transform the town into a mecca for tourists and new residents, but I haven't heard much since. Maybe this is a followup by other developers? Either way, it's incredibly ambitious to speculate such a tremendous population growth in 20 years. I can think of several cities and towns that should continue to outpace Hardeeville's population in the next two decades. :huh:

Edit: I found some links backing up my memory. :)

I-95 Exit Information Guide - Hardeeville, SC

"Recently announced plans for major development including a $40 million complex that will include a Disney Travel Center, add to Hardeeville's reputation as a great place to visit!"

Sandlapper Magazine - Article on Hilton Head Island

"Town (Hilton Head) leaders are worried that this labor force, which isn't large enough, will dwindle further when those employees find work at the new Sun City retirement community near Bluffton and the Disney complex in Hardeeville."

Savannah Morning News - Article on Hardeeville's Disney Development

"And then Wednesday, the developers submitted plans for the project, which would include three hotels, several restaurants and shops, and the Disney center."

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That is incredibly ambitious. I don't understand why they are basing their expected growth on a nuew branch hostiptal. But thats cool. It sounds to me like they are wanting to be a suburb of Savannah. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. It would certainy impact the rest of the state- taking 20 years to accompish what has taken nearly well over 200 years for our other cities to accomplish.

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If this is a series of planned retirement developments, possibly not too unrealistic - consider 'The Villages' between Ocala FL & Lady Lake. We are facing a massive wave of people retiring in the next decade, there are a lot of baby boomers & many of them have money - many of them are not going to want to continue living in Atlanta or Charlotte.

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That is incredibly ambitious. I don't understand why they are basing their expected growth on a nuew branch hostiptal. But thats cool. It sounds to me like they are wanting to be a suburb of Savannah. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. It would certainy impact the rest of the state- taking 20 years to accompish what has taken nearly well over 200 years for our other cities to accomplish.

Is this the town where to Svannah College or Art and Design is moveing their campus to?

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About two months ago I was coming up 17 from Tampa and we were passing through Savannah, I remember crossing over the Savannah river seeing a sign that said welcome to South Carolina and then a few miles down the road seeing some development on the right side of the road and a sign that said something like future home of Savannah College of Art and Design. I mean, it was jsut a few miles down the road from the river. I just remember thinking it was odd that it was in SC.

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But in 20 years Columbia and Charleston will be much bigger than they are now

Exactly. I have no idea why Hardeeville's leaders think that the rest of SC will remain stagnant for 20 years while sprawl runs rampant down there, propelling the population past 100,000. I really do hope the best for the town, but I hope that they are planning for smart growth. At least they will be preserving the swamps and wetlands down there.

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Its likely not that they think the rest of the state will stand still, just that their economy will drastically change. Jasper is the only coastal county not to see some significant growth. I don't think that giving them a port would help a whole lot anyway. It seems to me that the SCPA wnats to consilidate everything to Charleston to give it more clout. That may or maynot be the best idea, but it is certainly a hinderance to that happening in Jasper County.

Hardeeville basicly wants to become a mammoth sized suburb. Growth leads to more growth, so it is reasonable to think that if they can start the ball rolling then it will keep on rolling.

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I am not even sure I've heard of Hardeeville, and I certainly didn't know where it is located. Their ambitions are unrealistic and will never happen.

Greenville, Charleston, and Columbia will continue to be the three main population centers in our state. They are what they are for a reason, and people won't soon forget that.

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