Charleston Off-Topic

[randy1]

Oh, ok. The article referred to it as the Charleston area. When are you moving back there?

Okay guys let's stop fighting over what city is better. It's sounds like we have nothing better to do than be on this forum and bicker about something that really doesn't matter. Both cities are fine. Charleston has alot going for it, as well as Columbia. Columbians like to cheer on their city because it does get overlook by the others often and Charlestonians are very proud of theirs for winning all the attention that South Carolina gains, but let's realize that we are all South Carolinians.

Edited February 2, 2006 by randy1

[Charleston native]

Oh, ok. The article referred to it as the Charleston area. When are you moving back there?

Umm...I don't know how to respond to that, but I guess there's no point. Randy1, you are exactly right. However, sometimes I get the feeling that Columbians don't want Chas to outgrow their city, so when somebody from Cola has to interject on information about Chas that wasn't even correct or didn't seem right (which I even admitted) just so we need to be reminded of how superior Cola is, it gets annoying. So naturally, I have to stick up for my hometown. Infinite1 summed it up perfectly in his last post on this thread.

Anyway, I'm done with the whole thing. I was hoping some other people would comment on my earlier post about Southern Living ranking Charleston as the best Southern city, according to their Reader's Choice awards. How cool is that?

[CorgiMatt]

Umm...I don't know how to respond to that, but I guess there's no point. Randy1, you are exactly right. However, sometimes I get the feeling that Columbians don't want Chas to outgrow their city, so when somebody from Cola has to interject on information about Chas that wasn't even correct or didn't seem right (which I even admitted) just so we need to be reminded of how superior Cola is, it gets annoying. So naturally, I have to stick up for my hometown. Infinite1 summed it up perfectly in his last post on this thread.

Anyway, I'm done with the whole thing. I was hoping some other people would comment on my earlier post about Southern Living ranking Charleston as the best Southern city, according to their Reader's Choice awards. How cool is that?

Charlestonians have always been the ones who I thought assumed their city was superior. It reminds me of my third grade South Carolina history book. The history was told through child characters in the book. Mary Bee lived in Charleston and her twin cousins lived in Columbia. Mary Bee would go on and on about what Charleston had, and the twins would roll their eyes and counter with what Columbia had. I have looked for that book and haven't been able to find it. It would be interesting to read now, because I was in 3rd grade in 1966.

[Charleston native]

^ Yes, that's right, blame it on the snobbish, holier than thou Charlestonians. There is one fact that Columbians need to realize: Chas is the birthplace of this state and is much older than Cola. Period. You cannot debate that. So naturally, Chas is going to have more history involved with it. I'm not saying Cola does not have a significant amount of history involved with it, but Chas does have more just for the fact that Chas is where SC started.

The fact that my hometown has a ton of history probably makes some natives give the impression that they think their city is superior. It's actually on the same level as people who proudly claim themselves as Bostonians, New Yorkers, or Philadelphians. The centuries of rich history and being an important part of their respective states, let alone the birth of the country, fuels a sense of pride for these people. I guess some of my passion for Chas stems from this, even though I know there are even better cities to live in. So please don't include me on the Chas blue-blood list who think their city is the center of the universe.

[tablrock]

Charlestonians have always been the ones who I thought assumed their city was superior. It reminds me of my third grade South Carolina history book. The history was told through child characters in the book. Mary Bee lived in Charleston and her twin cousins lived in Columbia. Mary Bee would go on and on about what Charleston had, and the twins would roll their eyes and counter with what Columbia had. I have looked for that book and haven't been able to find it. It would be interesting to read now, because I was in 3rd grade in 1966.

well greenville is FAR SUPERIOR than chas and coumbia combined NOT!!!jk obviously. my pick is chuck town any ole day. not that cola is bad or anything i just grew up there and am bored with it.

[CorgiMatt]

^ Yes, that's right, blame it on the snobbish, holier than thou Charlestonians. There is one fact that Columbians need to realize: Chas is the birthplace of this state and is much older than Cola. Period. You cannot debate that. So naturally, Chas is going to have more history involved with it. I'm not saying Cola does not have a significant amount of history involved with it, but Chas does have more just for the fact that Chas is where SC started.

The fact that my hometown has a ton of history probably makes some natives give the impression that they think their city is superior. It's actually on the same level as people who proudly claim themselves as Bostonians, New Yorkers, or Philadelphians. The centuries of rich history and being an important part of their respective states, let alone the birth of the country, fuels a sense of pride for these people. I guess some of my passion for Chas stems from this, even though I know there are even better cities to live in. So please don't include me on the Chas blue-blood list who think their city is the center of the universe.

I'm a direct descendant of one of Charleston's founding fathers, a planter and a gentleman. My mother's people come from Dorchester County and southern Orangeburg County just across the county line from Dorchester. I can identify with snobbery, but Columbians tend to be proud to be South Carolinians whereas Charlestonians tend to me more proud to be Charlestonians. But, regarding my earlier post, seriously, are you not planning to move back to Charleston, Charleston native?? I did not mean it as in go back where you came from.

[Charleston native]

I'm a direct descendant of one of Charleston's founding fathers, a planter and a gentleman. My mother's people come from Dorchester County and southern Orangeburg County just across the county line from Dorchester. I can identify with snobbery, but Columbians tend to be proud to be South Carolinians whereas Charlestonians tend to me more proud to be Charlestonians. But, regarding my earlier post, seriously, are you not planning to move back to Charleston, Charleston native?? I did not mean it as in go back where you came from.

Well.......I feel sheepish..... Sorry for misunderstanding you, man! I'm hoping to go back, but it won't be anytime soon. I'm currently at USC to get a masters in health administration, planning to graduate this December, and I'll probably be here in Cola for 2-3 more years after that. I want to move with my wife down there soon, but I'm afraid I'll have to wait until my dad retires. When that happens, the family should move down to Florida, and then we'll see about moving down there. My wife and I just don't want to live that close to my family. We don't want to go insane!

[Spartan]

There's nothing wrong with some good ol fasioned homerism, so long as it doesn't get out of hand. I think that it is one of the root causes of some of our better debates here. I love all of our cities, so I'll stand up for which ever one is not being adequately represented.

[krazeeboi]

^Ditto.

[gs3]

I don't have a link for it because I'm not a member, but to further enhance Charleston's status, the city was rated as the #1 Southern city in Southern Living Magazine's Readers' Choice Awards. Check out the February 2006 issue. Not only did Chas win the city category, but it also dominated winning 1st and 2nd place awards for dining and shopping, respectively. Only Atlanta beat Chas for the shopping...well, it can't beat Atlanta because of its selection and variety, but it is a little hard to beat a city whose metro area is several million!

Go Charleston!! This is great!! Charleston is definitely an award winning city! Congrats!

[krazeeboi]

My mother's people come from Dorchester County and southern Orangeburg County just across the county line from Dorchester.

Sounds like my neck of the woods. This would be the Bowman/Branchville area, correct?

[goodbye]

Awesome and well deserved!

(speaking of the award by Southern Living Magazine)

[CorgiMatt]

Sounds like my neck of the woods. This would be the Bowman/Branchville area, correct?

In the country out from Bowman and St. George near the I-26 and I-95 intersection. Between Hwy 210 and Hwy 15.

[krazeeboi]

I gotcha...that's not too far from Holly Hill.

[CorgiMatt]

I gotcha...that's not too far from Holly Hill.

11 miles. My late grandmother, who lived in the house she was born in till her death, was fond of telling us that her father always said it was 60 miles to Charleston and 60 miles to Columbia from their front porch.

[krazeeboi]

That's interesting, because the community in which I spent the latter part of my childhood, between Rowesville and Branchville, is called the "Sixty-Six" community because it was supposedly 66 miles to Columbia and 66 miles to Charleston.

[CorgiMatt]

That's interesting, because the community in which I spent the latter part of my childhood, between Rowesville and Branchville, is called the "Sixty-Six" community because it was supposedly 66 miles to Columbia and 66 miles to Charleston.

That would be about right, judging by how far away "between Rowesville and Branchville" is from my grandmother's house.

[MikesLogic]

Charleston Place was listed in "Luxury Link World

[Charleston native]

^ Sweet! Further evidence that Chas is becoming the world-class destination in SC.

[CorgiMatt]

There's another very interesting article in the Post and Courier today. It's about Charleston's identity crisis. It talks about clashing architectural and design interests.

[Spartan]

This one: http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=...ction=localnews

I have never read a more apt description of the situation in Charleston:

Some think the city is violating its own preservation law by allowing modern architecture into the historic district.

Others feel contemporary designs can blend with the city's historic district as long as they respect its scale, rhythm and quality of materials.

Some feel new urban advocates are seeking to create spaces found in Paris and Barcelona rather than reinvigorating Charleston by learning from its own past.

Others feel that if Charleston's future development sticks too closely to the past, the city will evolve into a coastal version of Colonial Williamsburg.

Some feel too much is decided on development projects behind the scenes before the public debate begins or that the city's regulators rig the game.

Others feel there already are too many obstacles, too much red tape involved with developing downtown.

Some feel commercial pressures are pushing too far into historic neighborhoods with traffic and noise.

Others fear downtown risks becoming an upscale residential enclave, devoid of the diversity, vitality and messiness of urban life.

Some feel the city's longtime preservation groups are floundering in their role as a watchdog, or as one termed it, "a tail-wagging spaniel."

Others feel these groups offer just one perspective and that more voices should join the debate.

Here's where it really gets complicated....

[Spartan]

This one: http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=...ction=localnews

I have never read a more apt description of the situation in Charleston:

Some think the city is violating its own preservation law by allowing modern architecture into the historic district.

Others feel contemporary designs can blend with the city's historic district as long as they respect its scale, rhythm and quality of materials.

Some feel new urban advocates are seeking to create spaces found in Paris and Barcelona rather than reinvigorating Charleston by learning from its own past.

Others feel that if Charleston's future development sticks too closely to the past, the city will evolve into a coastal version of Colonial Williamsburg.

Some feel too much is decided on development projects behind the scenes before the public debate begins or that the city's regulators rig the game.

Others feel there already are too many obstacles, too much red tape involved with developing downtown.

Some feel commercial pressures are pushing too far into historic neighborhoods with traffic and noise.

Others fear downtown risks becoming an upscale residential enclave, devoid of the diversity, vitality and messiness of urban life.

Some feel the city's longtime preservation groups are floundering in their role as a watchdog, or as one termed it, "a tail-wagging spaniel."

Others feel these groups offer just one perspective and that more voices should join the debate.

Here's where it really gets complicated....

[krazeeboi]

It's interesting, because there are a number of new developments occurring in downtown Savannah, another city noted for its extensive preservation. There doesn't seem to be as much of a ruckus down there about it.

On another (unrelated note), I was watching a rerun of "CSI: Miami" on A&E last night, and Charleston got a mention. A mother was transferring money from her daughter's charity in Miami to her bank account in a Charleston-based bank. When the investigators initially traced the flight path, they thought Atlanta was the final destination until they dug deeper and discovered the airport code was CHS, thus leading them to Charleston.

Edited February 21, 2006 by krazeeboi

[krazeeboi]

County population estimates were released by the US Census Bureau today. Using the current MSA formulation of Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties, the MSA population stands at 594,899 for 2005, an ~11,000 increase from 2004. This is assuming, of course, that no other county has been added to the MSA. This technically makes the Charleston MSA the 2nd largest in the state (assuming that no other county has been added to Greenville's MSA as well), as it only fell a few hundred short of that mark in 2004.

Edited March 16, 2006 by krazeeboi

[Charleston native]

County population estimates were released by the US Census Bureau today. Using the current MSA formulation of Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties, the MSA population stands at 594,899 for 2005, an ~11,000 increase from 2004. This is assuming, of course, that no other county has been added to the MSA. This technically makes the Charleston MSA the 2nd largest in the state (assuming that no other county has been added to Greenville's MSA as well), as it only fell a few hundred short of that mark in 2004.

No other counties have been added. The only county which would receive a good amount of consideration for joining the MSA would be Colleton, but there have been no indications of this. That might change by the 2010 census, though.