Savannah Historical District (Washington, Hampton, Helen: crime rate, hotel, house)

[robvart]

I am seriously considering moving to Savannah's charming, albeit expensive, historical district and am curious about the city's reputed crime level as it applies to the relative center of the district. The properties I looked at seemed relatively secure compared to neighboring areas. They were all nestled together, had high walled courtyards, good lighting and security systems in place. Of course I don't want to feel besieged in my own home, and I do want to feel comfortable strolling in the neighborhood without side-arms, Mace, and two Dobermans.

Opinions anyone?

[RichCapeCod]

Savannah is a beautiful city with a very nice historic district. Regrettably the “good” area is surrounded by deep poverty. The crime rate in Savannah is high, with street predators coming in from around the higher income areas to rob available victims. I don’t believe anyone in authority has figured out how to best deal with the pervasive –and long standing– social problems that created the problem.

[MrTudo]

What a shame. So many neat areas and Savanah looks super neat from a historical building standpoint are surrounded by virtual war zones.

[Cattknap]

We live in So. California and love visiting Savannah for vacation....we looked into moving to the historic district but found that the crime is sky high and the air bad. The city of Savannah has hired a new chief of police, an ex Los Angeles Police Captain I believe....he just started a few months ago and hopefully he will help the gang situation. I understand that papermill pollution is the reason the air is bad. Such a charming place - really too bad about the problems.

[ellie]

I lived in Savannah and loved it. What you hear about crime is true but it didn't stop me from living downtown for 10 years, going out at night, or anything else for that matter. You just have to be streetwise and lucky. If you check the data on the city from this site you will see that the population is dropping. There are not alot of high-tech jobs there and most of the public schools are iffy. Any data you check on the median price of homes or on vacant homes will be skewed because there are whole neighborhoods built in the late Victorian era and early 20th century that are riddled with vacant and unrestored properties. There are simply not enough jobs to support the revitalization of the fringe districts surrounding the historic district.

[tech30528]

Savannah is indeed beautiful. I try to get there as often as I can. We stay at the Hampton Inn on the river. My wife works at the Hampton Inn in Helen, Ga., so she gets employee rate at any hotel in the Hilton chain. My favorite spot is One Eyed Lizzy's on the river. If you order raw oysters, you get a dozen. But if you order them steamed, they bring you a bucket! About 2 1/2 dozen! and cheap, too. There are some poor sections, but I've found they aren't really that bad. LarryB is a good friend of mine. When he has been in Savannah, he has walked down south to the ghettos after dark looking for a game of b-ball. He's never had a problem. He's a white guy, and after convincing the locals he's not a cop, he has a great time. There is one other thing you don't want to pass up in Savannah. That would be Paula Dean's resturaunt. You may know her from the Food Channel. Southern cooking at it's best.

If you've read my posts, you'll know that I'm all about the food. My wife and I are both good cooks. In fact, we just had Thanksgiving with LarryB. He's married to my mother in law, and he's my best Appalachian Trail hiking partner. On the trail, we cut 20+ miles a day with packs. Off the trail, I challenge his weight with homemade gravies. This weekend, we did both.

[Cattknap]

Today I read in one of Savannah's online papers that they are going to install closed circuit cameras in the squares. They have helicopters buzzing the shopping areas to deter crime and police on horseback in shopping area parking lots - so crime is very bad but they are trying to do something about it.

There have been several murders in the last year...one was a well-off 19 year old girl that got mugged at 3 am (with two friends) on Orleans Square - she was shot when she refused to give up her purse....another man was gunned down in fron of his Ardsley Park home...car thefts are out of control. These crimes took place in the "good" part of town.

[robvart]

We have a city here in Washington called Tacoma, which has a pulp mill nearby. It used to emit what we called the "Aroma of Tacoma". It wasn't pleasant, but it also only bothered us when the prevailing winds brought it in our direction. Does the "Aroma of Savannah" occur too often? I caught a slight whiff of it during one of our four weekdays there. We also notice that annual weather records show a 6-8 mph breeze most days of the year. Does that tend to keep the smell away, or does it bring it in?

Thanks everyone for the input.

[angela868]

I moved to Savannah this summer. I was really excited about it from everything that I had heard about the city.. After living here for about 6 months I have to say that I can't wait to get out of here. We are here because my husband is in the Army. You have to be VERY careful when you go anywhere. The crime here is ridiculous and the police department is horrible. They never get anybody. The roads here are awful - I should say road. Everything you need is off of one road which means everytime you leave your house you are going to get stuck in traffic. Robberies, shootings, or even murders happen in broad daylight on a daily basis. At first I thought it was at a certain part of town but have found out it is everywhere. I would strongly advise you to rethink.

[ellie]

"The smell of money" as they call it, is much better than it was before the paper mill made improvements. Now the worst time of year is during the winter months when the seabreeze front doesn't blow. Then pockets of stink do occasionally get caught over the city. The rest of the year is fine. If you are seriously considering moving there, visit again and talk to some of the antiques dealers, bartenders, or waitstaff who have been there for awhile. They will give you a more nuanced opinion of life downtown than a realtor or the chamber of commerce will.