SC has one of 12 US cities to avoid living in, new ranking shows. The mayor says that’s clickbait

The website Wallet Genius looked at data compiled by 24/7 Wall St., Data USA, and U.S. News & World Report and picked 12 U.S. cities to strip from your list if you’re thinking of moving.

One is in South Carolina.

Lancaster, about 60 miles northeast of Columbia, was described as having small town Southern charm amid a high poverty rate, high unemployment and median home value beyond most residents’ reach.

Mayor Alston DeVenny said Lancaster has for sure been through some tough times, but the economy has improved dramatically. Property values are up as is employment. He called Wallet Genius’ figures outdated and just plain clickbait.

Wallet Genius said the five-year average unemployment rate among the 9,143 residents is 18% compared to 5.7 % for the state. When the mill closed it was 11%. Recent census figures show unemployment below 4%.

The poverty rate is: 35.3%, state is 15.2% and the median home value is $141,600, state $162,300, Wallet Genius said.

Lancaster was hit hard in 2003 when Springs Industries shut down its textile mill there, which had operated since 1896. Generations of families worked in the mill and when it closed more than 300 workers were left without jobs.

“We were really struggling in 2008, but it’s a different story now,” he said.

Wallet Genius said, “If homeownership is a goal of yours, then Lancaster, South Carolina, is a city to avoid, In fact, its homeownership rate is well below the national average.”

Data USA says 44% of Lancaster residents own a home, compared to 64% nationally. The problem is compounded because home values are relatively high, income not so much.

DeVenny said signs are good from both the retail and development sectors.

“It’s a happening place,” he said.

Also, people who work in Charlotte, 40 miles away, are finding more reasonably-priced homes in Lancaster, he said.

In February, a report on how to revitalize downtown was released after a lengthy study by MKSK, a Greenville urban planning firm. They brought in residents, city leaders and professional planners to see what is the best path forward to improve the look, feel and use of downtown to jump start economic development.

The downtown is a collection of historic buildings, homes and churches, but also some empty and deteriorating storefronts.

“For all its assets and amenities, it is not a place that people outside of the City think of when it comes to a place to go, to shop, or to be entertained,” the report said. “In the coming years, a revitalized downtown could become a destination for Lancaster residents, county residents, and even a place where folks in Indian Land can go to get local culture and commerce.”

The report outlines about $7 million in improvements to streetscape on one downtown block and in Petal Park. It also encourages the city to hold more downtown events, building on the success of the annual Red Rose Festival each May for the past 13 years..

“The value of the Red Rose Festival to downtown is tremendous,” the report says.

Lancaster is known as the Red Rose City because the red rose was the emblem of the House of Lancaster during England’s War of the Roses in the 1400s.

The report encourages finding a permanent home for a farmers’ market and adding other experiences on days the market is open.

Lancaster is the county seat of Lancaster County, which was formed in 1785 and named for Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Other cities on the Wallet Genius list are Douglas, Arizona; McKeesport, Pennsylvania; Mayfield, Kentucky; McAlester, Oklahoma; Helena-West Helena, Arkansas; Fairbanks, Alaska; Atmore, Alabama; Huntington, West Virginia; Gallup, New Mexico; Yazoo City, Mississippi; and Opelousas, Louisiana.

Helena-West Helena, Yazoo City, and Opelousas have poverty rates above 40%..