South Carolina Rushes to Tamp Down Violence in Myrtle Beach

Fox Business ^ | July 1, 2017 | Cameron McWhirter

[upchuck]

Just as summer is ramping up, Myrtle Beach, a top South Carolina summer destination, is dealing with a flurry of violence that has city and state officials scrambling to calm worried visitors and residents.

In the city's most prominent incident, at least seven people were injured in a June 18 shooting that was live-streamed on Facebook. That shooting -- and two others that weekend -- followed six over the Easter holidays in April.

The violence prompted South Carolina's Republican Gov. Henry McMaster to visit the city not long after and order steps to beef up security, such as bringing in officers and staff to support local police. The city, meanwhile, has placed barricades along Ocean Boulevard, the beach's central artery where the June shooting happened.

"Whatever it takes to make sure that this aberration does not take place again," Gov. McMaster said. "Our tourism industry is huge; it's very important to us."

The state estimates that tourism is a $20.2 billion industry in the Palmetto State, generating about $1.5 billion in state and local tax revenues in 2015, according to the latest data available.

Tourism drives Myrtle Beach's local economy, and each group visiting the city spends about $2,766, according to the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Grand Strand, a group of South Carolina beach communities which includes Myrtle Beach, has seen an increase in tourism in recent years, with arrivals via plane rising 6% in 2016 from the year before, according to data from Myrtle Beach International Airport. The vast majority of visitors drive to Myrtle Beach from the Southeast.

With only about 32,000 year-round residents, Myrtle Beach becomes "a relatively large city" every summer and the police force hasn't grown enough to meet current needs, said Brad Dean, president of the chamber.

[ResisTyr]

Hi catnipman,
I recently relocated to Western SC (Greenville) from NYC. I have been wanting to do a “tour” of the SC coast for my vacation.(never been there) MB had been one of my destinations, though no longer, after reading this thread. Could you reco some nice spots & areas for me to visit. I’m fond if camping, too, to save money & enjoy sights along the coast.

TIA, ~R

[RegulatorCountry]

The best deals are the state park campgrounds. Not all of them have hookups for electric, water and sewer though, so if you’re in a camper or RV you’ll be dry camping on generator. On the coast would be Huntington Beach State Park, which is close enough to Myrtle Beach that you could drive north for a half day to get a taste of it, Myrtle Beach is not quite the hellhole that it sounds like, not during the day outside of the old main drag, Ocean Drive, it isn’t at least. Then, further south, there’s Edisto Beach State Park, and further south still would be Hunting Island State Park. There’s also Myrtle Beach State Park, but you’ve stated that you don’t want to go there now.

http://southcarolinaparks.com/park-finder/state-park-finder/default.aspx?rv=true&tent=true

[MissEdie]

Thanks!

[Savage Beast]

Thanks! But I’m the average guy. As I said, there are more of us than there are of them. I appreciate your remarks.

[Savage Beast]

Yes:

I’m a Freedom-loving Patriot...and will RESIST TYRANNY at all costs, until my last dying breath.

“Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God “ ~Thomas Jefferson

“I am a soldier, so that my son may be a farmer, so that his son may be a philosopher” ~George Washington