the new kids.

This one is for all of the College Freshmen out there…

Welcome to Charleston. I am glad that you have chosen to join my alma mater in your pursuit for higher education. Since you are new here, I figured I would share a few things to help make your four years easier on us both.

My first piece of advice: Get a bike. Yes, there is a good chance that you grew up in the suburbs where you had to have that gas guzzling four wheeled vehicle to get you from your isolated neighborhoods and to the closest amenities, but now that you are here, you can get almost everywhere with a bike. You can contact the Holy City Bike Co-op and get yourself a good used one: http://holycitybikecoop.org/. (While you are at it, check out there events and meetings as well...because biking it fun!!)

This pic is from our last Midnight Mystery Ride...

Now that you have a bike, you should probably know the SC Bike laws: http://www.mybikelaw.com/ Please do me a favor and follow the traffic laws, which include NOT riding the wrong way up St. Phillip, staying off the sidewalks, and having head/tail lights on your bike at night. If you are breaking these rules, you will lose your rights as a biker and you will also lose some of my respect. And I will use this on you:

Yes, that is an air-horn for your bike that holds 30 blasts which can be recharged with a bike pump AND you can hear it from inside a car. For those of you out there that want one...

http://www.deltacycle.com/product.php?g=1

So let’s say you need to venture off the peninsula to run errands that are not bike-worthy? Well that brings me to my second little gem….Luckily for you, we have a bus system here called CARTA. First you need to go to card services and pick up a bus pass and then you should check out the RideCarta.com website to find out the routes, times, and other info. If the front rack scares you, just watch this sweet bike rack rap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoFFg0W9UME

But Nikki, you say, what about visiting my parents? Not to worry. There are so many options at your disposal. First, there is the old fashion ride share. The best way to go is with someone that you know, but otherwise check out Craiglist or Ridester Or even better, start a ride share program at the college!!

Next up, the train and finally, the good old fashion bus: http://www.greyhound.com/home/

Now that I have gotten you from A to B, check out this website for just about everything else green in Charleston: http://www.gogreencharleston.org/

I hope this helps you all make the most of Charleston with the least amount of impact :-)

And after all of that... I just found this blog post: http://carfreeamerica.org/2009/02/28/steves-car-free-journey-february-2009/