In defence of Savannah (Atlanta, Columbus: city hall, home, unemployment)

[Smashed]

First of all, let me say hi. I've been lurking for a while, and I have noticed a trend and felt I needed to chime in. It seems like there is a little bit of a feud between the Fall Line Cities, Augusta, Macon, and Columbus, over which is the "best" 2nd tier city. However, very seldom does anyone come to the defense of Savannah.

So here is some info on my hometown, Savannah, GA:



http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Savannah_skyline.jpg (broken link)

The Port of Savannah is the 4th busiest container port in the world, after only New York, Lost Angeles, and Long Beach. It is the 2nd busiest on the East Coast, after only NYC. It is in the top 40 busiest ports in the world. Can any of the Fall Line Cities say they compare with New York or Los Angeles on anything?

To support that booming business, Savannah has over 30 million square feet of distribution space, second only to Atlanta in the state.

Savannah probably has the most diverse economy of any second tier city. Shipping, manufacturing, military, and of course tourism, are vital parts of Savannah's economy, helping the Savannah area weather the current recession fairly well, with unemployment below the state average.

Tourism is of course a big part of Savannah's economy, with nearly 7 million visitors a year contributing over $2 billion annually to the area. To service this industry, the Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport serves over 1 million passengers a year, making it the second busiest airport in Georgia and the only other international terminal in the state besides Hartsfield-Jackson.

Now to the issue of population. While Savannah's city-limits population has been decreasing, the population of Chatham County has been growing, as well as the entire Savannah-Hinesville CSA. The population of Chatham County is estimated at over 250,000. The population of the Savannah-Hinesville CSA is estimated at 405,000.

However, the Savannah-Hinesville CSA is flawed and incomplete without the inclusion of Jasper and Beaufort Counties, South Carolina. Thousands of people commute from these two counties into Savannah to work every day. In fact, if you drive through Savannah on any given weekday almost 50% of the cars will have SC license plates. Why then, do they not include these two counties which can be seen from Savannah's city hall, right across the river??

If you include these two counties, the Combined Statistical Area will be 565,000 people. Bulloch County possibly could also be included in this, as many people also commute from there as well. This would bring it up to 631,000 people!

Not bad for a sleepy little city on the coast...

[lilmusket]

I think you defended Savannah quite well and what you said is true. About beaufort and Japsper counties, I do understand that they are very likely to be included in Savannah's CSA by the next census.. has something to do about changing the parameters about what constitutes a csa and msa. It would certainly seem that if Hinesville is already included in Savannah's csa then Hilton head should as well, as it is closer to Savannah than Hinesville. What are the prospects of Savannah and Chatham consolidation? Compared to Richmond County (Augusta), Bibb County (Macon) and Muscogee County (Columbus), Chatham (Savannah) is growing much faster. The other three are fairly stagnant as far as growth and depend on their suburban counties for growth.

[Smashed]

The first step in consolidation was taken in 2005 when the county and city police departments merged. However, there is still some resistance by the independent cities and some unincorporated parts of the county. The most vocal resistance is by the residents of The Landings development on Skidaway Island, an unincorporated part of the county, mainly over taxes. There are also some disputes of over sewage and waste management services.

However, the county commission is now headed by Pete Liakakis, a former leading member of the Savannah City Council, and the commission is slowly becoming more pro-consolidation than in the past.

[GABOY84]

Savannah is a beautiful place! I will be there this Friday.

[lilmusket]

Savannah is certainly the most well known city in Georgia other than Atlanta.

[nortonguy]

I agree with alot of what you said. Savannah is a great city.

But Savannah's economy more diverse than Augusta?

Bio-technology, medical, information technology, military, manufacturing.

One of the largest IT academies in the world. Its at Ft. Gordon, which is already the united states communication center. A National Security Agency is opening 2010 in Augusta.
US Army inducted into Microsoft IT Academy at Fort Gordon

Augusta isn't relying on its suburbs for growth either. 2007-2008 metro growth rates for counties. Columbia, Richmond, Aiken, Mcduffie, Edgefield, Burke.

What is the 2007-2008 growth rate for Chatham? I wondering place it came in among its suburbs.

[Smashed]

Savannah also has a thriving medical and educational community. The St. Joseph's-Candler Medical system consolidates two different hospitals and several satellite campuses throughout the region. Memorial University Medical Center is one of the leading teaching hospitals in the region, and recently added a campus of Mercer Medical School. Both medical systems have recently opened state-of-the-art cancer research centers, The Curtis and Elizabeth Anderson Cancer Institute and the The Nancy N. and J. C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion.

Savannah also has a diverse selection of universities and institutes: SCAD, which has grown to become one of the leading art schools in America, Savannah State University, Armstrong Atlantic State University, the home campus of South University, Georgia Tech Savannah Campus, and the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography.

As for military industry, there is nearby Fort Stewart, Hunter Army Airfield, Coast Guard Air Station Savannah, Coast Guard Cutter Station Tybee, and nearby Beaufort Air Station and Paris Island Marine Corps Recruiting Station.

There are also a number of industries Augusta does not have, merely because of its location. Savannah is port to a large seafood industry that brings fresh shrimp, fish, and oysters to your table, not to mention being a draw for its recreational fishing, both inshore and offshore.

[lilmusket]

I've always thought comparing Augusta and savannah were like comparing apples and oranges.. though they may be similar in size, their economies are totally different. A better comparison for Savannah is Charleston.. for Augusta, a better comparison is Macon, Columbus, Montgomery, and maybe Jackson, MS

[nortonguy]

Smashed, metro Augusta GDP is higher than metro Savannah.

Ports/Tourism/Shipping vs Bio-tech/I.T./Medical

[Smashed]

Yea, I've always paired Savannah with other coastal cities like Charleston, Wilmington, Mobile, Myrtle Beach, etc.

In fact you could say there are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd tier coastal cities in the south. Houston, New Orleans, Tampa, Miami, and Jacksonville would be the 1st tier. The first cities I mention would be in the 2nd tier.

norton- do you have a link for the GDP stats? I've been looking for them.

Also: here's an interesting tidbit about Savannah's labor force:
Six industries account for nearly three-quarters of the jobs in Savannah: manufacturing (9.1%), retail trade (11.7%),
professional and business services (12.5%), educational and health services (13.4%), leisure and hospitality
(12.7%) and state and local government (12%).

So the biggest employer in Savannah isn't tourism or shipping, its the educational and medical industries.