North Charleston

[Donny James]

No thats Charlestons population. I think North Charleston is at 80 something like knightrider suggested.

[krazeeboi]

Oh, I was about to say. *sigh of relief*

[Spartan]

Unincorporated James Island was never counted in Charleston's population. The new town only ocupies about 40% of the island, the rest is Charleston still. The city puts itself at around 115,000 anyway.

Exactly. I think this is a common misconception with this incorporation. People don't understand that its just the parts of the island that werent already incorporated into Charleston, not the whole island. If it were the whole island, they would have a much better case for incorporation, and I would probably be in support of the idea. The actual arrangement is gerrymadering of a sort, and McConnel is wrong to change the law to support one insignificant little 'municipality.'

[DigitalSky]

Nice pics of North Charleston. It's been almost 4 years since i've been back there

[kayman]

What was the purpose of the splitting off of North Charleston from Charleston?

[SimCity]

North Charleston was never a part of the City of Charleston. North Charleston is one of the youngest cities in the state (another one being James Island also located in the Charleston metro) having been incorporated in 1972 while the city of Charleston was established in 1670 and is the oldest in SC. While I'm not 100% sure ( someone correct me if I'm wrong) I believe the city of Charleston was very reluctant to annex up the peninsula and into the north area which was seen as a "backwoods" at the time. The independent people of Park Circle were unhappy with the way the area was developing and decided to take control of their destiny by incorporating and creating North Charleston. Had the civic leaders of Charleston had the foresight they would have annexed the entire north area and Charleston would now be the largest city in SC and would also have increased national prominence.

What was the purpose of the splitting off of North Charleston from Charleston?

[Charleston native]

^ The city leadership was politically motivated and clearly lacked the economic foresight to see that the north area would have been a great asset to the city of Chas. One city council member was actually quoted as saying, "They don't even know me up there."

The town of James Island is still in contention, BTW. The city of Chas is suing since the town is gerrymandered through parts of the island already annexed into the city...it's not a done deal yet!

[SimCity]

I hope the town of James Island is dissolved. There are more than enough seperate governments in the Charleston metro as it is and the town boundary of James Island is just ridiculous. It reminds me of the 12th Congressional District in North Carolina.

^ The city leadership was politically motivated and clearly lacked the economic foresight to see that the north area would have been a great asset to the city of Chas. One city council member was actually quoted as saying, "They don't even know me up there."

The town of James Island is still in contention, BTW. The city of Chas is suing since the town is gerrymandered through parts of the island already annexed into the city...it's not a done deal yet!

[Charleston native]

More bad news for the city in the northside. It has been named the 20th Most Dangerous City in the U.S. just slightly better than Atlanta and Cincinatti. Folks, the population of the north area is changing, yet crime is still the highest in the entire state?! This needs to change, and I am further convinced that if the city merged into the city of Chas, crime would drop...the police department would be far better equipped and have better leadership. Just my opinion, though.

The analysis comes from 2005 data for six types of crime: murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, forcible rape, auto thefts and burglaries. N. Charleston saw an increase last year in every single category.

S.C.'s most dangerous city

[krazeeboi]

Yep, I saw that. A pity.

[Infinite1]

fact is that downtown, Mt P and the islands are becoming increasing more affluent. Summerville and Goose Creek remain bedroom type communities. That leaves southern North Chuck and the Neck area of Charleston as the place where most lower-income and working class families settle. And unfortunately, these areas are where you find the majority of crimes.

Of Note, if you go to the Morgan Quitno site, you can see that Florence (5), Myrtle Beach (6), Charlotte (12), and Sumter (24) all make the list as metro areas. I was a little suprised at Myrtle Beach and Charlotte, but not so much so by the others.

[krazeeboi]

I'm sure Myrtle Beach's high property crime rates had something to do with its high ranking. One flaw of this study is that I don't think it distinguishes between violent and non-violent crimes.

[Charleston native]

I'm sure Myrtle Beach's high property crime rates had something to do with its high ranking. One flaw of this study is that I don't think it distinguishes between violent and non-violent crimes.

[Infinite1]

I don't think distinguishing between violent and non-violent crimes would make the study better. A crime is a breach of safety and security, regardless. People aren't going to feel any safer with a higher rate of auto theft and a minimal murder rate.

MB's and Florence's high rates have something to do with excessive amount of the drug trade that occurs in these MSA's. I have no idea why Sumter made the list...that was very surprising. Interestingly enough, Jax was named as the 10th safest city in the U.S. with a population of 500,000 or more. There have been a few surprises for me with this study, and because it highlights Florence and MB MSA's as pretty dangerous, I'm very disinclined to consider moving my family to those cities after I graduate.

As far as the north city in Chas is concerned, the leadership there needs to now focus less on bringing in more retail and business, and concentrate on its residents' safety. This city has had its priorities mixed up for quite some time.

[krazeeboi]

I don't think distinguishing between violent and non-violent crimes would make the study better. A crime is a breach of safety and security, regardless. People aren't going to feel any safer with a higher rate of auto theft and a minimal murder rate.

[L-Beware]

These studies dont take into factor demographics. Which is why you have cities like Reading, PA in the most dangerous list and cities like Jacksonville listed as the 10th safest city over 500,000 population.

The fact that they disregard the demographics of where the crime occurs skews the results.

And also. If anybody thinks these results are bad, wait till next year this time. I wouldnt be surprised if North Charleston is in the Top 10. The whole metro region will probably rank much worse than it did for this years rankings.

[krazeeboi]

^I agree.

[krazeeboi]

Here's the article about N. Charleston's high crime rate. Can you guys believe Mayor Keith Summey said, "The best thing I can say about the statistics is that I don't feel any more endangered in my community than before they came out."

[Charleston native]

Ummm, I think I'd rather have my car stolen than my life taken, but that's just me. At any rate, there are several categories of crime that fall under "non-violent" and not just grand larceny...

[L-Beware]

IMO downtown is worse. Because its a smaller area. Once you get south of Calhoun Street, its different. But everything north of Calhoun is one concentrated area. And the crime is definitely not limited to Eastside. Even though most of the homicides occur over there.

[krazeeboi]

Whoops, I think you may have misinterpreted what I said, or maybe I just didn't type my statement correctly. What I meant to say is that people in general are going to see a city as dangerous regardless of the type of crime, if it is a high crime area. If a city has high drug crime, or high burglaries, or high auto theft or a high murder rate; people will stay away from doing business and living in the city.

[Charleston native]

IMO downtown is worse. Because its a smaller area. Once you get south of Calhoun Street, its different. But everything north of Calhoun is one concentrated area. And the crime is definitely not limited to Eastside. Even though most of the homicides occur over there.

[Spartan]

I think the dividing line between old crime-ridden DT and the new DT isn't Calhoun anymore; the new line is Spring Street. You have to admit the areas near the Chas Visitor Center, upper King, the Chas Museum, the School of Law, and around MUSC are better than they were 10 years ago. When you cross Spring Street, however, you get into the high crime area.

I think I refer to Eastside the most because it gets the most publicity. I wish the whole area had a drastic urban transformation...it feels like that would be the only way to initiate complete change.

[Charleston native]

In the article link below, the north city's homicide total for this year has increased yet again. The city police reported its 27th homicide for this year, and the death was the city's third homicide in just four days. Police there have already handled more homicides this year than any year in the city's history.

And yet, Mayor Summey doesn't "feel any more endangered in his community". Apparently, he has his head stuck in the sand around Centre Point. When is the next mayoral election?

Body found in room at Budget Inn on Fain St.

[L-Beware]

He didnt say that. He said he doesnt feel any more endangered than he did previous to the Morgan Quitno crime ratings coming out. His point was in reference to the rankings, that the crime problem is what it is and has been before and after these ratings came out.