Which secondary city in Georgia will mirror Greenvilles success? (Atlanta: condos, hotel)

[cyclingintheson]

Not only does Greenville South Carolina have a clean and vibrant downtown but they also have a great quality of life, divirse stable job market, Great job growth, large white collar population for a city its size. Today Greenville is a different city than it was 15 years ago. Macon, Augusta, Columbus, and Savannah have alot of great proposals to take them to the next level so which city will finally give Greenville a run for its money. Augusta has alot of retail with stores not found in other Georgia cities except Atlanta but lacks the clean and vibrant downtown but there is alot starting to happen there, Savannah has a charming Downtown but lacks a wide selection of retail and high end stores although there are proposals that can change that, Macon is rich in history but has a slow progressive government. Macons retail is stepping up but will that be at the expense of the Macon Mall. Columbus has the corporate presence but again the retail laggs as well as their nightlife. Greenville has all of these aspects well balanced lumped into one making it the place to live in the southeast. I feel that if any of these three Georgia cities can get the ball rolling then one of them will meet or surpass Greenville in the future. I feel that Augusta or Savannah has a better chance of building to that level but I am curious to see how what the rest of the state thinks. What is holding Savannah, Augusta, Macon, and Columbus back from the type of success that Greenville is experiencing?

[cyclingintheson]

What is also interesting is that you RARELY if at all read a negative post about Greenville but there are more negative post about Savannah, Augusta, Macon, and Columbus in one day than all of Greenville combined. My question is why are not these four cities following suit to make them a well balanced city as well?

[DisgustaTruth]

The Georgia cities will need to do a better job at attracting private sector jobs. One thing you will notice about Greenville is that there is no large military base near it.. like you see with Columbus, Augusta, Savannah, and Macon.. So Greenville didn't rely as much on government spending.. it instead had to market itself aggressively to the private sector.. and it has paid off. Greenvile also benefits from being near a major University (clemson)..Columbus also has this on its side by being close to Auburn. Greenville also invested heavily in itself.. building a state of the art performing arts center downtown, an arena, a downtown ballpark, among other amenities.
Greenville also benefits on being on the highly travelled I85 corridor that links Atlanta and CHarlotte..
Savannah and Macon also have locations on high traffic key interstate corridors...
Investment in education is key.. you need a highly trained.. and educated workforce..
Brainpower generates the quality of growth you are referencing.

[ATLCOL1]

Columbus city leaders have visited Greenville to get ideas for downtown. Columbus has been the most progressive city (outside Savannah) when it comes to downtown revitilization. Columbus downtown nightlife is good. There are lots of bars, cafes, restaurants, and theaters downtown.

[DisgustaTruth]

I agree... Columbus is actually "doing" the things that Greenville did right. Leaders in Augusta and Macon constantly "talk"" about what they are going to do.. but you rarely see it backed up with action.

[CaseyWilkening]

Valdosta hands down.

[MayorOfMacon2019]

Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but when your halfway between Atlanta and Charlotte, and Columbia with Atlanta being the farthest out at 150mi and Columbia being the closest at 95mi its kinda hard to go wrong when you can stand on a hill in one neighborhood and see the Charlotte skyline and stand in another neighborhood on another hill and see the outskirts of Atlanta, and get in your car drive an hour down the road and be in Columbia. Not to mention there is a city no less than 15 minutes away with nearly 200,000 people (Metro), and I have been to the area numerous times on trips to the BMW Center and my visit to the Train Depot and Morgan Square which I might add has some of the prettist grass in the world. Kinda reminds me of Macon, but com'on seriously.

[yerocal]

I think Macon has very strong potential and opportunity to take off. Macon has elected in office, i feel a very strong and more collaborative group of city leaders who are consistently working to revitalize the city and market it as well. I honestly feel that Macon has the most potential to experience what Greenville is at the is present time because of Its location, interstate access and proximity to Atlanta. As previously mention Macon is really experiencing a huge and great deal of retail growth and develop, right now north Macon along has over 3 million sq ft retail development some rendering, some completed and some under construction and about 2million in south Macon/Bibb county as well.... Macon has also gain alot of blue collar jobs with in the last 2 years Macon had a least 5 new company to locate operations in Macon(SARA LEE, BRASS PRO, KOHLS, NICHICHI,KELLOGG and KUMHO tires). i think Macon could really benefit it we could get a lot of white collar job to come in to the city to retain majority of the students pursuing education as the numerous colleges and universities in the greater Macon area. Macon's Mayor has announced great plans to market city, which includes plans to annex the city limits about 30 sq miles bring 11-13,000 people into the city. Also consolidation of Macon and Bibb county has been highly considered as well. Development and revitalization downtown is on the rise, there are plans for a 29 million hotel/mixed /used retail project, a conventional center Marriott hotel, judicial center and riverfront Condos. I can go on and on about the develops in Macon but what these guys have planned for Macon is really huge for a city of its size. there are 3 different Large scale Interstate reconstruction projects, they are also working to develop and market Middle Ga Regional Airport and 15 miles away there is Warner Robins which is fast approaching Macon with huge developments as well...

[DisgustaTruth]

with the exception of Columbus... Georgia's second tier cities have third rate local leadership.. including Savannah. Local politics in Augusta, Mac on, and even Savannah are marked by strong racial division and animosity. these cities must overcome this obstacle if they intend to be more than just a second tier southern city. It should be noted that the Greenville-Spartanburg metropolitcan area has over 1,000,000 people.. it would be a long time before one of these Georgia cities caught up with that.

[MayorOfMacon2019]

What suprises me is how South Carolina only has about 5 million people. I love the state I was born in Charleston, South Carolina which is experiencing alot of growth but I dont see how population counts are so low. It's also hard to believe South Carolina ranks the worst in education not to say Georgia is any better coming in at 48 but the SC State Government has been overspending for years on dumb things, I see South Carolina having just as much potential as Florida being a retirement state. Corrupt Poilitics have kept the state from being this ideal pplace to retire to though, and my understanding is that the economy is hitting this state pretty hard. I love South Carolina, especially Charleston and I wish one day to retire to a coastal city like Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, but right now i'm not impressed with the State of South Carolina and the way they are running that state. Columbia should be competing more with place like Charlotte not Charleston which has more commercial flights comming into its airport than Columbia, and Charleston INternational just became an International airport not to long ago. I undnerstand there is growth but this is well below my expectation, and im sure its well below the expectation of the SC citizens.
However this stills brings up the question what is the rest of Georgia outside of Atlanta doing?