Chapter 4- Cities bordering Augusta
Aiken, South Carolina
This is the biggest city in neighboring Aiken County, across the river from Augusta. Aiken is a lot like Summerville in the sense that's it was a community intended fro rich northerners vacationing during the cold months of winter. The city grew in a diverse way until about 1950 when the Savannah River site was to be built in the county. The construction had a lasting impact to this day with much maintenance needed to keep the plant to standards and with new projects frequently being undertaken. The City has managed to sustain a higher income than the rest of Aiken county due to its continuing prominence as a spot to retire from the northeast. Aiken has a very good manufacturing base also with one of the largest tire plants being built soon and a large assortment of micro-sized manufacturers, machinists, mechanics and other manufacturing related trades.
Aiken plays into the spectrum of Augusta housing in the sense of being a smaller, but still very southern town, in a slightly more rural setting. Aiken, like Augusta has done a very good job at not tearing down its old structures. Many of the people who would like to reside in Aiken will use city services in Augusta. They will provide a good secondary market for expanding businesses in Augusta and they will provide for a diversity of labor for Augusta employers.
Basic Data
- Distance from Augusta- Appr- 12 miles Northeast
- Similarity to Augusta (adjusted for size) (1-10)- 8
- Population-30,000 (The borders are small, Aiken feels like it is 50,000 people around the city itself)
- Median Income household- $52,000
Breakdown of employment by industry
- Manufacturing- 17%
- Professional, scientific, and technical services- 13%
- Accommodation and food services- 8%
- Construction- 8%
- Public administration- 7%
- Utilities- 6%
- Administrative and support and waste management services- 6%
- Other- 35%
(Aiken has a small manufacturing show where small vendors of custom made art, decorations and other items display and sell their goods. The whole point of this is to show the small shop and skilled manufacturer, that is crucial for keeping the consumption dollar all local. Most of the materials used to make these items are locally bought and sourced and the interconnections of a large group of small manufactures add huge trickle down effects into the economy, much more than the service sector, which mainly focuses on using resources more efficiently, while manufacturing actually creates the resources and materials that the service sector works with)
Arts
- Aiken Center for the Arts
- Aiken Perforning Arts
- Etherredge Center of USCA
- Jim Harrison Gallery
- Juilliard in Aiken
Equestrian Activities
- Aiken Polo Club
- Aiken Steeplechase Association
- Aiken Training Track
- Equestrian Calendar of Aiken
- Paradise Farm
- Progressive Show Jumping
Entertainment
- Augusta Greenjackets Baseball
- Bisquecuts and Glazy
- Dupont Planetarium & Ruth Patrick Science Education Center
- Hole-N-One Family Fun Center
- USCA Convocation Center
- University of South Carolina Aiken: Pacer Sports
- Van Gogh to Go
Evans/Martinez, Ga
These two cities occupy Columbia County, the bordering county on the West side of Richmond County and the choice suburb directly for the city of Augusta. Evans/Martinez were small rural towns until the desire for suburban subdivisions swept America in the 1990's and the 2000's. These two cities are very new, infrastructure and average structure age are both a fraction of Augusta. Many of the subdivisions are already established neighborhoods with neighborhood owner associations and businesses catering to residential areas.
Evans/Martinez are in-between Clark Hills lake and Augusta, Georgia and provide a perfect suburb outside of Augusta and unique to itself. Evans/Martinez fits into Augusta's housing spectrum by being the perfect place for traditional suburban living, such as fences, pools, bar-b-q's and a decent sized front yard.
(Columbia County prides itself on having picturesque public facilities, plenty of outdoor activities and many others of the same relative income. It is not morally right or wrong, but just a fact, richer people cluster. Columbia County has facilities like this to attract new money into the CSRA, they give us that representation for higher income families and individuals, that otherwise, Augusta would miss out on. The culture and attitude is a reciprocal of Augusta's. Columbia County sets the standard for a high quality of living in a medium sized suburb)
Evans/Martinez is pretty exclusively a bedroom community with only a sizable sector of professional services of the natives to sustain itself. Many of the homeowners in the neighborhood own businesses elsewhere, have retirement plans or some other way of drawing money. This is called the "New Money" side of town, as it has grown at the spite of Augusta's health, draining much of the tax base and uprooting many business owners to a more suitable environment to raising a family.
(The government of Columbia County is enjoying being much more efficient than its neighbor, Augusta. The simple low tax and low spend mood of Columbia County is not seen in Augusta. The houses we see in Columbia County are partially a result of what goes on in this room and they are obviously doing well to grow and cater to their needs and circumstances. I give my hats off to Columbia County politicians for their efforts and scold the Augusta commissioners to learn from example and not excuse)
Excellent schools and a growing event schedule of the cities entertainment make this a great place to raise a family and Evans/Martinez have won many awards on local, state and federal level for its schools.
Basic Data
Population (Evans)- 30,000
Distance from Augusta- Appr 8 miles
Median household income- $65,000
Similar to Augusta- 3
Population (Martinez)- 35,000
Distance from Augusta- Appr 10 miles
Median income household- $66,000
Similar to Augusta (1-10)- 2
Edge-field, Graniteville, Mixville, Burnettown, Jackson, Beech Island, Gloverville, Belverdere, New Ellenton, South Carolina
This is a mix of country mill towns that did not prosper as Augusta did in the manufacturing heyday of America. These small towns range from a few thousand to about 5,000 residents and each town constitutes a small purchasing base for businesses around. The economy of these towns have not found ways to recover outside of the manufacturing base leaving.
This area provides cheap residence for many citizens and is ideal for the surrounding manufacturing present in Western South Carolina. Even to this day these small towns have around 25% of the work force employed by a factory. This area is frequented by workers at SRS who want cheap and convenient housing temporarily. I think the place these towns serve in Augusta's economy is by bolstering our retail, whom these people will need to get somewhere with a high enough population density.
Some of these towns have been revitalized in parts. The trend of Aiken as a retirement community has pushed many retirees into the suburbs. These towns are quite rural and the land is real cheap for investments and housing. The demand for housing is very dependent on the nuclear plant and other industry related work.
Population
Edge-field -5,000- A small mill town North-West of Augusta, Georgia. 10 South Carolinian Governors and 5 Lieutenant General haves hailed from Edge-field County, a might proud accomplishment. This town can lend itself to Augusta by being a truly Suburban region that can tap into the consumer markets of Augusta, with their higher than average incomes. Augusta needs to be branding itself, on a consumer level, to places like Edge-field and their particular consumer base. An example will be boat repair, a shop close to the river would be central to a lot of small communities like Edge-field whom lack the volume needed for a formal and truly professional shop environment.
Burnettetown- 2,500- This city is another small mill town, without the distinction of much history and desolate to the point of abandonment. This town really needs help and contribtes to the "Southern Ignorance", the "Cabin Fever" and other aspects particular to Augusta, and the South.
Glover-ville- 3,000- (See Burnettown)
Mixville- Est- 3,000- (Same as Burnettown)
Jackson- 2,000- (Same as Burnettown)
Belverdere- 5,000- (Same as Burnettown)
Beech Island- 8,000- A small country town, site to several plantations and other historic sites. Beech Island is famous for its residence of James Brown, the several manufacturing plants in the area and for farming. This local economy reflects a growing small town, a rare thing in the secular decline of small towns in the information age. The modern day modifications to a manufacturing built economy include a stronger than average housing market, a growing finance sector through a bank opening in the city in the past year to meet the new deposit demands of the nuclear sector workers enjoying the abundant land, pristine ponds and quiet life.
(Beech Island is quite an old part of the CSRA due to very early settlements soon after Augusta's founding in 1732. These structures managed it through the years and now serve as good site seeing objects. The Beech Island historical Society gives a tour of all the plantations, churches and homes from the 19th century once a year, it is a growing tour with more and more people becoming aware of Beech Island and its proximity to Augusta)
New Ellen-ton- 2,000- This small town is similar to Beech Island, although by being smaller in size it captures the older sides of the county and its lower income, and not the new developments and sprawlcreated by the secular sector of SRS and its blue collar needs and Augusta, as an urban center.
(A common duplex Mill home in these small South Carolinian towns. The architecture adds to the culture and distinctness of the region and the abundance also makes them affordable for rent, and very feasible to renovation projects to increase rent. The stock of existing houses like this will undoubtedly lead to many being demolished, and rightfully they should do so. The reason why many natives may not see this point of preserving historical homes is because they view them as criminal dens and other negative connotations. Going to Atlanta, Columbia and Savannah I have seen places that have had heavy development in areas and lost, in entirety, their historical character. Places like these towns represent chances to save whole blocks of architecture and truly encompass the "Atmosphere" factor that goes into real estate prices and in satisfying the picky needs of home buyers around the world)
(Work floors like this was once full of people making textiles, furniture, tools and other items and being exported to the rest of America, but namely overseas. That connected the residents of this region with the worlds economy. The main problem for these small towns is that they do nothing that is adding to the worlds mix of commerce. The strategy should always keep in mind that it can be done, there are examples of small towns turning around. Beech Island represents a good example of a town that can gain in commerce and still be below 15,000. The economy of Augusta can obtain a stability through strong suburbs. These towns can continue to give Augusta a backdoor route to attracting very large manufacturers and the sometimes more attractive, South Carolina tax system and breaks)
Waynesboro, Keysville, Grove-town Bath-Edie, Hephzibah, Blythe, Thomson, Wrens, Millen, Washington, Linconton, Georgia
This is almost the same story as the South Carolina towns as far as economy the history is a little different, with the economy of this side of the Savannah River being more driven by an excelling agriculture in the pre-slavery days and of a lagging period of not adopting industry like the South Carolina towns.
These modern economies are pretty small, add to the general level of consumers in the area and give people who want to move to the CSRA a good amount of options. The agriculture in the area is indispensable to the economy through enriching the farmers and giving Augusta a secular industry that is also in a industry secular bull market for many of markets that Georgian farmers in these towns can participate in. Particularly Soybeans, Peanuts, Apples and Peaches.
(An average house in the outskirts of the CSRA)
Waynesboro- 6,000- This is the Bird Dog capital of the world and the start of a large extent of agricultural mineral, timber and other kind of natural resource use. Waynesboro is the center city of Burke County and serves as a place for business for the small surrounding towns and "villages" almost. Places like Waynesboro are being hit hard in their Downtown service use, as medium sized cities have been rapidly absorbing the countrysides population and drawn the talent to there. Wayensboro is a town that has old money in the ownership of land, industry and farms in the area, which it is abundant with. The citizens of Waynesboro almost all work in Plant Vogtle, or a service industry that survives off of is payroll trickling through the economy. The non-secular aspects of Waynesboro include an extremely cheap place to build a warehouse, with non-labor, Georgia labor, low property taxes and a business friendly atmosphere.
(Waynesboro is very much "Blue Collar". Most of the jobs in this county require hard work, the ability to lift 90 pounds and comes with work hazards. The pay is better than average service sector work and the benefits of trade and production instead of consumption are felt in the trickling down of the local economy of Waynesboro)
A problem of Waynesboro that I have seen in particular to other towns is the drug trade from larger cities in the CSRA that find good operations in the outskirts of the city. The small police force, lack of Federal help and a GBI force with Atlanta using up most of there resources, there is no public solution plausible and the problems growth has reflected that. The Criminal element of much of Waynesboro is indicative of the supposed income of the residents of the neighborhoods. The usual project lifestlye emphasizing gangster like criminal activity, the formation of gangs from a failed family structure and the facial expressions of the angst and presence of an area to sell drugs in. The constant paranoia, fear of robbery from other drug dealers and the ever larger quantity being funneled from multiple channels, locations and sources will only increase the violence, if the criminal structure of the drug operations continue in a street gang manner and not a mafia style or even cartel like structure found in states with large Mexican gang problems. The criminal element in Waynesboro reflects micro trends of the city itself becoming obsolete for 21st century globally connected economy followed by logistic trends of moving drugs from the Atlanta Metro up the East Coast, specifically the I-95 corridor on top of the technological breakthroughs of Methamphetamine manufacturing has made Waynesboro a place to sell drugs, on a medium to large scale. The residents an businesses in Waynesboro will have to survive with this, as before mentioned there is no resources to help them, the lack of Political/Economical importance to the State ensure that it will be overlooked.
(Homemade Meth and the trafficking of Meth from Mexico has created a huge social problem in Burke County, one that has amazingly crippling effects on the economy itself. Waynesboro and Burke County are held back immensely by this secular national trend. How the law enforcement deals with it will be a huge, and not easily seen, factor in the future of the area and its economy)
Grovetown- 12,000- This is a small town in Columbia County, originally a somewhat poor and moderately criminal town. The town has done well to brand itself for future development with contractors for subdivisions. Cheap land, close proximity to Fort Gordon and continued growth in SRS and Vogtle will continue to flow the new workers into their modern day quarters. Grovettown has the potential for a lot of growth, with the borders of Fort Gordon acting as a buffer for the less family Tobacco Road and the Downtown Augusta facing side of the city being bound with largely military families, from earlier housing developments for a growing Fort Gordon.
Grovetown is a small Military city in itself, this has specific risks in the housing market being so reliant and tied to the growth and continuance of Fort Gordon. Fort Gordon is funded from the Department of Defense, who gets their money from taxes, which is reliant on politicians, whom are unreliable even to fund the government properly in a non-election year. Political beliefs aside, the risk is true and should be adjusted for by the city, as sticking your head in the sand from such a problem is sure to ruin the city in the chance the Fort Gordon does close down for a currently unforeseeable reason.
Bath-Edie-Est 2,000- Another small community, essentially a couple hundred homes and the same amount of families This is another small jurisdiction that was, over the years, added to the city of Augusta. These small plots are almost to small to even mention, when compared to places with multiples of the population, but present the most unique rural aspects that may not seem clear in viewing other cities problems.
Hephzibah- 4,000- This is a city that started South of Augusta and North of Waynesoboro, mainly to serve the large farm population around the creek beds, lakes and ponds in the area and as a trading post. Hephzibah serves now as a retiree destination and should do well to continue their small town feel and should prosper relatively well off of low land values, extremely low property taxes and a booming manufacturing sector around the countryside.
Blythe-724- Blythe is another small community, mainly the remnant of some farms and a few families. Blythe could serve as a peaceful place for someone in the city to go to for relaxation. A 2nd home, or country home could be owned in Blythe. Businesses in small places like Blythe usually need to cover a broad range of services and be relatively affordable to many customer profiles.
Thomson- 7,000- Thomson is one of the most prosperous small towns that I have seen in person. The preservation of many historical building, the presence of a decent consumer class and a abundant labor market for skilled and service occupations makes a good mixed economy The dense feel of the city itself affords the value creation that is achieved through spatial differences The efficiency achieved in a dense setting exist in an desert sparse with customers and purchasing power. Thomson has some "Old Money" in the city, in the form of real estate and in business ownership, but has a mixed group of immigrants into the city. Thomson is a truly mixed economy and one that, if replicated on a larger scale, is much better than the economy of Augusta, Aiken or even Evans.
Largest employers in Mcduffie County (Thomson is in the largest city in Mcduffie County by far)
- Shaw Industries (Plastic Extrusion) 570 employees
- McDuffie County Schools (Education) 606 employees
- H. P. Pelzer Manufacturer (Auto Acoustics) 300 employees
- Two State/Thomson Roofing (Industrial and Commercial Builders) 105 employees
- Advance Auto (Parts Distribution) 425 employees
- Wal-Mart (Retail) 330 employees
- Milliken & Company (Textile) 130 employees
- McDuffie Regional Medical Center (Medical Service) 300 employees
- McCorkle Nurseries (Nursery) 200 employees
- Thomson Plastics, Inc. (Plastic Extrusion) 270 employees
- R. A. Dudley Nurseries, Inc. (Nursery) 120 employees
- Chardan Ltd. (Cut-N-Sew) 96 employees
- Temple Inland (Manufacturer-Particle Board) 113 employees
- Augusta Coating & Manufacturing (E-coating, Aluminum, and Steel) 113 employees
- W.S. Badcock Corporation (Distribution) 85 employees
Thomson also has ready to market land available for large projects. The commitment to industry that comes from preparing sites for businesses in advance for sale shows the county is tied into the success of whoever moves in. The personal commitment with the companies that move in is intimate and personal for the choice and decision of the city. They will give heavy preference to the upper scale of trades, logistics and manufacturing. The latest property is "Stone Industrial", a 420 acre park right next to the mostly completed Advance Industrial Park, which is anchored by an Advanced Auto distribution center.
The Georgia Statewide marketing effort of "Georgia Work Ready Community" to possible investors adds State wide effort of coordinating the ease of running the gambit of regulations and hassles of opening an manufacturing operation in Georgia. They also ensure that employers are met by readily trained employees, which Georgia works closely to fit with the local Technical College. Mcduffie County is service by an Augusta Tech satellite campus, who has some of the most in demand trades being taught, in 2 year times periods usually. With students "in the pipeline" of many programs where employers are desperately seeking employees, like construction and skilled trades, employers are more at ease in setting up and forecasting their operations, and can focus on other things, like competition, or marketing and saving a lot of money on Human Resources to bring people in that are ready from day 1 to start working at 100% capacity.
Thomson, Georgia and Mcduffie County have an excellent website for promoting their city and marketing it appropriately for businesses and residential growth (http://www.forwardmcduffie.com/)
(The Small newspaper is alive in Mcduffie, despite the very serious and stern changes in the print newspaper industry. The Augusta Chronicle being the main news source in the area leaves this paper to pursue the small town events in detail and provides a very personal feel to the reader, as most of the things he/she is reading about is very close in distance and frequented in memory, being a small town)
(This is pretty much the major players in the retail/restaurant/hotel sector, and a proposed 25 bed hospital in the north of the map)
Wrens- 2,000- This small town has a relatively decent economy in the city, as most of the buildings are not deteriorated and there are some opportunities for the residents. Wrens is an older set of citizens and has not seen the recent influxes of populace, like Thomson, Blythe, Hephzibah and many other on this list. Wrens is further away from Augusta then these others and is therefore not benefiting off of its arteries of economic activity, such as Fort Gordon or manufacturing.
Millen- 3,000- This is a very poor small town. It represents some of the worst conditions seen in America. Millen has a very old housing stock, a controversial political history and is to far away from Augusta to benefit off of its economic run-off. Millen is not in competition with any small city on this list and shows very little promise for any kind of turn around whatsoever.
Washington- 4,000- This is a historical city to the West of Augusta. It represents some deep country living near Clark Hills Lake. Washington County was once famous for having one street light in the entire county. The simple living of rural agriculture is still very much present and Washington seems poised for development in the future for people moving in for farming and residential purposes.
Linconton- 1,500- This small town is a very wealthy one, being relatively close to Augusta, Columbia County and right on Clark Hills Lake and its retirement population. Linconton is a bedroom community and draws it money from the property taxes of the large homes that many people come from around America to build.
(Linconton is known for its large picturesque homes. The people who live here are usually non-local and travel extensively, they do not see themselves as citizens of the CSRA as much as others in the region)
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