Savannah non-farm payroll growth compared to regional peers (Columbus, Macon: fit in, 2015)

[Airforceguy]

The Bureau of Labor statistics released their monthly look are year over year growth of non-farm payroll growth for metro areas and states. Savannah definitely dominated her peers. I consider Savannah's peers to be any cities that have metro area populations between 250,000-500,000.
Non-Farm payroll growth April 2014-April 2015
Savannah:+7,500-4.6%
Columbus:+1,300-1.1%
Mobile:+1,400-0.8%
Montgomery:+2,100-1.2%
Asheville:+5,200-2.9%
Fayetteville:+600-0.5%
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton:+700-0.5%
Wilmington:+3,600-3.1%
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach:+2,800-1.8%
Spartanburg:+3,800-2.8%
Clarksville:+3,100-3.6%
Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol:+2,300-1.9%
Table 3. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by state and metropolitan area

[Newsboy]

I saw that you did the same peer comparison for Augusta but failed to mention that Savannah's rate of job growth outpaced all of them.

[Airforceguy]

The reason I didn't mention Savannah in the other thread was becuase I don't consider Augusta and Savannah to be peers in the regional sense. State-wise they are. But you are right Savannah did outperform cities that are in many cases twice its size. IMO this bodes well for the future of Savannah.

[SavannahLife]

I am thankful airforce for your posts, you are a one-person Associated Press of Georgia. I wonder how you even do it! But... If growth is good, why? Why does it bode well for Savannah? If it's to grow your new restaurant business, that is great. Or maybe you or your family are in accounting. Etc.

To be fair, in addition, it will also bring more traffic, taxes, and higher cost of living. Fair and balanced. No growth is only good. Or only bad. It's both. Let's consider all sides of it. Personally I think significant growth will change the 'feel' of the city into a more big-city feel. Now, this is more personal. I know it's subjective and I respect others will see this more subjective aspect differently.

[cnd33]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

I saw that you did the same peer comparison for Augusta but failed to mention that Savannah's rate of job growth outpaced all of them.

I see you failed to realize or ignored that he classified Savannah's peers as 250k-500k, and Augusta is too large to fit into that category, so Savannah would not be on the list with Augusta's peer cities. That would also explain why Columbus is on this list. Macon didn't change, so it wasn't listed. Savannah did better than most surrounding cities and that's a good thing.

[SavannahLife]

cnd33 why do you view this as better and good? I am interested in either your personal view or how you see it in general.

[cnd33]

Originally Posted by SavannahLife

cnd33 why do you view this as better and good? I am interested in either your personal view or how you see it in general.

Why do I see Savannah's growth as good compared to it's surrounding cities? If that's what you're asking, I said that was good because Newsboy was asking why Savannah wasn't included on Augusta's list when it outperformed all of them. I was saying that Savannah didn't meet the criteria to be included on that list as a peer city, but Savannah did have higher growth, and that is good for Savannah.

[SavannahLife]

If growth is good for Savannah, how much? And how? And as long as it isn't near your house, or affects your commute, taxes, or quality of life like pollution, crime, school crowding, etc. I am not putting words in your mouth specifically so not "you" but I have seen that line of thought before and wanted to use that as a literary device to illustrate the point. By the by I am looking at the long term i.e. decade or more. I am considering settling here. I am using this board to gauge the feelings of residents here on long term city directions. I am not interested in analyzing a new Chipotle, I'm interested in the effects of greatly increasing the population and sprawl and what it will entail, both good and bad.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by SavannahLife

I am thankful airforce for your posts, you are a one-person Associated Press of Georgia. I wonder how you even do it! But... If growth is good, why? Why does it bode well for Savannah? If it's to grow your new restaurant business, that is great. Or maybe you or your family are in accounting. Etc.

To be fair, in addition, it will also bring more traffic, taxes, and higher cost of living. Fair and balanced. No growth is only good. Or only bad. It's both. Let's consider all sides of it. Personally I think significant growth will change the 'feel' of the city into a more big-city feel. Now, this is more personal. I know it's subjective and I respect others will see this more subjective aspect differently.

Don't know why you you came to Savannah, what you do for a living or how you pay the bills. But 7,500 people in this town are employed in jobs that did not exist a year ago, which means 7,500 more people are earning a paycheck, providing for their families, paying taxes, contributing to the local economy and not living off welfare. And you're worried about traffic?

[WanderingImport]

I'll be honest here, I'm tired of seeing constant posts from SL asking why growth is good all the time. Your question has been answered many times by many people. Move on!

If you don't like it, move to the country where nothing changes!