What city could become Georgia's second major metro? (Atlanta, Columbus: mall, statistics)

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Honestly, outside of Atlanta, Savannah is the only city that is even relevant. It's gets a good number of tourists, it's very historic and charming,intact downtown, it's pretty well known throughout the country, and it has a large sea port that I heard is being expanded. That sea port transports things to Atlanta via trucks.

Who cares about population...Savannah is obviously 2nd to Atlanta in Georgia. Everything else is irrelevant. Georgia's not known for having multiple large metros anyway LOL. Atlanta siphons life out of every other metro.

Atlanta's growth is not at the expense of other Georgia metros at all.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by -StarBright-

But the fact is...they are consolidated, but I do agree with the fact that Chatham county could possibly have 300,000 people by the next census.

Yes, but the reality is that the populations of each of those cities comes with an ( * ) as in:

* population of the consolidated city-county NOT the historic city proper.

In fact, Georgia would probably be better served if it's consolidated governments were classified as something else entirely, like independent cities are in Virginia. It is very misleading to say that Augusta and Columbus are "cities" of 200,000 when in fact that is population of their entire counties.

Savannah is a CITY of 145,000 in a COUNTY of 275,000. That's an important distinction, and people who study urban planning, cities, demographics, etc. are aware of it. You need only compare the density of the cities to see what I am talking about.

Here's a link to a map showing the urban density of Savannah.
http://www.ersys.com/usa/13/1369000/density.htm

The historic heart of the city is far more dense and busy than the other second-tier cities, which is reflected in an active and exciting downtown and Midtown. As several people have already noted, the other second-tier cities really can't hold a candle to Savannah as far as urbanity is concerned. And that's more important than "consolidated population" IMO.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

Yes, but the reality is that the populations of each of those cities comes with an ( * ) as in:

* population of the consolidated city-county NOT the historic city proper.

In fact, Georgia would probably be better served if it's consolidated governments were classified as something else entirely, like independent cities are in Virginia. It is very misleading to say that Augusta and Columbus are "cities" of 200,000 when in fact that is population of their entire counties.

I wouldn't really say it's misleading since the urbanized areas of Augusta and Columbus are still a bit larger than 200K (especially Augusta). That is the metric that is most accurate in gauging the true size of a city, IMO.

Savannah is a CITY of 145,000 in a COUNTY of 275,000. That's an important distinction, and people who study urban planning, cities, demographics, etc. are aware of it.

True, but if Savannah consolidated with its county, it would be just about on par with its urbanized area (260K in 2010).

[nortonguy]

Originally Posted by cdw1084

What census are you referring to? Columbus is slightly over 198,000 while Augusta is slightly under 197,000....

The poster had to be referring to population of Richmond County which is higher than Augusta.... Columbus and Muscogee County both have the same population....

2012 population
Richmond 202,587
Muscogee 198,413
Augusta 197,72

Originally Posted by cdw1084

Yes but the picture is bigger...

Columbus has grew nearly 9,000 people since the last census while Augusta has grew 2,000. I think in the next census Georgia will have two cities over 200,000 people....Atlanta and Columbus with Augusta close behind.

The only problem is BRAC is pretty much over in Columbus and they will have to 'rely' on normal growth trends.

[Columbuskidd92]

Everything else is NOT irrelevant.

[nortonguy]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Honestly, outside of Atlanta, Savannah is the only city that is even relevant. It's gets a good number of tourists, it's very historic and charming,intact downtown, it's pretty well known throughout the country, and it has a large sea port that I heard is being expanded. That sea port transports things to Atlanta via trucks.

Who cares about population...Savannah is obviously 2nd to Atlanta in Georgia. Everything else is irrelevant. Georgia's not known for having multiple large metros anyway LOL. Atlanta siphons life out of every other metro.

That's funny because the entire state of South Carolina tends to bring up Augusta a lot more compared to Savannah. The only time somebody might bring up Savannah is related to the city being historic similar to Charleston.

When do you ever see posters from Greenville or Columbia post in the Savannah forum? They always comment in the Augusta forum...

Originally Posted by Newsboy

The historic heart of the city is far more dense and busy than the other second-tier cities, which is reflected in an active and exciting downtown and Midtown. As several people have already noted, the other second-tier cities really can't hold a candle to Savannah as far as urbanity is concerned. And that's more important than "consolidated population" IMO.

What several people? The few people who live in Savannah and haven't been to the other cities in decades or never in their lifetime...

The urban population of Augusta is over 100,000 larger compared to Savannah. 386,000 vs 260,000.....

The urban core of Savannah is further ahead, but not the entire metro......

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by nortonguy

That's funny because the entire state of South Carolina tends to bring up Augusta a lot more compared to Savannah. The only time somebody might bring up Savannah is related to the city being historic similar to Charleston.

When do you ever see posters from Greenville or Columbia post in the Savannah forum? They always comment in the Augusta forum...

Oh come now. Firstly it's mainly only Greenville forumers and it's usually related to comparisons in the retail scenes of both cities--comparisons initiated mostly by yourself, like the ridiculous title of this thread: //www.city-data.com/forum/augus...all-south.html

Or it's in response to the giddiness that some Augusta folks have over a potential Augusta-Columbia CSA--which isn't happening anytime soon and Columbians don't even care anyway.

[PJA]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

Those Census data sheets are very interesting BTW ... good data in there. It's shocking how much wealthier and better off Chatham County is than Richmond County.

These stats are VERY revealing:

Bachelor degrees (!!!!)
Median and per HH incomes
Home values
Retail sales (!!!!!)
Retail sales per capita (!!!!)
Building permits (!!!!!)

All the wealth in the Augusta Metro is clearly in Columbia County. IMO, Savannah benefits from having a much stronger core metro county in Chatham.

CENSUS:
Chatham County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
Richmond County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

Not sure what this had to do with what metro would become the next major metro in GA. While the majority of the wealth is in Columbia County, its still a part of the Augusta metro, hence the wealth is still being kept in the Augusta area. Guess where all those rich Columbia County folks spend their money.....Augusta!

[PJA]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

Because Savannah's official "metro" is defined by just THREE COUNTIES and does not count TWO counties that make up its CSA -- Liberty and Bulloch. Further, Savannah's "metro" does not yet include Jasper and Beaufort counties, SC -- which absolutely ARE considered part of the "greater Savannah market" and WILL eventually be included in the SAVANNAH MSA AND CSA!

Let me repeat this stat: Savannah is the 92 largest MEDIA MARKET in the nation. Augusta is 112. Media markets are a FAR MORE ACCURATE REPRESENTATION of trade area than METRO AREA. Media Market size is how NATIONAL ADVERTISERS determine where to purchase time. Savannah is a MORE LUCRATIVE market than Augusta.

End of story.

Are they even part of the CSA yet? If not, I think it would be a very loooooong time before they are a part of the MSA which is what the topic was...which are would become the next major METRO (MSA represents a metro..not CSA...two totally different animals)

[nortonguy]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

Oh come now. Firstly it's mainly only Greenville forumers and it's usually related to comparisons in the retail scenes of both cities--comparisons initiated mostly by yourself, like the ridiculous title of this thread: //www.city-data.com/forum/augus...all-south.html

Or it's in response to the giddiness that some Augusta folks have over a potential Augusta-Columbia CSA--which isn't happening anytime soon and Columbians don't even care anyway.

//www.city-data.com/forum/colum...-columbia.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/colum...pf-changs.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/colum...-columbia.html

The posters were coming into our forum before I created the mall thread in August/2013.... They even mention Augusta in the Greenville/Columbus forums multiple times..

Why did you go resurrect the Atlanta keeps growing towards Augusta thread and make this comment at the same time? Nobody mentioned anything related to the Augusta-Columbia CSA, and the majority of people in Augusta don't care either.... One person created the thread on the potential of the Augusta/Columbia joining together..