I have lived in the city limits for over a year now. I have talked to a lot of people born and raised here in the city of Lancaster or the Lancaster area. I myself have lived in the Carolinas for over 30 years.
I can tell you that I have never gotten one positive answer as to how our mayor and City Council are performing their jobs here in the town of Lancaster. The consensus is that they are not at all proactive.
The No. 1 response at City Council meetings, I’ve been told, is “let’s table that for our next meeting.” Nothing ever really gets done to move this city forward.
If you have driven through here recently, you’ll see pretty much a vacant (ghost) downtown area, along with horrendous side streets with crumbling pavement.
If this city continues to crumble, more than likely crime will increase and no one will want to live here anymore. This would really be a shame given the history of this once very vibrant Southern town.
I realize that when Lancaster lost Springs Industries, it lost a significant amount of tax revenue. What is it doing now for the last 25 years to entice new businesses to Lancaster?
So as far as our downtown area goes, I’ve heard that a lot of our buildings have both asbestos and lead paint to deal with. Guess what, many old and refurbished downtowns have had to deal with these same issues (normal building materials used back in the day). Yes, there is a cost to removing asbestos, but in many cases, you are also allowed to encapsulate it.
The city needs to be offering incentives for businesses to move here and to put up the money to refurbish these old historic buildings before it’s too late and they are beyond repair.
I know many people do not want us to become another Charlotte (I agree), but look at what some other towns have done such as Waxhaw in reviving their beautiful and historic downtown areas.
Maybe, I need to run for City Council in 2025?
Matt Hamill is a Lancaster resident.
