I believe a successful community/city must have a strong backbone. Let’s take a hard look at the wages/salaries of our teachers, firefighters, police, etc. They may be paid ‘competitive’ wages for the region, but the region as a whole is far below the national average (even when the lower cost of living is taken into consideration). In addition, the amount of money we lose due to turnover is astronomical. We make efforts to attract the best and brightest in tech/business; why not the same treatment? Don’t we want the best teachers for our kids, and the best first responders protecting us as we sleep. Let’s be a model for the region. I think this is a reasonable goal.
My God, it’s everywhere in our city. Trashing our roadways and screaming NEGLECT. Especially places like Ashley River Rd. leading to our beautiful historic plantations. I’m told the city and county don’t have crews to actually clean it up, so why don’t we contract these services out if we can’t/won’t do it ourselves. It’s not going to disappear on its own so something HAS to be done. So sad and so embarrassing…….
If the idea of walking and cycling is to be promoted, and I hope it is, ALL developments, retail and housing, should have accessible green space and parks WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE. Should there be significant impact fees on developers/every new property and every new development, to assist with purchasing space for satellite parking for downtown Charleston, improved bus services and bike transportation from these satellite parking areas, and more accessible parks and green space nearby to mitigate increased density that is appearing on the peninsula and nearby? I think this should be of the highest importance. We can’t wait until every space has been filled then wish we had created parks and open space, or better transportation options. Are we already behind in this endeavor or is there a great plan I am unaware of? I feel this should be a top priority to keep Charleston and the surrounding areas livable.
If I were mayor I would enforce a 20% decrease in prices for locals on retail and restaurants on Peninsular Charleston and at select popular venues in the greater Charleston area which fluently cater to the needs of tourists and locals alike, but which sport the price tags suited for a vacation rather than daily life. Locals would be issued a “locals card” which would award them the discount when presented, much like locals in Key West are awarded discounts for being required to tolerate tourists and tourist prices.
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If I were mayor I’d create a Ticket Bank to benefit under privileged children (and their parents and teachers?). When patrons of the local performing arts are unable to use their tickets to the symphony, a play or a dance they could call in that ticket (or go online). The ticket bank would have a way of posting these tickets (taking advantage of tweets and push notices) and making the tickets available at the will call windows of the specific venues.
The city, its citizens and the developers must come up with an understanding of what ‘affordable’ means.
Laws are enacted to protect the integration and survival of existing tiny and small businesses, and represent inhabitants, including minorities and the poor.
So many plans are based on on models that are many years old and not appropriate to the area and the current need for conservation and traffic control. PUDs, new apartments and communities are being built without the infrastructure to support them, and no regard to the quality of life of the residents. Charleston needs a mayor who will not be afraid to say, “this doesn’t work anymore” to plans that have been sitting for years on some developers desk and don’t take into consideration the wants and needs of the existing residents and current traffic concerns.
So,,, not the most exciting idea out there, but I am hopeful the next Mayor undertakes an extensive Process Audit. The incredible longevity of the current administration has certainly provided stability for the City, but City processes have grown and become more complex overtime. My company does business with the City everyday and I would like to think that a third party review would increase efficiencies and likely result in monetary savings for the City and the private sector.
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Long Lake by Mason Prep and the Ashley House has tremendous potential. Why not build a boardwalk in parts along Lockwood Boulevard, then behind those Calhoun Street buildings to Halsey Boulevard. The reason I’m suggesting a boardwalk is that the sidewalk along Lockwood Boulevard is too close to a busy road to be comfortable, but if you put the boardwalk in the lake and ran it toward the more spacious area near the Ashley House, you’d have a nice walk.
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One public facility that the residents of West Ashley have been asking for is a farmer’s market. Somewhere in the DuPont area, where all of these properties come together, is the logical place for a new farmer’s market to happen. Combining the farmer’s market with neighborhood meeting space and a small performance/exhibit space would keep the property occupied and functioning as a vibrant center of neighborhood activity. Music and arts programs could easily be run from such a facility.
An improved crosswalk and landscaped median at Wappoo Road similar to the one just completed in Avondale, would make this dangerous intersection safe for the school children who cross there as well as for the people who might want to connect from the Bike Path to the Greenway.
The Firefighter’s Memorial in its present condition is an embarrassment. The families of the firefighters and the public deserve better and we should not be afraid to explore how to make that property something worthy of the lives it memorializes. Allowing this property to become a publicly sponsored West Ashley eyesore is unacceptable.
It appears that the city will be building a new fire station on the 1901 Savannah Highway property and that the rear of that property might become a neighborhood park. Why not make a portion of the entire Savannah Highway property a passive destination for those who use the Greenway and the Bike Path? There are people who now park their cars on the shoulders of our neighborhood streets to use the Greenway. Having a totally unused city-owned parking lot at the memorial property and not encouraging people to use it is a missed opportunity. Why not incorporate restrooms and a water fountain for the people who use the Greenway and the Bike Path into the design of the new fire station?
New public facilities have been built West of the Ashley in recent years, but predominantly in conjunction with new construction on the periphery of the city. This is fine for attracting people to the new neighborhoods in the farthest reaches of the suburbs, but it does nothing for the older West Ashley neighborhoods which have never had these advantages.
We need to go back and right some planning wrongs that have occurred here in the past fifty years.
We have parks, playgrounds, The Bike Path, and the Greenway in the older areas, but how much better would they be if these facilities were interconnected? The city has a perfect opportunity to create synergy from these assets at the Firefighter’s Memorial and the soon to be purchased 1901 Savannah Highway property.
Public transportation may seem limited to buses for now, but might we consider using small rubber tire trolleys, somewhat like elongated golf carts, on the old ACL and SAL rights of way that could shuttle residents from South Windermere all the way to the Clemson Extension with the historic crossing at DuPont, where passengers could change “trolleys” for Maryville. These vehicles would be more like elongated golf carts and would not interfere with the pedestrian and bicycle traffic. This would also help get bus traffic off Savannah Highway and other major corridors.
There will be almost a million people living in the tri-county area by 2030. We will need higher density housing and West Ashley is one of the logical places for it to go. Higher density residential and office development could easily be built at Croghan and Citadel Mall that would provide both ridership and commercial destinations for the trolleys at opposite ends of the Greenway.
Less affluent neighborhoods with “good bones” like Ardmore have the ability to provide significant affordable housing in an area that desperately needs it. The problem is that people are scared to invest in areas where the only City Department with any visibility in the neighborhood is the Police Department.
Transportation
Education
Economic
Arts
Neighborhoods, Parks & Housing
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