I loathe Myrtle Beach. I don’t hate cities in general, Washington DC, Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA are my favorite get away destinations. This loathing is very specific and focussed to one geographical location. I just can’t stand Myrtle Beach.
I’ve often tried to explain just what it is that makes me feel this way. Its complicated though, a jumble of multiple factors that doesn’t lend well to a sound-byte. Today I stumbled across a 2004 article published in Creative Loafing, Charlotte’s alternative newspaper. Its a wonderful piece of writing that sums up everything that is wrong with Myrtle Beach.
The article is appropriately titled, “Who Crapped In the Sandbox?”, and I suggest that you give it a read.
The Burroughs & Chapin thing is dead on and well researched. It should be noted that Doug Wendel is no longer CEO as of last year. I love Myrtle Beach. I dislike B&C. Most locals agree.
Read some parts of it with a grain of salt. I seem to recall that crime statistic had a high correlation with crimes committed by visitors, not residents and there was some dubious interpretation of what constituted a crime as well. I also think there was creative liberty taken making it sound like Ocean Boulevard was crawling with degenerate children of the night. Unless I just wasn’t picking up on the sarcasm.
I love Myrtle Beach. I’m a local, and not an I just moved here a few years ago local but a born and raised, my parents born and raised, my grandparents born and raised, and even my great grandparents (at least on one side). It’s too bad the fam were all farmers and not land developers.
I can tell you specifically what I no longer like about Myrtle Beach:
1. The high rises. Used to be you could see the beach from HWY 17 and breezes came in from the ocean to cool things down ( a necessity at the height of humidity season).
2. Broadway at the Beach and the New Mall. Yep, this old gal remembers when it was nothing but pine trees (why do I feel like that ornery guy in Back to the Future?) That whole area is now an aesthetic atrocity. As for the New Mall, what a piece of garbage. I’m pretty darn fit, but walking from one end to the other is not pleasant and causes serious foot-ache. I miss Myrtle Square with a passion. It was a pleasant place to just hang out and watch the seconds on the giant clock blink by. Bonus: Almost every visit included an unexpected meeting with a friend.
3. No more Pavilion. What is there to *do* at the beach anymore? Seriously?! I know there were crimes, but that all seems to be grossly overestimated in an effort to kill the whole area. I know B&C were offering insane gobs of cash to buy out the businesses along the boulevard so they could be knocked down and rebuilt as condos and the like. YUCK! Why would people even go to MB anymore if there is nothing to do?! Most families are looking for a cheap get away and $50 per person to get into the Hard Rock thing is nutso.
Myrtle Beach used to be about people, both locals and tourists alike. It didn’t matter where you went, you’d run into people you knew and often meet some pretty decent tourists. It’s amazing how running from a bladeless chainsaw can unite strangers in a haunted house (:
It’s moved away from that welcoming family atmosphere, past neon hell, and into a conglomerate cluster *cough*. I still love Myrtle Beach, the tiny bits and pieces that are struggling to survive, not the new era concrete that is clogging the heart of Myrtle Beach.
Thanks Paul, for offering a bit more balanced commentary. I am admittedly snarly today.
I was nodding my head in agreement as I read through aardvaark’s comment. There are bits and pieces of the city that I still love, and I’m hoping that they don’t get smooshed and smothered out of existence.
I realize that negative venting isn’t constructive, and that if I don’t like the beach and I’m not going to move I should figure out what I intend to do to enact change. But sometimes the venting has to happen first, as a step in the process.
Well, how funny. I’m a local too…transplanted from High Point NC 16 years ago. I love this place and wouldn’t change a thing. The more it gets built up to look more like Boca Raton and less like Carolina Beach, the better I like it. I don’t like the cheesy little run down local motels that used to be here, and I love the high-rise fance resorts with the pools and lazy rivers. Nothing pleases me more than being able to find someone a place to stay on vacation that they positively LOVE and can hardly believe is available at the prices we have them available.
What is there to do now? Every kind of show in the world. The best restaurants known to man, and getting better all the time…why? Because the expensive upscale resorts bring a different crowd that demands a better and more upscaled restaurant. There are a few good old local diners, like Hoskins in Ocean Drive and Chestnut Hill on restaurant row. But I’d much prefer to have so many choices of GREAT restaurants that it makes the decision difficult.
You can shop for anything. You can gamble on the casino boats. You can take in a rock and roll concert at House of Blues, and now Hard Rock. You can go on a boat ride and God knows you can play golf or putt putt till you drop. If you want wildlife and peace and quiet, you can go to Pawleys Island, Murrells Inlet, or plenty of other places and get away from the neon and the restaurants. We’ve got it all! Who cares what Burroughs and Chapin does or doesn’t do? How does that particularly affect you or me?
The crime at the pavilion WAS terrible. It was full of drugs and prostitution. The sound end still is, and hopefully all that stuff will be leveled and replaced by more high rises and expensive housing and get rid of the riff-raff and the crime. What crime we DO have is not in the good areas. Unfortunately we’ve got Atlantic Beach and certain areas on the outskirts of Myrtle that are still drug areas and we get THEIR statistics in OUR totals. I’m out nearly every night buying groceries at midnight or eating out at 10-11pm. I don’t see any crime…have never had a problem in all the years I’ve lived here. But I don’t hang out on the south end of MB, nor did I go to the pavilion area. I don’t go to strip clubs or bad bars and I act like I’ve got some sense. There isn’t a safer place to live anywhere as far as I’m concerned.
So that’s my 2 cents. I’m sorry that some people don’t like glitz and neon….and I’m sorry that the people who grew up here don’t like progress. My next favorite place besides Miami and Boca Raton is Las Vegas. I think Myrtle Beach is a mixture of all of these places and I applaud it all.
Jan
Sorry about the several typos in that last post. I meant to say SOUTH end, not “sound”. It was “fancy” and not fance.
I was typing in a hurry because it’s 9:15 and I’m heading out into the crime-ridden streets to find a good restaurant and have a late dinner.
Jan
Its easy for me to forget that some people like the direction that the beach is headed in. You couldn’t pay me enough money to get me to go to Vegas, so we’re definitely speaking from different perspectives.
I do like cities. I like cities with community gardens and bike paths, museums and libraries, public sculptures and great parks, good public transportation and well-designed traffic structures. I like cities that host art and music festivals, have great theater, and have a thriving indie music scene. I like cities that are home to multiple ethnic and cultural communities, all swirling together and around each other.
My problem with Myrtle Beach is that it isn’t really a city. Its a great big suburban resort, devoid of what I find appealing about cities or the the things I like about living in the country. its just in limbo.
I have been pleasantly surprised by what Conway has to offer in terms of a true “little city” atmosphere. Going to Conway for a pleasant culture experience and doing our shopping in NMB or Florence is working out well for us.
To each his own.
I positively adore Las Vegas. But I don’t get out by myself and walk the streets there, because it’s scary and the crime is bad. Ditto in downtown Charlotte, Greensboro and Winston Salem, NC.
We don’t have a “downtown”, perhaps thankfully. You can walk around Broadway at the Beach or Barefoot Landing till 11 pm and never worry about getting mugged. I wouldn’t DARE walk down Main Street in Conway at 11pm by myself.
You speak of parks, museums and public sculptures…what about Brookgreen Gardens, Atalaya, and the MB State Park? Festivals? We have a festival to celebrate everything from blue crabs to Harley Bikers. I could do without so many festivals, personally. You like multi-cultural? Have you driven down 37th Ave South in North Myrtle during the summer? There’s a couple of streets there that we might as well rename “Little Mexico”.
Yes, to each his own, I agree. Myrtle Beach is NOT a “little city”. It’s a BIG city that’s sprawled out for 60 miles, which is the perfect way to have a big city. Just like you are doing, if you want suburbs, we’ve got 60 miles of that too. There’s something for everyone here…and if that’s not enough, you can go 5 miles north to Brunswick County and be in No Man’s Land instantly.
Conway and Georgetown are perfect for “little city lovers” and Little River is the perfect fishing town. I just don’t understand how anybody can complain about this area. It’s paradise to me. I spent the first 35 years of my life yearning to live here, and have been happy as a clam for the past 17. Compare this to the mill towns in piedmont North Carolina. Well, you CAN’T. It’s like another planet.
Myrtle Beach is a relatively young city, and given time to grow, it may end up being that big city that you like so much. That is provided that there aren’t too many people that hate progress enough to slow down the improvements because they miss their childhood memories.
I came here every single year of my life as a child, too.
I don’t miss a thing about it. Give me luxury over a non-air conditioned cottage without a pool and only a handful of restaurants around like it was in the early 60’s. Bread was a nickel, gas and cigarettes were cheap as dirt, and you were doing well to make $2 an hour then. The world has changed…thank goodness.
Jan
Everyone has different tastes, and I will respect Jan’s opinion, but I heartily disagree. Vegas, Miami, Bocca? Not for me. I am not just some country bumpkin who hates all progress, regardless of my pride in my ancestry. I love cities, but ones that have developed meaningfully and with grace. Give me Munich, Stockholm, San Francisco, and Paris.
Myrtle Beach looks like a slum compared to these places. I’m not a huge fan of planned communities, but a little bit of concern for the way Myrtle Beach will continue to develop and age in the future would go a long way.
Those glitzy high rises are like putting lipstick on a cow. They will go down hill, the tourists who can’t behave will trash them, and eventually they will be just as bad as any of the smaller hotels that haven’t been updated in years.
Crime is everywhere and it is not ONLY in the slummy parts of town. Has everyone forgotten the squatters who were breaking into people’s homes and trashing them? These were the nice “Dunes Club” types houses, not a bad part of town by any stretch of the imagination. Myrtle Beach will eventually be just like Vegas where you’re scared to walk around if it continues on its current path. Glitz and glamour don’t last, class does.
I will stick by my assertion that there is little to do, and more specifically, very little to do that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. The House of Blues brings in a few national acts, but tries to cater to the widest audience (see: southern rock). A little more diversity would go a long way! I don’t want to pay out the nose to see bad music and cheesy big budget shows. I’m not a tourist who wants to toss all my money away, so I’m not going to gamble either. I miss many of the small clubs, coffee shops (long live Nocturna), and amusements that maintained an intimate feel while providing entertainment. There are a few good restaurants (Sea Captain’s House and Cafe Old Vienna), but many of the “new” ones will come and go as they always have.
How does B&C decisions affect me? Well, not taking environmental factors into account leads to more pollution, worse air for breathing, more hazy days, hotter summers without a breeze, and a really gross beach. Seriously, the beach can only clean up so much body oil, suntan lotion, and who knows what else we leave behind. Adding more of us via luxury hotels just makes it yuckier. Take a look inland and you’ll see the swamplands that are now being developed. That has the potential for disaster written all over it and the taxpayers will be the ones holding the bill. Plan smarter people!
I don’t see Myrtle Beach being able to sustain the luxury hotels. Just because something is big and flashy doesn’t mean people with no respect for others’ property won’t come in and trash the places. High-rises can go downhill just like small hotels (most of which added A/C long ago btw).
And, finally …
Crime has gone up as more people move into the area. That’s just a fact of life. We either take care of it or go an hide our heads in the sand. I think Conway has done an excellent job revitalizing the downtown area while maintaining its original structures. They may be old, but the detailing is more beautiful than anything some contractor with a slap it up quick mentality will ever put up in Myrtle Beach – more’s the pity!!
I love Conway and have no problem at all walking around downtown any time of night. My mother and I used to walk from our house into downtown then to the riverwalk and back. (Yes, at 11pm or later – we like the night