Community Garden on Eastside

The details are a little sketchy at the moment, but it seems a big development has taken shape on the Eastside. A vacant lot on Columbus Street near the Hanover intersection has been transformed into a small community garden. We stopped to admire it and chatted with a local who shared that the garden was open to all. There is, however, no signage and no official information for a specific point of contact in or around the garden lot.

The only other information gleaned from the colorful fellow guarding the garden, so to speak, was that the owner of the lot had agreed to let everyone use it for planting if it was kept clean and neat. With a big toothy grin he said he was trying to work a similar deal on other vacant lots on the opposite side of Hampstead Square.

The Eastside is a living, breathing community always in constant motion. Regardless of the somewhat loose organization of this little endeavor, I must say, we are glad to see it and hope the garden is successful and productive. It is certainly a lovely addition, and much better than a vacant lot unkempt and littered with trash.

Like Totally 1988 All Over Again

The Eastside's transformation from abandon and run-down homes to a fab urban mileau is every day more clearly evident. Sometimes, though, dashing toward the future includes a few flashbacks.

We've lived here on Charleston's Eastside for a few years now and have literally watched all types of people come and go. This area, a pocket of the community once economically depressed, running rampant with crime and drug traffic, was simply off the radar. At that time most people simply didn't venture above Calhoun Street on foot out of sheer fear. Calhoun Street acted as a belt around the waist of the peninsula, fashioning a defined separation between the lower, gentile and heavily toured portions of this grand city from the original middle and lower class suburbs located outside the walled boundaries.

Times have changed though and Charleston's historic Eastside is now attracting a diverse cross-section of local color. Last weekend as we waited for an afternoon bus into Mt. Pleasant for a shoet escapade of shopping we spotted four guys decked out in full 80s glam-rock regalia heading toward us. These guys had the whole tribute thing down pat too. Their spiral permed hair styles were all taller than our friend, Carolyn's, 4 inch teased bangs circa 1986, and they had evidently spent a good hour applying stage makeup as well as knotting dozens of leg bandanas to compliment their spandex pants. Ten to fifteen years ago we doubt these guys would have dared walk around the streets of the Eastside sporting looks akin to the group Poison, or Johan Sabastian Bach. But today is thankfully a different era. Welcome to the 'hood guys. Oh, and yo, fellas....Bret Michaels called. He wants his zebra print spandex pants back.

Eastside Stories

With no automobile (see Curing the Oil Addiction) and it being Saturday, we headed out early on foot to the Farmer's Market at Marion Square to grab a few items and see what we could get ourselves into for the day. Near the Exxon, where a few regulars loiter around a vacant lot (soon to be new retail and condominiums), we were chatting over the fresh fruits, veggies and meats we could reasonably carry back home as a man shouted at us. Sometimes people ask for money around here. But we don't carry cash around, and we've lived here on the Eastside long enough now that even the occassional vagrant or homeless person recognizes us and no longer bothers. When someone starts yelling out, it's a sure sign they are a newbie, 'cause we're locals. This guy was crossing Meeting Street, spotted us, and nearly gets hit by a car running back toward us! We recognized him, but we don't personally know this man, so it was a little unnerving - his running at us like that. We both stopped in awe of his death defying Frogger-like crossing.

He reached the sidewalk waving a copy of the Post & Courier, and asked if we could help him. He thrust the paper toward us and said, "what does this say?" The headline read, BERKELEY'S TOP PROSECUTOR JENNINGS IS OUSTED, as he pointed insistently to the word "ousted." After providing three of the closest synonyms, and telling him ousting was equivalent to firing, he was pleased and thanked us twice.

We never fail to be surprised on the Eastside by the small, odd things that can only happen in a very diverse environment. This experience reminded us that we all sometimes just need a little help understanding the words. Thanks, Mr.

Big Brother, Where Art Thou

August 29, 2007; A Charlestonian VIEWPOINT. Fox 24 News reported this evening that surveillance cameras are planned to be placed throughout Downtown Charleston to deter crime and target criminals. There are not many better ways to say it than in Incubus’ 1984; “Yeah, 3, 2, 1…Lights, Camera, Trans-action.” Considering the VIEWPOINT is multifarious, we ask you consider the following perspectives on this topic:
You, we, I simply don’t have anything to worry about unless we are committing a crime. Right? And, video cameras will protect us from the apparent criminals hanging out on each and every corner. Two seemingly good points. Neither do we overlook the fact that this is the methodology of Charleston's relatively new Police Chief, Gregory G. Mullen. He used a similar tactic in Virginia Beach, his previous city of employment, installing a system of video cameras based on biometric facial recognition.
Studies show, however, that video cameras do not make a marked difference in the rate of crime. The British government found cameras having little or no effect on crime in a three year study performed by the Center for Criminology on London. London, in fact, is the most surveilled city to date. Yet, a Mercedes was somehow still found parked outside a nightclub full of fuel and shrapnel just several months ago. VIEWPOINT notes it was an alert bodyguard for the club that noticed the car and saved the day (well, night); not the inital use of the cameras.
Here in the U.S., Congress has openly discussed data showing that crime is simply pushed from open areas where the cameras are placed, to unmonitored locations. Hmmmm, Musical Crime.
VIEWPOINT found it rather astonishing that as the story rolled out here in Charleston, the Associated Press reported on August 28, 2007; VIRGINIA BEACH -- The city's $200,000 facial-recognition program was beset by technical problems and has not been used in nearly two years, documents show. The program, which was supposed to help police identify and catch criminals in tourist areas, also did not lead to a single arrest, Police Chief A.M. "Jake" Jacocks Jr. said.
VIEWPOINT wonders if Charlestonians are satisfied with an investment in systems proven less than useful in deterring crime while purchasing only the illusion that future technological innovations will finally provide total security. Or, does the health of a thriving city lie in a more human investment?
We have an idea...how about invest in the children of the East and West Sides of town. Potential reductions in crime rates could be realized within a ten year period. Meanwhile, we'd be building our future workforce, hoping to fulfill initiatives such as the Charleston Digitial Corridoor with our very own residents.
Personally, VIEWPOINT is just not sure investing in a giant fishbowl is really worth while, what, with all the humidity already in the south. Our 1992 publication of Random House Webster’s College Dictionary defines surveillance as “a watch kept over someone or something; esp. a prisoner.” At its best, a surveillance system may help make an identification. At its worst, imagine the 1984ish scenarios you've heard and read about playing out within our lifetimes.
Please share your point of view here. Be kind to each other, but please let us know how you feel about our collective future monitoring. And, thanks for stopping by!