ORANGEBURG, S.C. — The City of Orangeburg is surveying residents on what they think should be improved in the city.
"Economic development is the main issue now," said Gordon's Shoes & Tax Service owner Samuel Gordon. "We solved our public safety issue quite some time ago."
Gordon has been running Gordon's Shoes & Tax Service in Downtown Orangeburg since 1966. He says he has seen businesses come and come ago.
"People are looking for areas to come to if you build the infrastructure," Gordon said. "This could be one of the areas they could draw people into and build it back up the way it used to be."
The online survey allows residents to choose from areas they feel needs the most improvement, like workforce development, public facilities, and economic development.
Residents agree the focus should be on revitalizing downtown. They say the first place to start would be getting rid of old eyesores.
"I have a book in my office from the City of Orangeburg," said Orangeburg resident Desiree Ross. "You could see how beautiful Downtown Orangeburg looked, but it's not like that anymore. If you got to Charleston or Columbia and go to the hub of the cities, you don't see dilapidated buildings; you see prosperity. When you see old buildings looking bad, it deters people away."
June 14th is the last day for people to fill out the survey.