Everybody knows, that the Upstate of SC is getting unbelievably crowded.

What this episode covers

00:00 And welcome to the program on your Tuesday afternoon, another jam-packed Tuesday as we have another meeting of the South Carolina Eighth Congressional District right here on News Talk, 989WID. I am your humble representative, um Charlie James. Thank you so much for tuning in. Let me ask you something. um Everybody knows, and it's quite apparent, 00:28 that we are getting crowded around here. We are getting unbelievably crowded. It has gotten to the point where if I have to leave the house on like Saturday, go, you know, just go somewhere on Saturday. I go as early as I can. In fact, I went out this past Saturday, I had to go to Home Depot to buy some pine straws, was knocking on the door waiting to open up. Y'all know about anybody there? 00:57 Hello, I need some pine straw. Y'all come on, you gotta get out early to beat those crowds now. And there is a reason for that. 01:11 Because now we are, I listen to this, we are surrounded by more than a million people, Greenville, Anderson, Greer metropolitan areas. As according to new census estimates, crossing a major milestone, this is from, who wrote this? La la la la la, Spencer Donovan over there at the Post and Courier. 01:37 We're crossed a major milestone as the region grapples with the pros and cons of population growth. Four counties, Greenville, Lawrence, Anderson, and Pickens are included in that metro area that is under this survey. Each year between uh decennial census counts, the Census Bureau develops population estimates using current data on births, deaths, and migration to figure population changes. From 2020, 02:08 to July of 2025, the Greenville Metro added 85,894 people for an estimated population of 1,014,101 people. That's a growth, listen to this, that's a growth rate of 9.3%. 9.3%. 02:37 And of course we all know that more people means the need for expanded basic services, housing, transportation, schools, utilities. That's huge challenges for our local lawmakers here. And this is unbelievable. Over a million people were being, and that's just Greenville, Anderson, Greer, that metropolitan area. That's not even including Spartanburg. That's unbelievable itself. 03:07 good gracious and all you got to you go out on Woodruff Road. thought there wasn't there a plan to do like a Woodruff Road bypass. I think there was that they would have a road that kind of runs along this alongside of Woodruff Road. It does have one now. 03:29 Does it start off Verde? that what I thought it was going to start sooner than that? it was that? Oh, interesting. But say to me, that's that's not even where the that's not where the traffic is. Once you get once you get down to Verde, it kind of cleans up down there. I mean, once you get down there to Roper Mountain Road. It starts to clean up, but if you go to go down to the Wal-Mart, just down the street from the station, go to. 03:59 is crazy. Sometimes, Garlington and Woodruff, when I leave here at night, I'm like sitting there, I'm going, all right, how many lights is it going to take me to make this left-hand turn? Because these dummies keep blocking the intersection. Let me tell you something, if I were a Greenville County deputy, I would be deputy of the month, every month. Because like JJ said, I'd sit over there, viva chicken. 04:29 in that parking lot and I'd have my ticket book, getting ready to go. And when these people get out there and they block that intersection, all right, got you, got you, got you too right there. Don't you worry about it. Yes, sir. You are written down too. I'd be like, I'd be like going to Hobart going, I need a bigger ticket book. I need more than this. But they, blocked that intersection. So anyway, if you guys have been doing any riding around out there, you know how crowded it is. Good, great. And here's the thing though. 04:59 We're not even growing as fast as Myrtle Beach. That's really the big destination right now. Now we're growing fast and we're growing ...

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