COLUMBIA, S.C. — Columbia's Devine Street Commercial District has seen a lot of change over the years.
From their clothing store Brittons, located on Devine, Perry Lancaster and his wife Stacy Levinson have watched the area evolve.
"We moved to Devine street 26 years ago," Lancaster said. "The trolley used to stop one block away... and a new building is at that corner now called the Trolley.”
The new Trolley building brought condos and more foot traffic to the area.
"Across the street, was an empty area," Lancaster said.
It's now the Devine District apartment complex.
"Great to see so many new buildings commercial and residential," Lancaster said.
Tracy Wright, the past president of the Devine Street Association, owns Just the Thing, a 20-year clothing store on Devine.
She said a new bakery, sandwich shop, and real estate company are on the way.
"I love the creative people that are seeing our district and are saying let's do this. Let's do that," Wright said.
New businesses can bring more traffic, but the Devine Street Association said they're advocating for changes that keep the area pedestrian friendly and have been in communication with the S.C. Department of Transportation about improvements.
"Now that we have basically businesses on both sides of the street, which has sort of evolved over my years here," Wright said, "used to be sort of a one-sided situation, we really need to focus on how to keep the pedestrians safe going across the street."
Suzannah Hayes has lived in the nearby Shandon neighborhood with her family since the 1980s.
"There really wasn't a lot," Hayes said. "More restaurants have opened and it's just a fun place to come now."
A community focused on growth.