SC’s most-underrated town is a Lowcountry ‘American Beauty,’ study says. Take a look
The Lowcountry community of Port Royal is among the 50 most-underrated towns in America, according to an online review site that researches products and places based on price.
These communities, a Jan. 10 Cheapism story titled “American Beauties” says, typically don’t get much attention, despite their appeal.
Port Royal Town Manager Van Willis agrees with that assessment.
“Sometimes we feel like the Rodney Dangerfield of municipalities,” said Willis, a reference to the comedian’s catchphrase, “[We] don’t get no respect!”
Port Royal, Willis says, has been living in the shadows of its surrounding municipalities for a long time.
Those municipalities include Beaufort and its antebellum homes, Hilton Head and its beaches and golf courses, and fast-growing Bluffton, all located in Beaufort County.
Willis is hearing two general reactions to the underrated towns story from residents of the community of 14,000 people overlooking Battery Creek, whose motto is “Cool, Coastal and Far From Ordinary.”
“Yes, we absolutely agree,” Willis said, “and two, please don’t spread the word about it. We don’t want anybody else to show up.”
The national notice for the coastal community comes as a major marina and housing development gets underway at the Port of Port Royal.
Every state has a destination people rave about, Cheapism says. But popularity does not always equal paradise.
In making the underrated selections, Cheapism took into account cultural attractions, outdoor activities, dining and shopping options, cost-of-living and high quality of life. The unsung American sleeper towns, it concludes, have value to visitors and locals alike.
“Billed as ‘one of America’s leaders in small town new urbanism,’” Cheapism says in its review, “Port Royal beckons anyone considering relocation to the south with a blend of impressive environmental offerings as well as abundant in-town amenities.”
New Urbanism is a planning and development approach that Port Royal was one of the first communities to embrace in the mid-1990s, Willis said.
According to the Congress For New Urbanism, it relies upon principles used in the past to design cities with intimate streets and neighorhoods that are walkable. Houses and shops are in close proximity, and public spaces are accessible.
The principles were developed as an alternative to sprawling, single-use, low-density patterns typical of post-World War II.
“More like what old towns and cities used to be like,” Willis said.
The approach shows in Port Royal’s appealing neighborhoods that often feature homes with porches that abut sidewalks on streets lined with live-oak trees.
“Port Royal,” the Hispanic Business Association of the Lowcountry wrote on Facebook in response to the Cheapism story, “the hidden treasure of the Lowcountry!”
A beach and boardwalk, located across Battery Creek from Marine Corps Recruit Station Parris Island, also are highly popular amenities in the community.
And a boardwalk winds through the Cypress Wetlands, where visitors can see alligators and nesting birds.
