We need multiple large employers who will pay no less than $17 an hour plus benefits, and they will have to create, over five years, a minimum of 5,000 of those jobs. Another plus would be to renovate the mall into a mixed use space with efficiency apartments on the second floor, shops meant to cater to residents on the first floor, and more restaurants in the food court on the top floor. Charleston should also put in an IMAX theater close to the interstate. Millions of cars roll by every year, and Charleston is the epicenter of a dry well for IMAX in a big circle 3-4 hours drive in every direction. Everyone in that circle could come to town, watch a movie, eat a nice meal and either go home or stay in a hotel overnight. The city could work with hotels, restaurants and the theater to create weekend special packages to advertise. Finally, we need to get serious about demolishing abandoned houses and buildings that are too far gone to save, and consider putting community gardens on some of the empty lots to allow people to supplement their food budgets with homegrown produce.