Category: Civitas

One may find it difficult to imagine what Harriet Keyserling and Harriet Tubman might have in common – apart from their first name. 

Last May, as the 2017 legislative session in Columbia drew to a close, a bill that had been passed by the House, designated H. 3886 and titled the South Carolina Homeowners Association Act, was put on the Senate calendar for consideration.

Main Street Beaufort, USA helps maintain the quality of our historic downtown.   Community character is something that urbanists often refer to. It describes the sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and emotions that a place might draw out of someone: the calm you feel when you look out past a deep porch to see a boat on the river beyond; the surprise scent of the salt marsh at low tide that wafts farther inland than you might have imagined it could; the way the taste of a fried soft-shell crab seems to match the feeling of the sun on your shoulders as the Lowcountry summer quickly approaches.

A Building Culture Based on Tradition The Civitas column began as an outlet for a group of people called New Urbanists, explaining how our practices relate to our “civitas,” or shared community, here in Beaufort. You might be surprised to learn that by unofficial count, Beaufort has more New Urbanists per capita than anywhere else in the country.

In recent months, a repeated refrain – How should Beaufort look? – has echoed through our town, prompted in part by a variety of planning initiatives underway in the community.

Anthony Alofsin will be the guest lecturer for the Beaufort County Open Land Trust’s semi-annual Auldbrass tours.

“The planet’s best green journalist” Bill McKibben heads to the Lowcountry for a special lecture event. Recently there has been a growing recognition that a string of weather events, from violent storms to record-breaking droughts, have had a profound impact on the lives of people in this country and around the world. Environmental journalist Bill McKibben has been for years among the most effective voices raising the alarm about the threats of climate change.

The phrase “new urbanism” typically calls to mind things like multi-story buildings, attached dwellings, and dense urban streets with a mix of uses. In other words: cities and towns, rather than farms and rural lands. But the two aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, each can actually support the well-being of the other, and both must work together to contribute toward a truly healthy community.

Author, Urbanist, Educator and Retail Planner Robert Gibbs was recently a speaker for the 2012 CNU Beaufort Lecture Series. Robert gave a thorough presentation on the current state of the US commercial retail market, focusing on current and future trends. Robert began by discussing current national trends. He has input from his large retail clients – he works with companies like Wal-Mart, JC Penny, and Disney – but also small mom and pop folks like Al the Deli owner. Gibbs stated that urban retail is on the rise in cities and towns for the first time since 1939. Most of the large retailers (Nationals) have embraced urban stores in the last 5 -10 years. Those who have not are doing so right now. It is the segment of the market that is growing and predicable. Nationals view suburban growth patterns as risky and unlikely to perform, says Gibbs. This certainly applies to parts of the County around 278 and Bluffton as well as the suburban Beaufort.

Gifford Pinchot, former Chief of the U.S. Forest Service and Governor of Pennsylvania, once said, “The vast possibilities of our great future will become realities only if we make ourselves responsible for that future.”

Author, Educator and Developer Christopher Leinberger was recently a speaker for the 2012 CNU Beaufort Lecture Series. Christopher gave a wonderful presentation titled “Back to the Future” that gave an overview of the current state of the US real estate market and economic development outlook.

  Is there a correlation between the Slow Food Movement and people’s general concern about the loss of quality of life associated with rampant development that threatens the character of their community? The Slow Food Movement started in Europe as a reaction to the onslaught of American fast food chains opening in historic towns and cities. These chains disrupted the tradition of restaurants and cafés that worked within a local and regional network of farm to market to table.

As we have recently closed the book on 2011, it’s a great time to celebrate our amazing Lecture series from 2011.  Our local Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) group brought Beaufort a series of world class speakers.  We are currently planning 2012 and look forward to our third year of bringing pertinent speakers to Beaufort.

    “119. For the temple of the principal church, parish, or monastery, there shall be assigned specific lots; the first after the streets and plazas have been laid out, and these shall be a complete block so as to avoid having other buildings nearby, unless it were for practical or ornamental reasons.” – The Law of the Indies, 1573 by order of King Phillip II of Spain

This holiday season, in a time when our towns, cities and country, as well as our own wallets, are...

A case study in retrofit design by Brown Design Studio For urban designers, town planners and architects, one of the biggest challenges they face today is the amount of suburban repair work needed. Over fifty years of suburban investment with the most world’s most prolific economic engine means that there is much work to rethink.

Many of today’s front page headlines describe just how vulnerable our society seems to be right now: be it the growing unemployment rate, a rise in prices of the oil we are so dependent on, the impact of climate change on our natural environment, food insecurity and contaminated industrial systems, the struggle of our students to keep up with their foreign peers. Rarely do we view these vulnerabilities as related, and yet, particularly when times are difficult is it most critical to do so, if we are to most efficiently and effectively guide ourselves through the challenges we face.

Leading New Urbanist and author Peter Katz to speak at TCL CNU Carolinas Chapter is proud to present Peter Katz on Wednesday, November 2. He will be speaking at the Technical College of the Lowcountry’s Main Auditorium at 6 pm. This event is free and open to the public.

 The South Carolina Department of Transportation was recently awarded a million-dollar federal grant to begin construction on the inaugural section of the Beaufort Rail Trail. Along with a 20 percent match from Beaufort County, the proposed trail will follow the right-of-way of the old Port Royal Railroad, beginning at the former port facility in Port Royal and terminating in Yemassee.