The downtown area is just the tip of the iceberg

I live in the area do I'm a but more jaded by the actual gentrification taking place in the city limits.what is going downtown is just more of the same...poorly planned expansion. Poorly constructed apartments (google sewage backup earle street) that arent full because there are more apartments than students the commercial spaces are over priced.

I'm typing on my phone because could on and on about the good, the bad, and the ugly.

growth is fine and to be expected I like having more options downtown. I hope we can build up more small businesses there vs empty store fronts. in totality, the university and the town don't communicate well and it shows. the city planned for growth on campus...that wasn't necessarily in line with what the university had in mind (they are building up campuses on Greenville, Charleston, not just clemson) . so yes, the numbers are increasing, but not necessarily in the city of clemson. yet the city took these numbers as a mandate to approve more and more student housing. meanwhile there is no affordable single family housing. anyway, I ended up ranting anyway....

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Nov 21, 2022, 1:55 PM

Clemson's growth threatens its Black communities. Residents are fighting back.
Zoe Nicholson
Greenville News

Before the City of Clemson existed as it does today, the Shaw Homestead was the lifeblood of Calhoun's African American community. Eight acres on a grassy hillside, bordered what is now U.S. 123. It was a chicken coop, a grocery store, an herb garden, a makeshift football field and a homestead.

Then, it was nothing.

Fifty years after the death of patriarch and landowner George Richard Shaw, his children sold the land to Thomas and Virginia Skelton, two well-known educators who owned dozens of parcels in the city, according to property sales' records.

Rosa Grayden, Shaw's granddaughter, watched as the first house on the property was demolished shortly after its 1983 sale. Wood splintered and metal creaked as Grayden, then a teenager, watched the house crumble. She remembers crying, and felt a sense of foreboding. She "knew what it meant to own land."

"So once that began to happen, everything else became like a domino effect."

Rosa Grayden, a community activist in Clemson who has been working to fight gentrification, stands on a bridge over Tiger Boulevard on Dec. 30. The bridge, once a wooden bridge, connects the Calhoun community in which her family has roots.
In the years since, developers, property ownership issues and rising land prices have crept into Clemson's five historically Black neighborhoods — Abel, Calhoun, Cadillac Height, Vista and Red Hill — threatening to push the long-standing communities of Black families out of Clemson for good.

But residents want to stop that.

Grayden is part of The Shaw Center for Housing and Economic Growth (named for her grandparents), a newly formed nonprofit with the two-pronged mission of increasing quality of life in Clemson's Black communities and assisting landowners with the complex and expensive legal work needed to ensure their land is safe from encroachment.

The center's first official board meeting is Monday Jan. 11, and plans to hire a staff member are underway, according to founder John Fulmer.

'Land is gold' in Clemson
The growth of Clemson University has bled out into the city, bringing luxury apartments, chain restaurants, and 10 hotels within a 10-mile radius.

Since 2011, home prices in Clemson, which has just 7.5 square miles of land and not much room to grow, have risen 46%, according to Zillow.

Some of the only remaining properties big enough for student housing complexes, though, are in or near many of Clemson's Black neighborhoods, according to Todd Steadman, the city's Director of Planning and Codes.

“Land is money. Land is gold,” Grayden said at a February community meeting to address growth issues in the city.

Home prices in Clemson are about $300,000, higher than Greenville's average, according to the city's strategic planning consultant. But in Clemson's Black neighborhoods, parcels of land and homes are valued much lower, dropping as low as $1,000, according to Pickens County real property maps.

An empty home along Lincoln Drive in the Cadillac Heights community of Clemson January 2021.
Nationwide, Black-owned homes are undervalued by an average of $48,000, according to a 2019 research report presented to Congress.

And when no title exists for a property, owners can be "lowballed" by buyers. Grayden always believed it happened to her father, who was the youngest of the four siblings who sold the Shaw property.

According to deed stamp rates in South Carolina, George Shaw's property sold for about $12,000, which is roughly $30,000 in today's money.

The properties that exist on the Shaw land now -- a KFC, a credit union, a law office, and an AutoZone -- equate to more than $3 million in current market values, according to the Pickens County real property map.

When she learned of what her family had been paid, Grayden "felt sick." By selling out early instead of leasing the land, she said her family lost their chance at "generational wealth."

And where they still own land, Clemson's Black residents also own immense pride for the neighborhoods, according to community surveys conducted by the Shaw Center.

But student apartments, abandoned homes and unkempt properties have decreased quality of life and tarnished the tight-knit feel of the places.

So instead of buying land and building new affordable housing, the center wants to fix what's already built. Members will help with “quality of life” enhancements in the neighborhoods, including lawn care, house demolitions and improvements, Fulmer said.

Heirs' Property brings host of issues
But land prices are just a piece of the puzzle affecting Black property ownership in Clemson. It’s who owns the land, too.

Heirs' Property is a common practice for Black property owners. It's when land gets passed to all living descendants of an owner, up to 70 people can be listed on a single deed.

Clearing up the legal mess heirs' property issues wrought can be expensive and rip open familial wounds by making it hard for families to know what their land is worth, how it's been transferred in public record and who makes decisions regarding the property.

Heirs' issues can create rifts and conflicts within families.

Joanne Hill grew up on her family’s land on Fruster and Banks Streets in Clemson. Hill recently moved back after decades living in the Washington D.C. area to care for the property, which sits adjacent to her cousin’s property. Those parcels have been in the family for more than 100 years, Hill said.

Before her grandmother’s death, Hill begged the woman to sell her property to someone she trusted, “because it’s going to be a problem” if she left it to all her heirs, the retired municipal worker said. Her grandmother refused. Soon after she passed, Hill said her aunt changed the locks on her family home, barring her sister from entering.

Joanne Hills, 61, stands between where her mother, Dorothy Jones, and her aunt, Ann Warren, live. The home behind her was her grandmother's and Hills says she has many memories of growing up there. Hills hopes to move into the neighborhood one day. "We need to keep properties in the hands of the people who care about them and not in the hands of a developer," Hills says.
And it's creating conflict in Hill's own backyard, where a shed has sat for 25 years, partially on her cousin's property, unbeknownst to her.

"Over the years that property line has moved closer and closer. So now my cousin is fighting with me because we have a shed that's been there for 25 years. And she says it's on her property and I need to move it."

Grayden has seen her family’s land wealth diminish over the years, too.

George Shaw purchased his land after being released from the state penitentiary, where he served six years as a convict laborer at the newly created Clemson College. Shaw bought up to 100 acres of land around the area, according to family rumors Grayden has heard. To this day, she doesn’t know where they all are, nor who owns them.

“I would sure enough love to know where the rest of that family land is,” Grayden said.

The issues plaguing Black landowners have been baked into real estate and legal processes since Emancipation and affect most communities in the South, according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.

After emancipation, Black land ownership peaked in 1910 at about 16 million acres, according to the Dept. of Agriculture. Eighty-two years later, Black-owned property dipped to 2.3 million acres, the USDA found.

“Heirs’ property is believed to be a significant factor in this decline,” the 2019 report found.

“I’m not selling'
Clemson has been a hub for development for more than a decade. Since Dabo Swinney led the Clemson Tigers to their first winning season in years in 2011 and the school has climbed national academic rankings lists, enrollment has skyrocketed.

The influx of students has meant an influx of housing. In the past five years, at least six student housing apartment complexes have been built in city limits.

Hill said she gets fliers in her mailbox “every day” from developers wanting to buy her family's land, presumably for townhouses or apartments. Her neighbors get them, too, she said.

Rosa Grayden, a community activist in Clemson who has been working to fight gentrification, stands on property where she played as a child, Wednesday, December 30, 2020. Several homes once stood on the land adjacent to a bridge over Tiger Boulevard. The bridge, once a wooden bridge, connects the Calhoun community in which her family has roots.
But with few job opportunities outside of higher education or the service industry, many of Clemson’s young Black families are moving out in search of better jobs.

“The people are dying out, the younger generation is not coming back. And they are more interested in making a dollar than in preservation of the community,” Hill said. Her own son, 29, lives in Washington D.C. and “will never come back here.”

“We need to make that generation aware because, unfortunately, a lot of these properties are going to heirs who have no vested interest in the community,” she said.

While Hill said she is “cautiously optimistic” that the Shaw Center will help accomplish just that, she hopes the project educates land owners, near and far, on the value of preserving Clemson’s Black neighborhoods.

“They don't know what they have.”

“We had a thriving community”
Standing in front of Golden View Baptist, the church she grew up singing in, Grayden can point to houses on both sides of the highway: that’s where the drunk old man would come out and sing; that’s where Danny Cannon lives; that copse of trees is where an old woman used to live, she would always tattle on Grayden, who was a troublemaker.

It was their home. Now it’s a tangle of weeds, punctuated by the sound of cars over asphalt.

When the Shaw property sold, Grayden said it signaled a death knell for the city’s once-thriving Black communities.

Hill grew up in that area, too. She remembers playing on the Shaw land, and the Native American grave rumored to be on the property.

When she moved back to Clemson after decades away, she didn't recognize Calhoun.

“If you look at our community, we're pushed up to one little section. But we had a whole thriving community,” Hill said.

A view from the bridge over SC 123 in Clemson, Wednesday, December 30, 2020. The bridge, once wooden, connects each side of the Calhoun neighborhood which has been encroached on by growing development and gentrification.
But the women haven't forgotten where they grew up. Both women are looking to establish a trust, so they can buy up property and preserve it forever.

Grayden is taking grant writing classes, so she can play an active role in the Shaw Center. She wants to -- and will -- help fight the forces threatening her people.

"I don't want someone coming in under my grandparent's name without me contributing," Grayden said.

"I've got a legacy I've got to carry on."

Zoe covers Clemson, just don't ask her about touchdowns or tackles – she covers everything non-sports. Find her at znicholson@gannett.com or @zoenicholson_ on Twitter. Beware, she has a Black Belt in Karate.

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So what are your opinions on gentrified downtown Clemson?

Natural consequence of Clemson rising in the national profile

Ohh...but they fought such a good fight. They really did.

They didn't fight.

The only way Clemson could have slowed it is by capping

OR if Obed built a time machine and killed Baby Winkopp.***

That's my own little Skynet quest.***

Well KMS still got it so I actually reduced the GDP because

QUEEN.***

some things ne'er change***

Pre-2000 downtown WAS a dump. It was our dump, but it was a

Naw man, it had a ton of charm, and more importantly

Charm is a salesman's word for dump. Also quaint.

Ha, Niffer's actually came up in conversation on Saturday

Can’t believe Clemson temporarily embraced

That kind of stuff happened all the time

I'm starting a new campaign: "Don't Clemson my Lexington"

When you see it all the time, it kinda just grows on you.

My daughter is staying in Douthit next year

That's because we've allowed Colleges to become resorts

"no son of mine will be living lakeside without an outside

I remember when the absolute nicest places in town were

yep***

I'd really like to know how much Wynkoop made swindling

Hang on, I'l find out

I'll ask him***

And I'd also love to know how much

Is it confirmed that she was a partner in that?

I’m not gonna say my older memories are dead

Ol' Doris. Now that is a real piece of work.***

The Bridge Program...

I think it was/is brilliant

^^^that's funny right there^^^***

Best apartment I ever had was the first set of townhouses

*pastes url link to my post history from the past 5 years****

pros and cons

I suspect my opinion would be more moderate if I were also

I don't love it but it could be a lot worse. I mostly miss

OMG, I could not name a building past the STI.

They've generally done a nice job with the new building

It's a lil different but not much different. It's still

What is the basis of comparison?

IOP has been limited

The apartments where the "your pie" pizza joint is were

Heard stories of families losing land they

Paywall, can't see but that sucks.***

Sorry, I do subscribe. Here it is

I hate to tell Ms. Grayden but it ain't just poor black folk

The downtown area is just the tip of the iceberg

"Just the tip" twice doesn't make any sense...

The traffic issue must be solved.

I think theynhave to build a business over pass

APM has enjoyed the convo. I will agree with Papa G and Obed

Addendum: I will also agree with 3time re: downtown vs. true

I graduated in 77 and did not go back for

Chanelos!!! RIP.***

Man...that square pizza was some good sheet....

The best "good" bad pizza ever.***

My mom (class of 76) talks about Chanelos all the time.***

pics of '76 mom?***

yeah, count me in also if you get any***

Versuvian sub

The Danny Ford. The Cliff Ellis.***

Oooohhh

I love that people from my generation still give us

Go past Ole Norm's and hang a right at Winn Dixie.***

Oh wow, Ole Norms. Forgot about that place.***

Most expensive hardware place in 3 counties***

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