Savannah area vs Augusta area

[turtleonarock]

Some of the stores that are in Augusta and not Savannah off the top of my head would be Williams-Sonoma, Sephora, Dick Sporting Goods, Abercrombie & Fitch... and there are more than than just those. The two malls in Savannah together do not come close to the mall in Augusta. The Savannah mall has little more than Target and Dillards. There are a few little filler stores, but not many worth driving there for.

Yes, the historic district has many little shops that are nice, but Augusta does have better shopping overall.

[ellie]

A better question might be how does the nightlife, social life, or cultural offerings of the two cities compare? There's more to a city than shopping.

I'm not of a mall shopper so what Augusta has in that regard vs. Savannah doesn't make much difference to me. I might enter the mall once or twice a year if they're lucky.

I'm more interested in walkable neighborhoods, affordablity, fresh produce, and interesting people to hang out with. Are there places in Augusta where one might meet a broad range of people without joining a church or an exclusive social club?

Are there music festivals, fairs, art shows, interesting cafes? Can you find a place to take yoga classes? Are there sports to watch? Ice skating? Surfing? What about alternative newspapers? I've never heard that Augusta has much of an art or music scene. Is that true?

[DisgustaTruth]

It's trying to develop one, but it is certainly no where near the level of Savannah or Athens. As far as walkable neighborhoods, nightlife, cultural offerings, and interesting ppl.. Savannah wins hands down.. simply no comparison. Augusta's social scene is very much hierchical.. where ppl care aboutlast names and what social club you belong to...it's very mucha good-ole-boy town.. not that Savannah doesn't have that too, but it is not dominated by it like Augusta is.

[DisgustaTruth]

whatever stores Savannah doesn't have are located just over the river on Hilton Head...many upscale stores usually found only in bigger cities..
So if you want williams Sonoma.. it's just a short drive.. BUt Savannah has so many great locally owned stores that driving to a mall to shop at a chain store isn't necessary.

[ellie]

I've always thought of Williams Sonoma as something you buy online, anyway.

To be fair to Augusta, Savannah's cultural scene has been growing and developing steadily over the past decade or two. It still probably doesn't match what Athens has, but it is more diverse than Athens since it's not primarily based on just students, former students, and faculty.

All cities need to get beyond believing that another shopping venue is going to make their city a great place to live.

[turtleonarock]

The reason I like living in Savannah over Augusta is because I can put my kids in the car and be at the beach in well under an hour. Or I can take them downtown and walk around, showing them many interesting things. While downtown Augusta is improving, I can't say that I was ever really motivated to take my children down there, except maybe the occasional First Friday event, which really wasn't a very kid friendly event. I also like the diversity in Savannah. I think it is so intersting here. My point was that Augusta does have better shopping, but I agree, it takes more than that to make a great place to live, which is why I choose to call the Savannah area home.

[lolo2]

Savannah rocks what a cool little city. But downtown augusta is growing alot lately. The saint sebastian parkway which connects the medical district with the suburbs. And the whites building bringing 100 condos are two gateway projects. That started the ball to roll on revitilization.

[ellie]

I think a lot of cities are starting to pay attention to their downtown areas. It's about time, isn't it?

Sometimes I think I'm rooting more for the kinds of people who are willing to invest in what they have than for the individual place they come from. Why shouldn't Augusta become as interesting as Savannah?

Then we'll have another cool city nearby to visit and fun things to do when we get there.

[DisgustaTruth]

Augusta is way behind the curve on downtown revitalization... this is something Savannah started in the 70s.
Sure things have improved somewhat in downtown Augusta in the last cpl of years, butthat's not saying much.. the place was a virtual ghost town. And still today the majority of downtown Auusta has very little going one. You see block after block of boarded up buildings or just empty ones with no prospect that they will be occupied anytime soon. Sure there are a cpl of bright spots here and there.. mostly confined to the upper blocks of Broad street.. but they seem to be the exception rather than the norm. Augustans still seem more enamored with shoppping malls and suburban sprawl than a viable downtown.