Do you actually live in The Market Common or downtown Myrtle Beach? Here’s the real answer
Myrtle Beach’s downtown has been a focus of city staff for the past few years, specifically with revitalizing the Arts and Innovation District. But downtown Myrtle Beach isn’t the only place that operates like a downtown area in the city.
Coined “Myrtle Beach’s Uptown Downtown” by city marketing materials and the area’s official social media page, The Market Common features a robust downtown community where locals and tourists alike work, live and play.
Both downtown Myrtle Beach and The Market Common arguably meet the criteria to be considered downtown areas in the city.
Some of that criteria includes being centrally located and having the majority of retail, food and beverage sales and city jobs, a summary by the International Downtown Association said.
Are you a resident in a downtown area of Myrtle Beach?
It can be tricky to say. There aren’t clear boundaries for downtown Myrtle Beach or The Market Common publicly available. The Sun News reached out to city of Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach Downtown Alliance and Horry County officials for information on where exactly these downtown areas are.
Even after email exchanges, some questions remain. Here’s what we found out.
What is a downtown?
Despite the topographical name, a downtown area can be located anywhere in a city or town. Merriam-Webster, says “downtown” is “the main business district or central part of a city or town.”
According to the International Downtown Association, these areas in the U.S. are marked by tremendous positive economic impacts in small geographical regions.
“A strong downtown is critical for a successful city and region,” the group’s 2024 executive summary said.
Data from that summary showed that U.S. downtown’s typically host on average 35% of the city’s hotel rooms, nine percent of retail, food and beverage sales, and 24% of city jobs.
Where exactly is downtown Myrtle Beach?
According to a map available on the Myrtle Beach Downtown Alliance website, downtown Myrtle Beach stretches from 21st Avenue North to 12th Avenue South along the coast.
The inland boundary lines aren’t as consistent, drawn on myriad different streets, as shown in the map.
The full outline is depicted in navy blue on the Myrtle Beach Downtown Alliance’s downtown Myrtle Beach map, public information director for the city of Myrtle Beach Meredith Denari confirmed.
“We consider that downtown,” she said in an email to The Sun News. The city refers to this area as the “territory for the Myrtle Beach Downtown Alliance,” said Denari.
A key or legend explaining the different perimeters is not publicly available on the city or the MBDA’s websites.
The lighter blue outline shows neighborhoods that have demonstrated interest in joining downtown in the future, and the dark blue line represents the Municipal Improvement District, or MID, MBDA’s Director of Marketing and Communications Michelle Cantey said.
“The area in light blue are neighborhoods that we have been communicating with on a regular basis, as they have expressed interest in being part of the discussions about downtown’s redevelopment and revitalization,” Cantey said.
What about The Market Common? Do I technically live there?
Questions about the border of downtown compared to The Market Common were sent to multiple municipal agencies.
Horry County spokesperson Mikayla Moskov referred The Sun News to Denari about the exact definitions of both neighborhoods.
A map of The Market Common shows that the neighborhood started at the beginning of what was once a U.S. Air Force base off of Highway 17 and ends where Farrow Parkway meets the highway on the other side, next to the Walmart Neighborhood Market shopping center.
“There’s really no ‘specific outline,’ except most of The Market Common makes up the old Myrtle Beach Air Force Base,” Denari said.
This story was originally published December 1, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
