Column: Community should keep an eye on Aiken's growth (2024)

Growth.

That’s an interesting word, and one that has a relatively straightforward definition: the process of increasing in physical size.

Aiken County can’t get any bigger in size, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t experiencing rapid growth. If you are in downtown Aiken and head in any direction, you will see land cleared, new housing developments and many businesses under construction.

The growth between Aiken and North Augusta, particularly the Bettis Academy Road area, has been well documented. The demand for housing in our area has been through the roof.

I’m a creature of habit and go to work and other places on a familiar route most of the time. But recently I had my eyes opened when I decided to come back from North Augusta through the “country.”

I went through Beech Island on U.S. 278 and then turned onto Pine Log Road. I hadn’t been that way in a while, and I was surprised to see a number of new housing developments that had popped up.

I had to go west toward USC Aiken the other day, and I saw that land was cleared with a sign touting the future location of NewSpring Church in Aiken. I must say the traffic lights on Hitchco*ck Parkway are a great improvement. I still think there was a missed opportunity years ago to make it four lanes, but I digress.

We have a summer intern, and I took him out to lunch Monday. Afterwards, I drove around Aiken to show him some of the key areas. Whiskey Road was congested as usual, and I pointed out some of the growth occurring in that direction. Most notably, the former Aiken Mall site is showing progress with new restaurants and lots of construction activity.

Further south, the sign is up on the new Lowes Foods store. We recently reported that two other businesses will be in that shopping center.

If you head north toward Interstate 20, you will see land cleared for housing developments on both sides of York Street/U.S. Highway 1.

Go east, and there are plans for a Parker’s Kitchen on that side of town. That’s in addition to the one heading west toward Augusta and the two planned for North Augusta.

Did I miss any directions?

Back to downtown, that area continues to be a busy area most nights of the week. It’s still hard to find a parking spot when an event is going on. And even though downtown redevelopment is mostly on pause, plans are moving forward to construct a mixed-use building on Newberry Street.

The downside to all of this growth is, well, growth. Growth in the number of cars clogging our highways; many of those roads are in need of repair. Growth in the amount of services, i.e. water and sewer, consumed. And growth using amenities, i.e. parks and recreation, in our area.

At certain times of the day, it’s hard to navigate from one side of Aiken to the other in less than 15 minutes.

Some would say if you’re not growing, you’re dying. I suppose it’s a good problem to have, but I would urge our community to keep an eye on it.

Thanks for reading.