Overdevelopment in Greenville, SC - What's the solution?

[David Gross]

For those of us here in the Upstate, it seems you can't go anywhere without seeing trees knocked down to make room for a new Publix or a new home farm.  The infrastructure is suffering and the quality of life, some say, has gone down over the years due to overdevelopment.

I've lived in places like Hawaii and Southwest Florida where this subject was an ongoing conversation.  The issue for Greenville now is that a lot of people want to move here!  This is for a number of reasons.

What's the solution?  While some would gladly put a fence around the greater Greenville area with a sign that says "closed", this is unrealistic.

Now, as someone who works with sellers of distressed properties and buyers who bring these houses back to life, here's an idea.  Create more incentives to renovate what is already here to help slow this development down.

Greenville, South Carolina is beautiful, with some of the nicest people in the country.  People from other cities and states will continue to move here.  What is another solution to welcoming newcomers without overdeveloping the area?