Cottage Living magazine names North Charleston’s Noisette community as one of the nation’s Top 10 Neighborhoods

Noisette News Release
July 2, 2008

Cottage Living magazine, a national publication that claims a
circulation of 807,093 and is part of the Time, Inc.-Southern Progress Corporation of Birmingham, AL, has named Noisette, of North Charleston, South Carolina as one of “Our Annual Top 10 Neighborhoods for 2008”.

The umbrella term “Noisette” was used to cover a 3,000-acre swath of the City’s historic urban core, which falls under the guidelines for sustainable renewal under the 3,000-acre Noisette Community Master Plan. Developments like Oak Terrace Preserve, Mixson Avenue, Hunley Waters, Garco Park, Horizon Village, the Navy Yard at Noisette, and the revitalization of Historic Park Circle and the new businesses and streetscape improvements along the East Montague Business District.

The Cottage Living article on North Charleston, written by Virginia-based writer Logan Ward, states, “At North Charleston’s historic core, however, is a critical 3,000-acre zone that by the 1990s had mounting problems, including a deteriorating prefab-home neighborhood, run-down public housing projects,outdated utilities, and a decommissioned Navy Yard. Today, those 3,000 acres – dubbed Noisette, after an 18th Century botanist – are being reshaped in a massive effort that may indeed result in a model new
city, where sustainability and quality of life are the top priorities.”

The honor is a vindication of the efforts to pump new life into North Charleston’s historic neighborhoods by City Council and Mayor R. Keith Summey. Summey commented on the honor, saying, “This shows how far we’ve come over the last four years, in bringing the historic core of our city into the 21st Century. Private enterprise is revitalizing our community with green, sustainable building principles. Developments like Oak Terrace Preserve and Mixson Avenue are leading the way to a healthier, more productive, and brighter future for families and businesses that call North Charleston home.”

The 3,000-acre master plan area received recognition in 2005, when the American Society of Landscape Architects awarded top honors to the Noisette Community Master Plan as the nation’s leading model of urban renewal and planning. Recently, the book Choosing Green: The Homebuyers Guide to Good Green Homes, by internationally known consultant Jerry Yudelson, of Tucson, Arizona, recognized North Charleston’s Oak Terrace Preserve as the national leader in green built communities, and the only such housing development named in South Carolina.

Other communities named in the Cottage Living “Top 10” list include: Serenbe, of Palmetto, Georgia; Baldwin’s Run, Camden, New Jersey; NorthWest Crossing, Bend, Oregon; Parkview Neighborhood, Redding, California; Agritopia, Gilbert, Arizona; Arbolera de Vida, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Holiday Neighborhood, Boulder, Colorado; Prarie Crossing, Grayslake, Illinois. The list was compiled through research at Cottage Living by editor David Hanson, with a point-percentage system based on Homes, 30%; People, 30%; Bright Idea, 30%, and “Cottage Twist”, 30%.

The online site states that “Every one of these areas offers something unique that brings a smile”.

A link to the Cottage Living story is at www.cottageliving.com.

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