Travels to Myrtle Beach, Georgetown, Brunswick County, and Wilmington
Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007Recent travels took me to the coastal Carolina areas around Myrtle Beach and Wilmington.
The first stop was Myrtle Beach, land of outlet malls and golf courses and, of course, the beaches of the Grand Strand. There’s much to do for the 14 million visitors who come to the area each year, from the Myrtle Beach Pelicans minor league baseball games to the shopping and entertainment of Broadway on the Beach to the many restaurants. While current housing prices in the region are reasonable, the Myrtle Beach area continues to grow in size and popularity. The world’s first Hard Rock Park is slated to open there in the spring of 2008 and will create approximately 3,000 jobs. The almost $400 million 140-acre theme park will feature 40 attractions and is projected to host more 30,000 guests each day during the peak season. The endeavor is being hailed as “the largest single investment in tourism infrastructure” in the history of South Carolina. Needless to say, this will have a dramatic effect on the region in many ways.
Harmony Township, located in Georgetown, S.C., is conveniently situated halfway between Myrtle Beach and Charleston. Georgetown has been named among Newsweek Showcase’s “Ten Small Towns that Make Great Places to Retire” and CNN Money’s “Best Places to Live Along the Coast”; the town is also currently being featured in a Nikon television ad. With its riverfront, lake, marsh, and Town Center homesites and approach to neo-urbanism, one can enjoy a South Carolina Lowcountry lifestyle to the fullest in Harmony Township. Within easy walking distance of the homes is Harmony’s deep-water marina on the Sampit River; from there one can access Georgetown, the Intracoastal Waterway, and the Atlantic Ocean. In recreating the feel of a small Southern town, the community also will offer a swimming pool, tennis and basketball courts, fitness center, and community center for events of all types. When completed, the Town Center will feature shops, businesses, and restaurants where the owners may live just above their establishments. If you’re planning to visit Harmony Township, you’ll want to ask for Missy Toemmes for thorough insight and guidance on what the community has to offer those looking for property in the area.
Coming along Highway 17 into North Carolina’s Brunswick County, it’s remarkable how many communities in a variety of price ranges there are to choose from in this relatively small geographic area. Again, golf seems to be a major draw, but beach clubs are popular as well. The area markets itself based on easy access to the activities of Myrtle Beach and the resources of Wilmington. Towns like Calabash, proclaimed to be the seafood capital of the world, Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, and Southport have much to offer, and some of the amenity communities provide enough seclusion to escape from even the activity of the smaller towns. What seems to really be fueling what is now one of the fastest growing counties in the country is what is happening in northern Brunswick County. Leland, just west of the Cape Fear River and downtown Wilmington, is booming. Again, there are a number of unique housing possibilities in the area, and shopping and dining options are sprouting up to support the new residents flocking to these communities. While I’m sure that many jobs are still linked to Wilmington, the area is coming into its own both economically and with its own identity. Some of the neighborhoods will essentially become their own towns and are projected to be developed over the next twenty years.
Clearly, this entire coastal region is experiencing pronounced changes which will greatly alter the literal and proverbial landscape of this area. I believe the extent and speed of these changes is as dramatic as you will find anywhere in the country. I for one look forward to seeing how this stretch of the Mid-Atlantic develops over the next five to ten years.