Growth on the Strand, Myrtle Beach, SC 2001

Partners:

The Sun News
Myrtlebeachonline.com
Coastal Carolina University

With Myrtle Beach becoming the fastest-growing relocation destination in the nation, the paper gave residents a chance to try their hand at managing growth in the region with an interactive Web-based game, similar to the model pioneered by The Herald in Everett.

"Chart the Strand's Future," a feature introduced on the paper's Web site in April 2002, allowed users to drop icons onto a map in order to design a growth plan, as in the popular game "Sim City." The paper did not, however, collect and analyze the designs, as the The Herald in Everett, WA, did. Rather, the game was an end in itself, designed to give users a taste of the trade-offs and challenges city planners face when managing growth. The game included a meter by which users could see how each choice for development affected both the community's financial health and quality of life. The paper received informal, positive feedback but could not keep track of how many people participated.

The game was one feature of the project "Growth on the Strand," launched March 11, 2001, with a package of stories on key concerns in the growth debate. Additional stories ran through the rest of the year on issues including solid waste disposal, recycling, traffic congestion, housing trends and the environmental impact of sprawl. In April 2002, the paper co-sponsored a growth summit at Coastal Carolina that attracted 150 people, who played the Growth Game, which was launched at the conference. Participants broke into groups to discuss transportation, the environment, leadership, jobs, housing and education. Some volunteered to work on a particular area and organized follow-up meetings. Coastal Carolina took the names of volunteers for an ad hoc growth committee to address the issues raised at the summit.

Contact:

Patricia H. (Trish) O'Connor
Editor
The Sun News
914 Frontage Road East
Myrtle Beach, SC 29578
Phone: (843) 626-0316
Email: toconnor@thesunnews.com

Boom Town Faces its Future, Myrtle Beach, SC 1997

Partners:

The Sun News
Cox Broadcasting

After the results of an informal Sun News survey showed serious community concern about rapid growth, the paper launched an 11-month project, "Living in a Boom Town." The paper had asked readers to respond to six open-ended questions about the Myrtle Beach area. Some 300 responses showed five main areas of concern: traffic, growth, elected officials, schools and culture. A five part series exploring each of these topics began April 27, 1997. Each package included a "primer," giving background on the issue, comments from readers and additional resources for more information. The paper also set up a phone line for more reader comments and started a discussion forum on growth issues on its Web site. It followed people's concerns through ongoing coverage of one neighborhood, Socastee, which was wrestling with all of the issues involved.

In November, the paper sponsored five focus groups, each with members who represented different segments of the community: newcomers, retirees, parents, young adults and Socastee residents. Despite the differences in the groups' make-up, the paper found broad agreement on growth issues. The focus groups guided a second series of stories, published in February and March of 1998. For instance, the focus groups showed strong support for impact fees on developers, and the paper wrote about how impact fees worked in other areas. The focus groups voiced disillusionment with elected officials, and the paper reported on what elected positions were open and how to file to run for public office.

The project culminated in a "Boom Town Civic Fair," March 28, 1998, which attracted about 400 people. The paper also began two weekly features: an informational graphic that showed the goals of a particular government body were and the status of work toward the goal and a column, "Speaking Up/Boom Town Forum," for reader comments.

Contacts:

Susan C. Deans (Former Editor, The Sun News)
Asst Managing Editor/Weekends
Denver Rocky Mountain News
400 West Colfax Avenue
Denver, CO 80204
TEL: (303) 892-2386
FAX: (303) 892-2841
EMAIL: deanss@denver-rmn.com

John X. Miller (Former Managing Editor, The Sun News)
Public Editor
Detroit Free Press
600 West Fort Street
Detroit, MI 48226-3138
TEL: (313) 222-6803
FAX: (313) 222-5981
EMAIL: miller@freepress.com