We started going to Creative Mornings Charleston (CMCHS) because we liked the idea of free coffee and creative minds mingling in nice spaces. We liked the idea that Megan Schaeffer shared with us when we sat down with the CMCHS crew a couple months ago: people come to Creative Mornings to learn things they didn’t know they wanted to know.
But after Anthony Haro’s talk last month, and Kurt Cavanaugh’s this morning, we’re seeing a get-up-and-move inspired evolution to these lectures — the speakers are not just encouraging attendees to learn, but to do.
Kurt Cavanaugh is the executive director of Charleston Moves, a nonprofit organization that works to improve walking and biking in Charleston County. This morning he spoke about the very real, very small changes that Charleston County can make to provide its citizens with “sane” road conditions. These include reducing the speed limit on the peninsula, painting instructions for cyclists on the street, and utilizing wider street spaces for bike lanes (i.e. Upper King).
Cavanaugh understands the difficulties behind implementing city-wide changes, and he says that these changes won’t happen over night. He says that unlike suburbs and rural towns, “cities work,” and he wants public spaces to be a place where people spend time, rather than save time (by using streets as cut throughs for getting somewhere more quickly).
Last night’s Ride of Silence was a fitting introduction to Cavanaugh’s talk, allowing him to acknowledge the Charleston cyclists who have passed away from traffic collisions. Cavanaugh encourages everyone to bike, at least when traveling downtown, an area that, from the visitor center, covers a radius of about two miles.
Grab a helmet and see how far you can (safely) go. Stay cool. Support City Paper. City Paper has been bringing the best news, food, arts, music and event coverage to the Holy City since 1997. Support our continued efforts to highlight the best of Charleston with a one-time donation or become a member of the City Paper Club.