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From YouTube: City Plan Chat #1: Interview with Jacob Lindsey
Description
Anjene Davis of Community Solutions Consulting interviews Jacob Lindsey in his last week as Director of the Department of Planning, Preservation and Sustainability. Jacob shares insights and reflections about what is a comprehensive plan, what's at stake for the city, and why it's so important for the community be involved.
A
Good
evening
welcome
to
community
solutions,
consulting
community
conversations,
my
name
is
aj
davis
and
I
have
had
the
privilege
working
alongside
a
team
of
local
consultants
on
the
comprehensive
plan
for
the
city
of
charleston.
This
plan
is
important
to
manage
the
growth
and
development
that
will
take
place
over
the
next
10
years.
A
B
Well,
I
think,
ada.
You
know
when,
when
folks
think
about
a
comprehensive
plan,
that
can
mean
a
lot
of
things
to
a
lot
of
people
that
can
mean
you
know
something
that
has
to
do
with
schools
or
has
to
do
with
transportation
or
has
to
do
with
you
know
with
taxes,
and
in
this
case,
when
we
talk
about
a
comprehensive
plan,
what
we're
talking
about
is
the
physical
growth
of
the
city.
B
B
B
You
know
not
in
my
lifetime
has
there
ever
been
as
much
of
a
a
lack
of
faith
in
government
and
its
ability
to
have
a
better
outcome
and
create
a
better
quality
of
life
for
people,
and
that's
really
what
this
plan
is
about.
That's
what
this
work
is
about.
It's
about
working
together
as
a
community
to
build
a
higher
quality
of
life
in
the
future.
When
it
comes
to
the
the
physical
environment,
you
know
the
physical
city
we
live
in,
so
it's
important
that
we
all
work
together
to
create
that
okay.
A
B
Right
so,
if
you're
yeah,
if
you're
not
you're,
not
a
planning,
geek
a
government,
won't
you
don't
do
this
stuff
every
day,
you're
some
you
got
to
live
in
the
city
of
charleston.
We
come
to
work
here
every
day,
right,
you're
you're
somebody
who
is
charleston's
your
home
and
how
does
this
impact
your
life?
B
So
there's
a
good
chance
that
if
you
live
here,
you
live
in
a
neighborhood.
If
you
come
to
work
here,
you
go
to
the
place
where
you
work,
whether
that's
at
a
hospital
or
whether
that's
in
a
restaurant
or
a
hotel
or
an
office
or
wherever.
That
is
the
place
that
you
live
the
place
where
you
work,
how
you
get
between
those
two
places
and
the
experience
that
you
have
during
the
course
of
that
entire
day
is
determined
in
large
part
by
the
physical
layout
of
the
city
and
this
plan.
B
B
A
Right,
well,
you
know
what
that
that's
a
good
answer
and
that
kind
of
segues
into
my
next
question.
So
when
you
start
talking
about
quality
of
life
issues,
I
know
that
in
particular
on
peninsula
charleston,
one
of
the
major
issues
that
impact
the
everyday
lives
of
people
tends
to
be
the
flooding.
How
does
the
comprehensive
plan
address
that?
Or
does
it.
B
Well,
if
you,
if
you've
spent
any
time
in
charleston
in
the
past
10
years,
you
know
that
flooding
is
one
of
the
major
challenges
that
we
face.
It
shapes
everyday
life
and
we've
only
experienced
more
flooding.
As
time
has
gone
on,
we
experienced
flooding
from
tides,
we
have
a
rainstorm
in
the
city,
floods
and
what
that
does
is
it
causes
roads
to
close
down?
You
can't
drive
around
if
you
live
in
a
place
that
is
low
and
sub
to
flooding,
you
could
have
your
property
flooded
or
your
house
flooded.
B
B
This
plan
has
got
to
take
this
issue
into
account
and
we've
got
to
work
together
to
figure
out
how
the
city
confronts
flooding,
because
it's
a
big,
complex
challenge
and
if
we
don't
think
about
it,
now
we're
going
to
really
be
in
trouble
in
the
future
and
that's
why
we
put
the
issue
of
flooding
front
and
center
in
this
comprehensive
plan.
So
we
can
have
the
best
minds,
think
about
it
and
give
us
recommendations,
but
also
so
that
we
can
hear
from
folks
so
that
we
know
where
flooding
occurs,
how
it
occurs
and
really
understand.
B
A
B
Well,
it
it
absolutely
does
it
today.
You
know,
that's
also
been
something
that
is
a
major
focus
from
us.
What
we've
heard
over
and
over
from
from
people
over
years
is
that
flooding
is
a
challenge,
but
we've
also
heard
people
say
that
the
cost
of
living
is
a
real
problem
for
our
community,
and
when
we
look
around
the
nation,
we
can
see
other
successful
cities,
cities
that
have
done
really
well
that
have
become
unaffordable,
because
so
many
people
want
to
move
there
and
there's
only
so
much
supply
of
housing
and
what
that's?
B
What
that
does
to
those
communities
is
that
it
makes
a
place
that
only
the
wealthy
can
afford
to
live
in
and
that's
not
a
real
city.
A
real
city
is
a
diverse
place,
with
people
from
all
backgrounds,
all
races,
all
walks
of
life.
That's
what
makes
a
true
city
and
we
can't
be
in
a
situation
where
we
lose
charleston's
urbanity
lose
our
cultures.
In
order
to
do
that,
we
got
to
keep
the
city
affordable.
It's
a
major
major
challenge
for
us
and
we
acknowledge
that
housing
costs
are
going
up.
B
They
are
because
we
have
a
limited
supply
and
people
want
to
move
here.
This
is
a
desirable
place
to
be
so.
This
plan
is
really
focused
on
housing
in
a
way
we've
never
done
before
we're
looking
at
how
people
are
affected
by
housing
costs.
How
are
people
burdened
by
housing
cost
so
that
we
can
deliver
more
housing
supply
and
help
people
to
stay
in
the
homes
that
they
live
in
by
creating
programs
and
using
programs
to
help
folks
maintain
their
houses?
A
B
It
absolutely
does
aj,
and
this
is
such
a
fascinating
topic,
especially
for
somebody
who's,
a
lover
of
cities.
You
know
when
cities
grow.
That
means
that
people
want
to
move
there,
and
that
happens
because
of
forces,
economic
and
social
forces
that
are
going
on
at
a
national
level.
You
know
we
can't
we
don't
have
a
wall
that
we
can
put
up,
so
people
want
to
be
here
in
this
region
and
if
you
don't
have
enough
supply
to
meet
that
demand,
that
means
that
the
cost
of
housing
is
going
to
go
up
right.
B
It's
a
supply-demand
system
of
housing.
We
live
in
a
nation
without
a
national
housing
policy.
It's
a
free
market
system.
So,
as
folks
thinking
about
the
future
of
the
city,
we've
got
to
make
sure
that
we
have
enough
housing
supply
to
meet
that
demand
in
order
to
keep
housing
costs
at
their
current
level
or,
ideally,
even
lower.
B
So
the
city's
got
to
grow.
If
we
don't
cost
will
only
go
up,
it
will
only
make
rents
higher
and
it
will
only
make
housing
costs
higher.
So
we
have
to
as
a
community
acknowledge
that
idea
that,
if
we're
growing,
because
people
are
moving
here
from
all
over
the
country,
we've
got
to
add
more
housing
supply.
So
the
question
is:
how
do
you
do
that
in
a
way
that
actually
enhances
the
community?
B
B
You've
got
to
grow
in
places
that
don't
make
our
traffic
congestion
problem
worse
right,
so
the
growth
has
got
to
happen
in
a
way
that
actually
makes
the
community
better
and
that's
the
challenge.
That's
what
we're
looking
at
with
this
comprehensive
plan
and
that's
what
we've
really
got
to
do
as
a
as
a
community
is
understand
and
work
together
to
figure
out
where
development
should
go,
what
it
should
look
like
how
it
should
behave
and
how
we
move
around
the
region
so
that
we
actually
have
a
better
quality
of
life
in
the
future.
A
Okay,
thank
you
for
that
very
detailed
and
thoughtful
answer.
I
want
to
go
back
to
something
that
you
you
mentioned,
which
is
very
key
to
how
charlestonians
native
and
the
ones
who
move
here
kind
of
view.
The
city,
especially
peninsula,
charleston,
there's
a
there's,
a
cultural
makeup
that
the
city
has
become
known
for
around
the
country
and
around
the
world.
B
Such
a
good
question,
you
know
that
that
this
place-
the
low
country
of
course
is,
is
such
a
it's
a
place
that
has
so
many
native
cultures
that
are
unique
to
this
place
and
are
different
from
anywhere
else
in
the
country
and
when
we
think
about
the
the
various
cultures
that
make
up
charleston,
I
think
anybody
who's
been
here
for
a
long
time
has
seen
change
take
place
right.
You
we've
seen
the
city
become
different
in
many
ways
as
it's
grown
and
yeah.
B
I
think
it's
important
to
point
out
that,
like
the
comprehensive
plan,
this
point
we're
working
on
what
city
planners
do
is
about
how
the
physical
infrastructure
the
city
grows
over
time,
but
where
housing
goes,
where
jobs
grow,
how
transportation
is
built,
how
the
natural
environment
is
preserved?
That's
what
we
do
as
city
planners
and
those
are
the
choices
that
your
elected
officials
will
make.
So
when
we
do
this
work,
we
are
not
directly
saying
that
this
is
about
one
culture
or
another.
B
We
are
not
picking
winners
or
losers
in
the
various
cultures
of
this
place.
What
we
are
doing
is
asking
the
community
to
help
us
create
a
better
built
environment
so
that
we
can
maintain
equilibrium
and
stability
and
help
those
who
need
the
assistance
to
remain
in
place
at
the
same
time
that
we
prepare
for
growth.
It's
a
holistic
approach,
so
we're
not
social
engineers
right
we're,
not
we're
not
choosing
this
culture
over
that
culture.
B
What
we're
doing
is
looking
broadly
at
the
city
and
trying
to
make
sure
that
we've
remain
affordable,
that
we
can
get
around,
that
we
have
protected
those
who
have
been
subject
to
flooding
or
other
environmental
stresses.
So
that's
the
kind
of
a
broad
answer.
I
would
also
say
this:
we
we
in
the
city
absolutely
acknowledge
historical
inequities
that
have
existed
between
cultures
and
specifically
for
black
folks
in
the
city
of
charleston,
who
have
historically
been
oppressed.
B
I
want
to
just
get
to
that
topic
specifically
because
this
place
charleston
is
so
important
to
the
black
communities
of
the
nation,
and
we
do
acknowledge
that
legacy
like
I
said,
we're,
not
social
engineers,
but
we
know
that
there
are
places
that
need
to
be
protected
and
we
are
going
to
look
specifically
that
issue.
We've
heard
that
loud
and
clear
from
the
community
and
that's
incumbent
upon
us
as
planners
and
elected
officials
too.
So
it's
a
long
answer.
Sorry,
but
it's
a
complex
question.
A
No,
don't
don't
apologize,
and
so
that
that
brings
me
to
a
another
special
question.
As
I
said,
you
are
the
director
of
the
planning
department,
correct,
that's
right,
and
I
I
heard
some
news
recently,
I'm
not
sure
how
true
it
is,
but
that
in
that
role,
that
would
be
coming
to
a
close
soon,
because
you've
accepted
a
new
position.
A
I
believe
it's
in
boulder
colorado
and
I
loved
all
the
answers
that
you
gave
us
tonight,
but
since
this
will
probably
be
your
last
official
interview
in
the
capacity
that
you
have,
what
would
be
your
parting
words
as
the
city
continues
to
work
on
this
plan
for
growth
for
the
next
10
years?
What
would
be
your
your
your
parting
words
to
the
city
as
they
move
forward?
Wow.
That's.
B
That's
a
tough
and
that's
the
hardest
question
tonight.
Well,
the
parting
words
are:
this
charleston
has
got
to
do
what
is
right
for
charleston
and
for
that
to
happen,
we
have
got
to
hear
from
the
people
who
live
here
from
the
people
who
work
here.
People
who
come
to
school
here
y'all
have
got
to
weigh
in
on
this
plan.
You've
got
to
get
online
and
give
us
input.
Talk
to
the
planning
commission
talk
to
the
elected
officials
at
city
council.
B
B
That's
what
we
need
to
do
and
that's
the
only
way
that
charleston
can
do
what
is
right
for
charleston
with
that
said,
it's
a
really
bittersweet
change
for
me
and
this
place
is
my
home
and
we're
gonna
miss
it
so
much,
but
I
wouldn't
leave
if,
if
this
plan
wasn't
in
great
hands
with
with
with
you
with
eric
and
tatika
and
the
whole
team
on
the
on
the
planning
department,
so
if
y'all
are
going
to
do
a
phenomenal
job,
I
wouldn't
leave.
If
it
wasn't
in
great
hands.
B
B
A
All
right
folks,
well,
this
has
been
community
conversations
with
community
solutions.
Consulting
mr
jacob
lindsay
director
planning
department
for
the
city
of
charleston.
Talking
about
the
importance
of
the
comprehensive
plan.
Please
tune
in
to
our
next
conversations,
which
will
take
place
next
week.
Thank.