The Downtown Death Spiral: Charleston's Best Businesses Are Closing — And It’s Not Their Fault
Downtown Charleston is dying—and no one’s telling the truth about why.
Behind the charming facades and tourist brochures lies a brutal economic reality: businesses are closing, workers are fleeing, and the heart of the city is bleeding out. This isn’t a temporary slump—it’s a system-wide failure. In this exposé, we break down the numbers, name the root causes, and reveal the cascading forces behind the collapse. If Charleston wants to survive, it’s time to face the truth.
The Downtown Death Spiral: Charleston’s Best Businesses Are Closing — And It’s Not Their Fault
When a city gets too expensive to live in, too hard to work in, and too unstable for business — it breaks. Charleston is right on the edge.
Peyton Steele