Augusta vs Macon vs Savannah? (Riverside: fit in, restaurant, beach)

[J_Riverside]

Originally Posted by masonbauknight

She already thought Macon was hopeless--dull, more small town than city.

Besides the part about conservatism and people asking about church, the rest is not true. The woman in that thread never said this. She said that she enjoyed North Macon, great restaurants, a few parks and going to the museum of arts and sciences. She said she thought Wesleyan College and the surrounding area seemed safe and affordable too. She never mentioned or implied anything about being hopeless, dull, or small town. She came from an affluent California, and she found Macon to be too conservative and despite enjoying several things, she still felt much of Macon was too rough around the edges for her. The key thing here is she came from an affluent California suburb. It doesn't matter what second tier city in the state she visited, all of them would be much more conservative, black, and poor than anything she's used to. The whole thing about church and the south is overblown to me anyway. I don't know of people actually harassing others to find Jesus. I've never heard of people bringing this up first in a conversation. They may randomly ask you about church in the middle of a conversation, and it's usually just a question and that subject is left alone. It's not a normal occurrence to be sitting at a restaurant Downtown Macon, at the Shoppes, or wherever and then have random people come up to you asking if you've accepted Jesus. It's nowhere near that "in your face" in Macon or the most of the south, period.

[Columbuskidd92]

Columbus schools became integrated in 1971. By that time blacks and white were already living neighborhood. Some were already living in the same neighborhood during segregation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRutzGI6zPU

[masonbauknight]

@J Riverside. One: I've heard such anecdotes about Macon before. Two: the lady did say someone asked her about her spiritual life in Macon on her last day. Three: I think Savannah or Augusta would be acceptable to an affluent California couple, the racial inequalities notwithstanding. Macon is in a different league from most cities its own size in the South, and that was my point. This is not news.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by masonbauknight

@Newsboy. Savannah had one of the most extensive busing plans in the South in the 1970s (except perhaps for Charlotte). The distances were huge (kids who walked to Windsor Forest HS were bussed to Beach HS in midtown for 20 years). Savannah-Chatham also didn't allow seniors to return to their old high school to graduate, a "senior exception" that was universal across the country (only recently adopted in Savannah during a shift in school boundaries). I just don't agree with you. Savannah's two-decade-long busing plan was very radical.

You do remind me just how strange Macon was: virtually the only U.S. city that segregated boys and girls in separate PUBLIC schools! That is weird even by Georgia's benighted standards of those days, but Macon has been far more conservative than other GA metros. It might be the only metro (as opposed to small town) today where people will come up to you and ask where you go to church. A Calif. woman on another board reported this--her husband was offered a nice job in Macon, so she came to scope the city out for a few days. She already thought Macon was hopeless--dull, more small town than city--and, sure enough, while eating at a nice restaurant a man comes over to ask her if she'd accepted Jesus. You can't make this stuff up.

You asked why Macon stopped growing in the 1970s and I told you. Why bring up the tired myth about Southerners cramming Jesus down people's throats?

Savannah -- like most all cities in the South -- certainly had big problems with desegregation, but nothing on the scale of Macon. Chatham County public schools have largely recovered and now succeed on many levels. White families are returning to Savannah's public schools in droves, and Beach High just this year won national awards for academic excellence. In the fall, Beach students will move into a brand new $60 million campus!

Bibb County schools still struggle mightily to this day -- in the classroom and in the boardroom. They can't keep a superintendent. Finances are a mess. Violence in schools is common and test scores abysmal. Enrollment continues to plummet.

In this day and age, good public schools are the No. 1 factor in the economic vitality of a community. Being at the nexus of two interstate highways and the center of the state means diddly if schools suck, crime is rampant and poverty reigns.

[Newsboy]

SOMETHING I JUST THOUGHT OF: Augusta, Columbus and Savannah all have public high schools that at one time or another have been named No. 1 in the state and are consistently ranked among the very best in the state -- Davidson Magnet (Augusta), Savannah Arts (Savannah) and Columbus High. Macon-Bibb has nothing that even comes close. Another great example of how Macon lags behind the other second-tier cities.

[cyclist_world]

In the grand scheme of things, all of these are similar sized cities. If we must nitpick and dissect every detail, Columbus is the clear winner here. It's safer, growing faster, has a better downtown, has a largest presence in the corporate world and has better suburbs. Not including Bay and River St. in Savannah, Columbus just feels like a more urban area compared to the other towns. There is a reason Columbus is the 2nd largest city.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by cyclist_world

In the grand scheme of things, all of these are similar sized cities. If we must nitpick and dissect every detail, Columbus is the clear winner here. It's safer, growing faster, has a better downtown, has a largest presence in the corporate world and has better suburbs. Not including Bay and River St. in Savannah, Columbus just feels like a more urban area compared to the other towns. There is a reason Columbus is the 2nd largest city.

"... has a better downtown ..."

River Street?! Bay Street?! Have you ever even BEEN to Savannah? Have you walked down Broughton Street or Bull Street? Have you ever heard of national chains like Marc Jacobs, Kate Spade, Urban Outfitters, Free People, Antropologie, The Gap, Banana Republic, Blick, Birckenstock, Ruth's Chris, Panera Bread, Starbucks? When just ONE of those names moves into downtown Columbus, you'll still have dozens more to go before you catch up to Savannah. (I'll do you a favor and save time by not listing the endless number of upscale restaurants, luxury hotels, bars, clubs, music venues, theaters and other attractions that complete downtown Savannah ... or SCAD.)

"... has better suburbs ..."

Have you any idea what the city of Richmond Hill is like? Or how good the schools are in Effingham County? Have you seen the million-dollar waterfront estates and gated golf course communities that line all the rivers and tidal creeks within 20 miles of Savannah? Ever been to Wilmington Island, Skidaway Island, Isle of Hope or a little place called Hilton Head?

"... has a largest (sic) presence in the corporate world ... "

THREE WORDS: Port of Savannah ... the 4th busiest port in America. Economic impact: 352,146 jobs (8.3% of Georgia’s total employment); $66.9 billion in sales (9.5% of Georgia’s total sales); $32.4 billion in state GDP (7.8% of Georgia’s total GDP)

PS -- Where is the word "Columbus" even in the name of this thread?

[masonbauknight]

@Cyclist-World. In the "grand scheme of things," Savannah is the only prestige 2nd-tier city in the state. Columbus and Macon are absolutely nowhere in comparison. Aggregate crime rates from City-Data: Savannah (314.5), Columbus (483.8), Macon (609.2). Interesting stat: Phenix City (592.9). All you need to know about "safer."

Downtowns? All 12 international guide books feature a several-page spread about Savannah's downtown. The New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, and many European newspapers run an article about SAV every year. Columbus: nada. Its downtown is pleasant enough, but Savannah's is stunning, and the "stunning" is mostly far from Bay and River Streets. Would love to have some of the brew you've been nippin', Cyclist. Must be some powerful stuff.

[Columbuskidd92]

Richmond Hill and Green Island Hills are very similar. Richmond Hill just have the size advantage over Green Island Hills.

One thing I like about Columbus is that it have suburbs all over the city.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by Columbuskidd92

Richmond Hill and Green Island Hills are very similar. Richmond Hill just have the size advantage over Green Island Hills.

One thing I like about Columbus is that it have suburbs all over the city.

Green Island is a neighborhood within the city of Columbus. Richmond Hill is a city of 10,000 in a different county.

And then there's Pooler. Don't get me started on Pooler. Columbus has no suburban area that comes close to Pooler -- a stand-alone suburban city of 20,000 that's about to get a mall.