Less than two blocks from a revitalized downtown main square in Orangeburg, S.C., with clear signage, flowers, shade trees, brick paths and more is this desolate parking lot featuring “Bingo City.”
While the downtown redevelopment is attractive, it appears to be a hopeful step in reenergizing the downtown with lots of business. Unfortunately, a mishmash of second- and third-tier businesses are all that generally remain: battered storefronts for cheap clothing stores, religious bookshops, barber and beauty shops, dime stores, furniture stores and finance agencies.
The City of Orangeburg, known for its gardens and historically black colleges, officially is home to 13,850 people and has a 31.3 poverty rate in 2012, but the greater area has more than 65,000 people.
Orangeburg County is home to more than 91,000 people, two thirds of whom are black. The county has a poverty rate of 24.5 percent.
Copyrighted photo was taken April 23, 2014 by Andy Brack. All rights reserved.