Lani's Blog

How Courteous Are We?

http://www.travelandleisure.com/afc/2008/city/charleston





I live in the Low Country of South Carolina: Myrtle Beach, Georgetown, McClellanville, Isle of Palms and of course Charleston. Charleston is consistently rated by Travel and Leisure Magazine as the friendliest city in the nation. The night life is only ranked # 25 but you can't have everything. The Low Country or lowcountry as it is written and spoken, is a beautiful area. There are beaches, golfing, four star hotels and history.When most people think of the South, they  think Confederacy, but Charleston has been here a lot longer that. South Carolina was one of the original thirteen colonies.This city was part of the American War of Independence.


Needless to say, Charleston has charm and its citizens also make it appealing. There is a open hearted friendliness here that is not found in other places that I have lived. "Southern Hospitality" seems cliche, but it fits.





http://www.wciv.com/news/stories/1108/572723.html





Just over the the river from Charleston is another city. It's just as old and historic but not as quaint. North Charleston seems to be the ugly stepsister. For several years, its has been ranked number 10 in crime by the FBI. If you read the link, Chief Jon Zumlt says that the numbers are not the whole story. North Charleston is a city of 95,000. According to the chief, the North Charleston is being compared to cities with populations greater than 100,000. This juxtaposition between the cities is interesting. Some of the same people who wait the tables, clean the hotels, and a thousand other jobs in Charleston live in North Charleston.  This doesn't make a lot of sense to me. There is nothing magic about crossing a bridge. Does everyone smile on the job and go home and explode? Go home and kick the dog, beat the lover and rob the convenience store? Well, not everyone as the article talks about the neighborhoods that are cleaning up their crime rates.





I'm not sure what this says about how courteous we are, but it is an interesting contrast.