Food is a big topic in Charleston. There is a very successful Farmers’ Market; and, several organizations and groups cultivate gardens on public school grounds and offer the bounty to the students. You can get involved through the links below. Several of the city’s restaurants routinely land on lists featuring the nation’s best. The food scene is a big hook for tourists and one […]
In 2007, over 100 Charleston experts met dozens of time to create a roadmap to sustainability for Charleston called the CHARLESTON GREEN PLAN, presented to City Council in 2009. This 162 page plan clearly and deftly outlined how Charleston could move forward as leaders in environmental stewardship critical for our community to thrive.The response by […]
I’d empower an environmental biologist on my staff to protect our surrounding wetlands. Wetlands act like a giant sponge holding flood waters back. It’s not the ultimate solution, but it will buy us time as the sea rises.
This is the first in a series of interviews with the civic-minded organizations that embraced the “If You Were Mayor” concept long before it was a reality. We had a recent conversation with the Lowcountry Local First Executive Director Jamee Haley to discuss her vibrant organization and the future of Charleston. Tell us about LLF’s mission and how that segues […]
Every time it rains, East Bay south of I-26 (and sometimes the connector too) flood to the point that cars are bogged in place on a main throughway between Downtown, Uptown, and Mt. Pleasant. Fix the drainage, or elevate the road a few feet for goodness’ sake! Not only is there a relatively easy fix […]
A prevailing theme of the Mayor’s race in Charleston surrounds the question of “livability.” We’ve seen it in print media, newspapers and magazines, and it is coming up with some frequency related to our question: If You Were Mayor…? “Livability” is certainly perceived by different segments of the population in many different ways (stayed tuned for more on […]
If I were mayor, I would enter into performance contracting with an energy services company (ESCO), to improve City-owned buildings’ energy efficiency. Performance contracts are paid with the cost savings realized by the client (the City), so it is a low-risk investment with great benefits.
If I were mayor, I would invest heavily in public transportation infrastructure, which could raise the quality of life for Charleston’s residents by alleviating traffic and the time miserably spent behind the wheel in traffic; make streets safer for children, pedestrians and bikers; mitigate the pressure to widen scenic roads and mitigate the need for […]
I heard some chatter about this idea a while back but don’t know if any action has been taken since: In order to access the pedestrian bridge over the crosstown, you must walk through a short block of abandoned, condemned and otherwise poorly maintained buildings off of the Line Street side. On the other side […]
We’ve been working on these issues for some time now. Ridership on CARTA is up and hundreds of thousands of trips are made on transit within the city every month. However the next step will have to be more than adjusting existing bus routes and must reach and connect areas of the City without good […]