Wealth Creation: An economic miracle made possible by the free enterprise system.
The Free Enterprise System: The combination of entrepreneurialism, the sanctity of contracts, enforceable private property rights, the rule of law, and responsible government (somebody has to take care of the road and bridges, the water and sewer systems, the police and fire protection, the schools, etc.).
An example:
"In 1931, Wall Street tycoon, physicist, and patron of scientific research, Alfred Lee Loomis along with his brother-in-law and partner, Landon K. Thorne, purchased 17,000 acres (69 km2) on the island (over 63% of the total land mass) for about $120,000 to be used as a private game reserve.[27][28]" -Wikipedia
In 1950 the population of Hilton Head Island was about 300 people. Access to the island was limited to private boats or a ferry. Timbering and fishing was the mainstay of the local economy. In 1956 the first bridge from the mainland to the island was built, at a cost of $1,500,000. (I bet the local politics behind that decision were interesting). In 1957 the development of Sea Pines, the first resort development on the island commenced.
Flash forward............less than sixty years later:
In 2010 there are 33,306 housing units on the island. Based on the chart from whence that statistic came, it would appear that about half of the residences are occupied full time by their owner. The other half are mostly rentals and season second homes. (I suspect that the total number of "Seasonal, recreational, or occasional use" housing units includes the +/- 6,559 total rooms in the 58 hotel/motels on the island, but don't know for sure.)
On Hilton Head (some 42 square miles of land) there is a broad mix of residential uses. There are house trailers on postage stamp lots and there are two million dollar beach front homes. There are plentiful condominium projects and there are typical single family home sub-divisions. Not knowing this market, and not having seen any true statistics, your faithful blogger is going to make the wild guess (plus it makes the math easier) that the average housing unit (including the hotel rooms) has a value of $150,000.
On Hilton Head Island there is also a broad mix of commercial developments, including countless restaurants, marinas, golf courses, retail stores of all sizes, office buildings, schools, government buildings, etc.
So, in sixty years we have magically gone from an almost unoccupied island, used mostly for timbering, to a place with (give or take a bit) about FIVE BILLION DOLLARS worth of residential real estate and perhaps a lot more than another ONE BILLION DOLLARS worth of commercial real estate.
More than two million people come visit Hilton Head annually. Said visitors reportedly spend about 1.5 billion dollars while on the island. Based on my experience, that spending number is more than a little light.
Wealth creation (and lots of family fun along the way) via the free enterprise system. There is nothing like it in this world. Thank thee kindly.
Posts
You pulled it together very nicely....Hopefully, no one in Washington will see this or they may want to take the Island over.
ReplyDelete