Editorial: Savor the flavors of Lake Wylie dining

Is Lake Wylie fast-food capital worthy?

FindTheHome identified places with the highest density of fast-food restaurants in each state in the article “SC’s ‘fast-food captial’ makes top 10 in country” posted online at heraldonline.com. According to the article, the study calculated the number of fast-food restaurants per 10,000 people, identifying the city within each state with the highest density of fast-food restaurants. Only cities with a population threshold over the 95th percentile of the state were considered.

Florence captured the title for our state landing in the No. 10 spot. Florence has a population of 37,512 and 9.06 fast-food restaurants per 10,000 people.

In North Carolina, Statesville is named for having the greatest density of fast-food restaurants with a population of 25,132 and 9.15 fast-food restaurants per 10,000 people.

While Lake Wylie isn’t a city, let’s just look at how the area is stacking up. As of late with the announcements of more fast-food chains opening or coming, Lake Wylie will have 11 fast-food restaurants. A Census Designated Place, Lake Wylie had a population of 8,841 in 2010.

Wasilla, Alaska, ranked No. 5 in the study with a population of 8,406 and had 9.52 restaurants per 10,000 people. Lake Wylie would rank about No. 2.

While we like the additional flavors added to our community and having a growing number of options to choose from, we hope support keeps growing, too, for our local, neighbor-owned restaurants. They not only give us a wider range of (often healthier) culinary choices, but support our community causes and add to Lake Wylie's unique charm and identity.

We don’t want to be overrun by fast-food and not enough one-of-a-kind, sit-down places. We hope more restaurateurs will see the value in bringing dining options to this side of the bridge.

So enjoy the new restaurants, and remember to slow down and sit down to savor the flavor of our homegrown Lake Wylie restaurants.

This story was originally published June 27, 2016 at 12:59 PM with the headline "Editorial: Savor the flavors of Lake Wylie dining."