Community Analysis

Running Head: COMMUNITY ANALYSIS

Community Analysis: Lexington, South Carolina

Robyn Alford, Kristen Connors, Katrina del Pilar, Allison Gulick, Diana Medlock

University of South Carolina

The Physical Community

Basic Fact Sheet (Lexington, South Carolina Data from CityData.com, n.d.)

Area:

Land Area: 5.7 Square Miles.

Water Area: 0.1 Square Miles.

Area Code: 803

Census Codes (Census 2000):

Block Groups:

Block Group 1: Census Tract 210.15, Lexington County, South Carolina

772 Persons/Sq Mile

Block Group 2:Census Census Tract 210.15, Lexington County, South Carolina

1,480 Persons/Sq Mile

Block Group 3: Census Tract 210.13, Lexington County, South Carolina

930 Persons/Sq Mile

Block Group 4: Census Tract 210.13, Lexington County, South Carolina

1,837 Persons/Sq Mile

Block Group 2: Census Tract 210.13, Lexington County, South Carolina

452 Persons/Sq Mile

Census Tracts:

Census Tracts 210.15 and 210.13, Lexington County, South Carolina

County: Lexington

Local Terrain [see figure 1.1]:

Mountainous areas: none

Bodies of Water: Lake Murray, Gibson's Pond, Mill Pond, Twelve Mile Creek

The elevation is 392 feet above sea level.

Major Shopping Area: within Main Street-Downtown, US 378 Bypass area, SC Route 6 off I-20.

Major US Highways [see figure 1.2]:

US 1, US 378, and US 6 intersect within the town of Lexington. All of these highways direct towards the city of Columbia.

Nearby towns and cities:

Red Bank: 3.4 Miles

Seven Oaks: 6.9 Miles

Springdale (Lexington County): 7.5 Miles

South Congaree: 7.6 Miles

Irmo: 7.8 Miles

St. Andrews: 8.9 Miles

Zip codes: 29071, 29072, 29073.

The town of Lexington, within Lexington County, SC, is approximately 5.7 square miles and was developed along Lake Murray. This town is west of the city of Columbia and towns that surround Lexington include Red Bank, Seven Oaks, and Springdale. There is approximately .1 square miles of water area within the town, which includes Gibson's Pond, Mill Pond and Twelve Mile Creek. The elevation of the town is 392 feet above sea level and there are no distinctive mountainous areas as indicated by Figure 1.1. Major US Highways that intersect in Lexington are US 1, US 378, and US 6. On a local level, these highways lead into the city of Columbia. Highway 378 E leads to Conway, SC and West leads to Washington, GA (Droz, R, 2001). US 1 begins North or East at Fort Kent, ME and end at Key West, FL (End of US 1, n.d).

Figure 1.1: Topographical Map of Lexington (USGS Lexington Quad, n.d.)

33o 58' 59"N, 81o 13' 55"W (NAD27)

USGS Lexington Quad

The primary shopping areas rest along downtown Main St., US 378 Bypass area, SC Route 6 off I-20. There are two parks located within the town. These parks provide an open area for residents to socialize with other community members. Virginia Hilton Park, which is behind Town Hall, has a playground, a separate Special Needs Playground, and has a Butterfly Garden. Corley Street Park has a spray pool, playground and covered picnic area with grills (Town of Lexington: Parks, Streets, and Sanitation, n.d).

In terms of residential areas, the majority of residents live in Block Group 2, Census Tract 210.15 (see figure 1.3 below). This area is SW of Main St and is shown in dark green on Figure 1.3. Coincidentally, this Block group has the lowest percentage of those living in poverty at 1.4 percent (see Figure 1.4). In comparison, Block Group 2, Census Tract 210.13 has the highest percentage of those living below the poverty level at 20.7 percent. This block group is towards West Columbia, Northwest of Main St. and is indicated in yellow on the top left corner of Figure 1.3. It is important to note that although the town of Lexington overall has a low percentage of those living below poverty level, there are block groups that have significantly higher percentages, even though their population size is fairly smaller. As will be discussed in later sections, unfortunately there may not be enough social services for these people.

Figure 1.3 Population by Block Group (Census 2000, SF1).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1, Matrix P1.

FIGURE 1.4: Percentage of those living below poverty level, by Block group

Data Set: Census 2000 Summary File 3 (SF 3) - Sample Data

Result contains 7 rows.

P087001 P087002 P087010

Population for whom poverty status is determined: Total Population for whom poverty status is determined: Income in 1999