'Have there been instances where Joe has been too hands on? No doubt about it. But I think he'll be remembered as a person who really got it. He knew how to make the city.'

摘要

Mayor Joe Riley is strolling through Charleston's Waterfront Park, a leafy, 12-acre oasis where this 345-year-old city meets the dappled Cooper River. He stops suddenly, crouches slightly, and gestures ahead. "You see, right there!" he says in a loud whisper. "Someone's got their feet up on the wall." It's true: a young man in jeans sits on a park bench with his sneakered feet propped on a low retaining wall as he scrolls through his smartphone. It's hardly the sort of thing that would merit notice among other park strollers. But for an urbanist like Riley, this is a sign that the park is working as intended, a clue that the city is on the right track. "Isn't that great?!" he says.