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Having grown up in NYC, I can assure you this is incorrect. Manhattan has great public transportation, the rest of NYC, not really. It's much better than Charleston, but then again, the demographic/economic/land/population/etc/etc is completely different. You can't begin to compare NYC to Charleston. The traffic in the NY metro area is still horrendous. Puts the traffic here to shame, even with all of the public transport.
I can't think of one city in the entire country that doesn't have a traffic problem. It's a reality of the individual, car-based society we live in. Charleston has traffic, and maybe it's disproportionately bad compared to other cities of its size, but overall its nothing compared to NYC, Boston, Atlanta, LA, etc, etc.
"Disproportionately bad" is key phraseology. I'd like to think Charlestonians won't go for the same ol' same ol' for the future. Right now I am resisting buying a new car because I see that move as a commitment to the same ol'. We'll see how long I can hold out, but at least in spirit I'm trying to move into a different sphere. Besides, there's nothing wrong with my car.
I don't think the traffic is that bad YET. But if it creates positive attitudes toward density and new development closer in toward the penninsula (Avondale, Coleman, the Neck and maybe Magnolia) so that more people can experience the awesome southern urban lifestyle that Charleston offers then yeah the traffic is the worrrrrst.
Funny that's sort of changing. In the SF Bay area status is starting to be more that you can walk to work and grab a great cup of coffee on the way. Next is really easy public transportation. And luxury most of all is a walking lifestyle to all your main shopping, social, and creative life points.
Not sure if this has spread to the rest of the nation yet, but it probably will. Walkability, bike-ability, and public transportation are metrics by which higher-end knowledge class folks are evaluating opportunities, almost inline as $ comp. Not everyone, but the founders, early/start-up stage multi-hat employees, and finance folks. Kind of depends on what kind of talent a city wants to attract.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ziggy100
Although this sounds good in theory,cars are too much of a status symbol. They're used to project image just as much as transportation.
Funny that's sort of changing. In the SF Bay area status is starting to be more that you can walk to work and grab a great cup of coffee on the way. Next is really easy public transportation. And luxury most of all is a walking lifestyle to all your main shopping, social, and creative life points.
Not sure if this has spread to the rest of the nation yet, but it probably will. Walkability, bike-ability, and public transportation are metrics by which higher-end knowledge class folks are evaluating opportunities, almost inline as $ comp. Not everyone, but the founders, early/start-up stage multi-hat employees, and finance folks. Kind of depends on what kind of talent a city wants to attract.
SF is also a tight, 7 mile grid. By it's nature it is easy to walk (hills notwithstanding), and sprawl is impossible. You could also say downtown Charleston is very walkable. But other than that, it's just like Marin, East Bay, San Jose, Foster City, etc.....completely car dependent with horrendous traffic to match.
Sort of true. I live in Oakland with a Transbay bus stop one block away. Super convenient to get to downtown SF. If you live walking from BART (Bay Area Rapid Transi - light rail)t even better. I often will bike to BART and they have lockers or take it on BART (which can be a little bit of a hassle). The Ferry is also a good option, and lots of folks bike to it from Marin, Oakland, and Alameda.
There is also caltrain which people use quite a bit, and a new massive transbay terminal being built that will terminate the many transit agencies.
There are also bike lanes being added in the SF Bay area like crazy - all over various towns. It's amazing the bike ability growth from nearly zero 2 decades ago.
By no means is SF Bay Area perfect - not trying to say that. But when it comes to attracting knowledge workers they have the formula. Having a bunch of tech companies founded in Silicon valley obviously helped, but guess what...a lot of the companies are moving north to SF and so are the VC firms.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Qtopplings
SF is also a tight, 7 mile grid. By it's nature it is easy to walk (hills notwithstanding), and sprawl is impossible. You could also say downtown Charleston is very walkable. But other than that, it's just like Marin, East Bay, San Jose, Foster City, etc.....completely car dependent with horrendous traffic to match.
Sort of true. I live in Oakland with a Transbay bus stop one block away. Super convenient to get to downtown SF. If you live walking from BART (Bay Area Rapid Transi - light rail)t even better. I often will bike to BART and they have lockers or take it on BART (which can be a little bit of a hassle). The Ferry is also a good option, and lots of folks bike to it from Marin, Oakland, and Alameda.
There is also caltrain which people use quite a bit, and a new massive transbay terminal being built that will terminate the many transit agencies.
There are also bike lanes being added in the SF Bay area like crazy - all over various towns. It's amazing the bike ability growth from nearly zero 2 decades ago.
By no means is SF Bay Area perfect - not trying to say that. But when it comes to attracting knowledge workers they have the formula. Having a bunch of tech companies founded in Silicon valley obviously helped, but guess what...a lot of the companies are moving north to SF and so are the VC firms.
Yes, I lived in SF and San Rafael for 13 years. Still relied on my car for the most part. But yes there are pockets of areas where you could get by without a car, or use zipcar. And if you're lucky enough to work for Google then you'd have subsidized transport to/from work. But mainly its still a car society, even in SF. BTW, it's way more progressive there....you'd never have the forward thinking mindset of a SF Bay area in South Carolina, LOL. Just keep your hands out of my pocket and pay for those buses some other way....
Let's face it. There are and have been for generations some things the Yankees do and have done better. Public transportation and land use planning are and have been examples of that. I don't want to have to move to NYC to have what every city and metro should strive for in the form of good development versus bad. Not all NYC residents are packed on top of each other, but even where they aren't, they have adequate public transportation options that get people where they need to go.
Despite the stereotype that Southern cities are slow in public infrastructure projects, it should be noted Charleston had the first passenger train system, and was among the first gas lights; running water, and electrical grids in the US. There was a time just over 100 years ago that you could take a trolly from downtown to Sullivan's Island.
It's not that Charleston isn't progressive. It's just that this place is just too small for anything more than a bus system. A monorail/subway/HOV lane system for a city with less than 150K people is overkill. Even Jacksonville's monorail system is chastised for only having a 10th of the projected ridership that was anticipated.
However if you manage to work and live in Downtown Charleston, it's possible to go ahead and do the New York car free lifestyle thing. That's one of the cool things about this place.
The bottom line is that people are making decisions in our area to avoid cars as much as possible. Of course I have a car but my goal is to use it as little as possible, and if possible home, work, and social life will be in the same area.
It really is a personal motivator to try to make that happen as many of my co-workers (yes in tech have made that a reality - and its a really good one. Whether the 1+ mil they pay for houses makes sense that another story. Its really hard to go back to the lifestyle where you need to hop in the car to buy milk, get to work, or grab dinner - especially when traffic is involved. Definitely some snob factor that old people with boring jobs are the folks in traffic - and obviously not totally accurate
Quote:
Originally Posted by Qtopplings
Yes, I lived in SF and San Rafael for 13 years. Still relied on my car for the most part. But yes there are pockets of areas where you could get by without a car, or use zipcar. And if you're lucky enough to work for Google then you'd have subsidized transport to/from work. But mainly its still a car society, even in SF. BTW, it's way more progressive there....you'd never have the forward thinking mindset of a SF Bay area in South Carolina, LOL. Just keep your hands out of my pocket and pay for those buses some other way....
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have made that a reality - and its a really good one. Whether the 1+ mil they pay for houses makes sense that another story. Its really hard to go back to the lifestyle where you need to hop in the car to buy milk, get to work, or grab dinner - especially when traffic is involved. Definitely some snob factor that old people with boring jobs are the folks in traffic - and obviously not totally accurate 
