Kudos to you for this excellent reporting. Shame on the patrons for being so disrespectful of the neighbourhood and especially the owner for allowing this behaviour.
What a wonderful piece of journalism! Once I started, I couldn’t turn away until I had finished it. This is exactly what I hoped for when I subscribed. I so appreciate you finding this story, researching it so thorough and finally Writing in a way that made me really “see” the people you described. Thank you!
Anecdotal obviously, but even within its property, The Barrel was a shitshow both literally and figuratively pretty much every time I visited (a dozen times over four years-ish?) I personally witnessed several pretty gnarly dog fights there. The concept was cool, and maybe there's a way to do it without devolving into dog poop and violence, but The Barrel definitely hadn't cracked that code from what I saw, which is why we stopped going a while back. And the negative externalities for the neighborhood sound horrible. Way to go shedding light on this story, Hanna. This is why I pay for The Food Section!
Really enjoyed reading this. I personally am not a big fan of the dog in restaurant thing. I get why people want to like it but too much can go wrong. It sucks the neighborhood had to go through all this and still not have their story properly represented until your writing. Is there opportunity to get pieces like this to a more public place somehow? Sort of correcting the story.
Thanks for this excellent piece. People's rush to apply templates for understanding every situation often doesn't just obscure nuanced understanding, but truth, as is apparently the case here. Well done.
Nicely done, Hanna. Hard to believe that the Barrel's owner felt so entitled and decided not to follow reasonable city guidelines. Plus, isn't is just common sense to understand and cooperate with the community in which you decide to place an establishment?
Wonderful article. It's great to hear both sides of the argument, even though the Barrel doesn't really seem to have a legit argument besides wanting everyone else to deal with the issues their patrons and business created. I hope a new business can move in and be respectful of the surrounding area. Really glad I've subscribed to the site!
A lot of businesses have decided that residents in the town where they decide to set up shop have no rights. Unfortunately very often the people who are supposed to be protecting those rights simply don’t care. It’s sad. It’s a shame that, as reported in this article, the Barrel was able to thumb its nose at the rules and regulations and the concerns of the residents because that is how government now works. It is unfortunate that some business owners, large and small, view their neighbors not as friends or neighbors but as obstacles to be overcome and silenced. Whether it’s a bar or short term rentals that are nothing but illegal hotels rented to “guests” who don’t care the havoc they cause to their neighbors, it’s all the same mind set: I’ll do what I want, when I want and I dare you to try and stop me. High praise to Mr. Richardson.
What a great article! Thank you for sharing the other side of the story. It really helps us all empathize with what this neighborhood has been going through for years and they didn’t have a voice. Maybe another place like the Barrel, or even the Barrel, can open up in another larger space with ample parking because there is obviously a want and need for this in Charleston.
The irony of this article (and the people behind the push to shut down the barrel) is that it uses the very same mischaracterization and prejudice it claims to be against to prove their point and shut down a business. The racist undertones are completely misguided and would be better assigned to the affects of capitalism--unless of course you believe this business owner and employees created and forged ahead with The Barrel as a vendetta against the neighborhood. While I empathize with the disruption of the neighborhood, the other side of the coin is the disruption to other parties income and financial well being, which ironically Richardson's own mother sold the land in 2002 because she either didn't want it because she didn't feel the same "local" historical value argued in this article or she needed the money.
Kudos to you for this excellent reporting. Shame on the patrons for being so disrespectful of the neighbourhood and especially the owner for allowing this behaviour.
What a wonderful piece of journalism! Once I started, I couldn’t turn away until I had finished it. This is exactly what I hoped for when I subscribed. I so appreciate you finding this story, researching it so thorough and finally Writing in a way that made me really “see” the people you described. Thank you!
Anecdotal obviously, but even within its property, The Barrel was a shitshow both literally and figuratively pretty much every time I visited (a dozen times over four years-ish?) I personally witnessed several pretty gnarly dog fights there. The concept was cool, and maybe there's a way to do it without devolving into dog poop and violence, but The Barrel definitely hadn't cracked that code from what I saw, which is why we stopped going a while back. And the negative externalities for the neighborhood sound horrible. Way to go shedding light on this story, Hanna. This is why I pay for The Food Section!
Really enjoyed reading this. I personally am not a big fan of the dog in restaurant thing. I get why people want to like it but too much can go wrong. It sucks the neighborhood had to go through all this and still not have their story properly represented until your writing. Is there opportunity to get pieces like this to a more public place somehow? Sort of correcting the story.
Thanks for clarifying the circus that was The Barrel. It’s not over, of course: Who gets the Folly Beach boat?
Thanks for this excellent piece. People's rush to apply templates for understanding every situation often doesn't just obscure nuanced understanding, but truth, as is apparently the case here. Well done.
Nicely done, Hanna. Hard to believe that the Barrel's owner felt so entitled and decided not to follow reasonable city guidelines. Plus, isn't is just common sense to understand and cooperate with the community in which you decide to place an establishment?
Wonderful article. It's great to hear both sides of the argument, even though the Barrel doesn't really seem to have a legit argument besides wanting everyone else to deal with the issues their patrons and business created. I hope a new business can move in and be respectful of the surrounding area. Really glad I've subscribed to the site!
Great investigational reporting! Very interesting history as well. Thank you for the article.
Great story Hanna! Contrasting the transient (Barrel dude) with the true resident (Richardson) was very powerful
Thank you for writing this and sharing both sides. Much clearer view now, and understanding. Sad that it closed but happy for the neighborhood also.
Great piece thanks for covering this important story
A lot of businesses have decided that residents in the town where they decide to set up shop have no rights. Unfortunately very often the people who are supposed to be protecting those rights simply don’t care. It’s sad. It’s a shame that, as reported in this article, the Barrel was able to thumb its nose at the rules and regulations and the concerns of the residents because that is how government now works. It is unfortunate that some business owners, large and small, view their neighbors not as friends or neighbors but as obstacles to be overcome and silenced. Whether it’s a bar or short term rentals that are nothing but illegal hotels rented to “guests” who don’t care the havoc they cause to their neighbors, it’s all the same mind set: I’ll do what I want, when I want and I dare you to try and stop me. High praise to Mr. Richardson.
Fantastic story. Thanks for sharing and completing the perspective. I’d heard the one side but not the other.
What a great article! Thank you for sharing the other side of the story. It really helps us all empathize with what this neighborhood has been going through for years and they didn’t have a voice. Maybe another place like the Barrel, or even the Barrel, can open up in another larger space with ample parking because there is obviously a want and need for this in Charleston.
The irony of this article (and the people behind the push to shut down the barrel) is that it uses the very same mischaracterization and prejudice it claims to be against to prove their point and shut down a business. The racist undertones are completely misguided and would be better assigned to the affects of capitalism--unless of course you believe this business owner and employees created and forged ahead with The Barrel as a vendetta against the neighborhood. While I empathize with the disruption of the neighborhood, the other side of the coin is the disruption to other parties income and financial well being, which ironically Richardson's own mother sold the land in 2002 because she either didn't want it because she didn't feel the same "local" historical value argued in this article or she needed the money.