Nowhere Else But North Charleston

What will the city be in 10 years? 20? Would you like to help decide?
"Since becoming a city in 1972, North Charleston’s population has grown from 21,000 to more than 80,000 and is South Carolina’s third-largest municipality. The city occupies 60 square miles.

The state mandates that municipalities do comprehensive plans every 10 years.
Since its 1996 comprehensive plan, North Charleston has seen the arrival of the Noisette Co.’s urban revitalization plan for the city, which includes the redevelopment of the former Charleston Naval Base, the creation of the massive Centre Pointe retail development, new hotels along International Boulevard near the Charleston Area Convention Center, the arrival of the Vought Aircraft-Global Aeronautica fuselage assembly complex for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, the building of the Verizon call center on Mall Drive, the resurgence of the city’s old business district on East Montague Avenue and the revitalization of the neighboring Park Circle area, and the rise of new residential communities.

Among North Charleston’s most positive changes are the city’s “explosive” development on the upper Dorchester Road corridor, particularly Westcott Plantation; the city’s agreement with Noisette to make further city development sustainable, meaning environmentally friendly, economically efficient and healthy for residents; and the growth of homeownership on the city’s south end, said Kurt Taylor, city council chairman.

More than 10,000 residential units have been proposed within the Mark Clark Expressway alone, Bill Gore [North Charleston's planning director] said.

'I believe that managing this new growth in the heart of the city will be a major challenge and opportunity and will help redefine North Charleston,' Gore added.

'We want as much public participation [in our planning] as possible,' Gore, said.

Project manager Scott Brown of Atlanta-based urban planning consultancy Robert and Co. agreed. Public participation is “vital” to the process, he said.

For the full Charleston Regional Business Journal article:
http://www.charlestonbusiness.com/pub/13_12/news/9619-1.html

For more information and to participate in the planning process:
http://www.northcharleston.org/departments/compplan.aspx