Days after insisting they had no idea how much it would cost to fully protect Charleston from damaging floods, city officials acknowledged they did have a number for the fix — and that price tag is huge.

Charleston’s suburbs haven’t gotten nearly as much attention from city officials and planners over the years as the peninsula. That is changing.

The city’s largest suburb is the focus of an impressively ambitious revitalization effort that has been in the works since earlier this year. The first draft of the Plan West Ashley master plan was released this week.

Construction cranes dot the skyline. The stock market is on a tear. And the economy is on more solid footing after the long slog from the last recession.