Younger residents leaving Beaufort
The look and feel of our communities is rapidly changing. Newly released census data reveals tangible trends in who’s moving in — and who’s moving out of Beaufort County. Here are three stories of families reflective of those changes.
It used to be that Paul Hewitt couldn’t go anywhere in Beaufort without seeing a friend. But when the 35-year-old electrical engineer visited his hometown last month, he didn’t recognize anyone his own age.
“Most of my friends have left,” Hewitt said. “They’ve all found jobs somewhere else.”
Hewitt and his friends are not alone. From 2000 to 2014, Beaufort lost one-quarter of its residents between the ages of 20 and 44.
That’s a drop from 5,827 young people to 4,446, according to new census data. In that same period, that age group fell from 45 percent of the city’s population to 35 percent.
Chart: Residents under 45 are leaving Beaufort
Drag chart left if portions are off-screen.
A decision to leave
Hewitt was born and raised in Beaufort. He went to local public schools all the way up to getting a degree at the University of South Carolina Beaufort and even bought a house with his wife, Kari, in the city after he graduated.
The look and feel of our communities is rapidly changing. Newly released census data reveals tangible trends in who’s moving in — and who’s moving out of Beaufort County. Here are three stories of families reflective of those changes.
But like most kids he used to sit next to in class, Hewitt eventually decided he had to leave Beaufort behind.
He wanted to get his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, which wasn’t offered at USCB at the time, so he began commuting to Columbia to attend the University of South Carolina during the work week.
After he graduated, Hewitt opened his own business, Hewittt-Tech Inc., based on a repair kit he invented for a common equipment failure on Toyota trucks and SUVs.
The company, which now has three employees, could have been based anywhere. But Hewitt decided to live in Lexington, a growing city near Columbia, with his wife and 3-year-old daughter, rather than in Beaufort.
“You just look at the cost of living and it’s gone up an insane amount since I grew up there,” Hewitt said.”You look at the type of home you can get in Lexington compared with Beaufort and there’s no comparison.”
The median value of a home in Lexington is $175,000 compared with $240,800 in Beaufort, according to 2014 census data.
Hewitt also needed a commercial space for his business, which tended to be more expensive in Beaufort.
Beyond the money, Hewitt saw a difference in the culture in his hometown.
“I feel like it’s heading the way of a retirement community,” Hewitt said. “It’s still home for me. My parents are still there. But I’m just not sure there is really anything there for me anymore. There aren’t many other opportunities there for an electrical engineer.”
Larger problem
Educated young people leaving Beaufort has been a problem for decades, said Mayor Billy Keyserling.
“I know it because I lived it,” Keyserling said. “In my lifetime, the vast majority of the young people, including myself, my two sisters and my brother couldn’t return to Beaufort once (we) were educated in a specialized field.”
Keyserling moved back to the city in his mid-40s, but his siblings never returned because there were few high-paying jobs in Beaufort for college graduates, Keyserling said.
It’s still home for me. My parents are still there, but I’m just not sure there is really anything there for me anymore.
Paul Hewitt
former Beaufort residentOf the young people who do live in Beaufort today, many are only in the city temporarily for jobs at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island or the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, Keyserling said.
For Beaufort residents ages 18 to 35, for example, about 20 percent moved into the town from out-of-state within the last year, according to a 2014 census survey.
Keyserling attributes part of the problem to the lack of diversity among businesses.
“It’s almost criminal that we have allowed this to sustain itself,” Keyserling said. “You may have people retire from the military and want to stay here, but there is nothing for them to do here. We need to move on economic development, and it has to be significant.”
Most of the local economy is dependent on the inflow of money into the service industry, rather than the export of goods and services through businesses that extend beyond the local economy, said Beaufort City Council member Stephen Murray, who is leading an effort for more economic diversity.
The most common occupations for residents, for example, are education, health care, retail and arts, entertainment and food service, according to the census data.
It’s almost criminal that we have allowed this to sustain itself.
Beaufort mayor Billy Keyserling
Murray himself is the exception to the trend. He was raised in the city, and though he is in his 30s, decided to stay and became president of one of the few light manufacturing businesses based in Beaufort, Kazoobie Kazoos.
As a city councilman, Murray is pushing for city policies and programs that will support new businesses and help existing ones.
The effort includes creating tax structures to retain current businesses, recruiting new companies to fill vacant locations and investing in workforce housing.
“That’s the only way we’re going to be able to have the jobs to keep people here,” Murray said. “I want to see those kids that are winning the engineering competitions at Beaufort High School today stay here and have a future in Beaufort. Right now, that’s not happening.”
Erin Heffernan: 843-706-8142, @IPBG_Erinh
This story was originally published April 1, 2016 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Younger residents leaving Beaufort."