Does Savannah have a small town feel?

[Columbuskidd92]

Savannah doesn't have a small town feel. A hard urban core can make a city feel like a small town. Augusta is the smallest of them all. North Augusta sit on the Columbia side/SC.

[King_X]

If Savannah has a small town feel, then what kind of feel does somewhere like Waycross or Sylvania have? Savannah is a mid-sized metropolitan city and that's what it feels like.

[Newsboy]

I think it's been pretty well established in this thread that not only does Savannah NOT have a "small town feel" but it often feels bigger than it really is. I interact with a lot of tourists who are surprised to learn Savannah "only" has about 136,000 people in the city and 450,000 in the CSA metro.

[WanderingImport]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

I think it's been pretty well established in this thread that not only does Savannah NOT have a "small town feel" but it often feels bigger than it really is. I interact with a lot of tourists who are surprised to learn Savannah "only" has about 136,000 people in the city and 450,000 in the CSA metro.

The drive in on 16 and 95 can be quite deceiving though.

I hope that there will end up being "smart" developments that front 16 between 516 and 95. Pooler has already disappointed me with their strip mall/subdivision development attitude. Savannah doesn't need another Abercorn Extension.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by WanderingImport

The drive in on 16 and 95 can be quite deceiving though.

I hope that there will end up being "smart" developments that front 16 between 516 and 95. Pooler has already disappointed me with their strip mall/subdivision development attitude. Savannah doesn't need another Abercorn Extension.

I disagree WI about the "new" parts of Pooler -- are you at all familiar with the massive residential and commercial development going on in the Godley Station area north of I-16 and west of I-95? It is PUD and very much reminds me of Fayette County, where I am from -- wide boulevards, collector roads, setbacks, green spaces and strict sign controls. The south side of I-16 in Savannah Quarters is even more impressive, with houses built around town squares to mimic historic Savannah. Even with the recession, that area of Chatham County has continued to boom -- about 6,000 new residents in the past two years alone! And that's only the beginning; the New Hampstead section of Savannah is even further out I-16 at Bloomingdale Road and will feature about 40,000 new residents when fully built out. New Hampstead High School is now under construction in West Chatham County.

The area along north I-95 near the Savannah airport is also getting very built up, as is Savannah Gateway / Ogechee Road area of I-95 on the south end of the county. Most of the population, of course, is along the water, which is why the drive in from Macon on I-16 can seem so rural.

[WanderingImport]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

I disagree WI about the "new" parts of Pooler -- are you at all familiar with the massive residential and commercial development going on in the Godley Station area north of I-16 and west of I-95? It is PUD and very much reminds me of Fayette County, where I am from -- wide boulevards, collector roads, setbacks, green spaces and strict sign controls. The south side of I-16 in Savannah Quarters is even more impressive, with houses built around town squares to mimic historic Savannah. Even with the recession, that area of Chatham County has continued to boom -- about 6,000 new residents in the past two years alone! And that's only the beginning; the New Hampstead section of Savannah is even further out I-16 at Bloomingdale Road and will feature about 40,000 new residents when fully built out. New Hampstead High School is now under construction in West Chatham County.

The area along north I-95 near the Savannah airport is also getting very built up, as is Savannah Gateway / Ogechee Road area of I-95 on the south end of the county. Most of the population, of course, is along the water, which is why the drive in from Macon on I-16 can seem so rural.

Yes. All of Savannah's development took place starting with downtown (of course) and gravitated south and east. When those areas were built out, there was only one place to go. North and west (primarily west).

As for Pooler, I was mainly speaking of Pooler Parkway's big box development although I will agree with you that throughout some of the residential development out there (particularly Savannah Quarters and the development off of Jimmy Deloach) is decent in terms of relatively high-ish density. Despite this, it is still disconnected from Pooler proper (Highway 80) and not very walkable.

I hope New Hampstead works out the way it was originally planned. Since the recession hit, I haven't heard much about it.

[Newsboy]

WI -- All of the streets and utilities have been installed at New Hampstead and assuming market conditions continue improving, construction on new homes out there should commence pretty quickly. The high school opens this fall in fact and I imagine will jump start development significantly.

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