A true measure of our community's greatness in the next 20 years will align with our ability to provide affordable places to live near areas where people work. Doing so will help ease the spider effect of community growth: High costs of housing in urban cores and centers of work push our workforce further and further away from their jobs, leading to higher traffic, suburban sprawl, loss of open space, expensive utility expansion, and lower quality of life.

Our workforce citizens are the backbone of our community. We are teachers, police, fire and emergency responders, young professionals, machinists, construction pros, and mid-income families. On average, many of our workforce travel more than 25 minutes to work each day and back. A majority of our commuters utilize the same main arteries of I-526, I-26, U.S. 17, and surrounding roads. Congestion, fuel consumption, and lost time with family and community events are only a few negative impacts.

Strong, collaborative local governments can help build affordable workforce housing into new development and in-fill housing plans. They can support strategic, inter-county public transportation initiatives like Lowcountry Rapid Transit. It takes teamwork and a commitment from the larger community. But the result is a positive impact to quality of life that ultimately, will mark our community's greatness in years to come.