thehappysmith, on Mar 1 2005, 01:53 PM, said:
I have few pics of the older downtown part of Columbus, more street scenes than skyline shots. You can get a decent skyline view from the parking lot of the Russell Co CH across the river in Phenix City. I'll post them tomorrow.
Columbus feels hemmed in to me. Fort Benning eats up the entire southern and eastern part of the county, physically separating the city from any potential suburban areas in Chattahoochee Co to the south (which is part of the metro area). The more significant towers are sprinkled around the developed area, but if I remember right the tallest thing in town is the county CH.
That interstate spur has got to connect to something else. Running the proposed middle GA parkway from Macon to Columbus and then up to Auburn would be great for the city, as it wouldn't feel so isolated. And, it would give you a way to go west from Savannah/Augusta/Columbia/Charleston etc without having to fight Atlanta traffic; lots more people would go through town, in other words. Couldn't hurt.
This Columbus v. Augusta fight is silly. Both cities have advantages and disadvantages. Augusta, however, has made better use of their river than Columbus has, and any significant downtown redevelopment in Columbus needs to address that.
The Augusta Riverfront area has grown tremendously in the past decade and a half. The first development (other than the first phase of the Riverwalk) was Port Royal, an 18 floor condo tower and a 2 floor, upscale mall, complete with Colette (a French Chain) department store. The Mall only survived a few years and was later turned into a large, interactive Childrens Science Museum. The next Phase, (a little farther down) was a new 12 floor Raddison Hotel, an 8 floor office building, and the Morris Museum of Art. They expanded the esplanade several more blocks and later came another new 5-6 floor hotel, and then the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame. A new Marina was created about 6-7 years ago as well. On the other side of Reynolds street more development has been happening recently with two parks just created, one with a Huge sculpture (in Topher's Augusta images). Each of one the Riverwalks entrances has small boutiques, art galleries, outdoor cafes and pubs. It is amazing what they have done in the past decade. The other side of the River (North Augusta) is growing as well, with multimillion dollar homes, midrise condos, a golf course and retail all u/c or in the works.
No, Augustas riverfront area isnt 20 miles long, but the mile or two that is there is completely beautiful. You can walk on wide brick pathways either on top of the levee or at Riverlevel. There are tons of sculptures, playgrounds, an Amphitheater, the Marina. It really is quite amazing. Past the Riverwalk to the North are Riverfront homes, and above that, probably undeveloped swampland (Which needs to stay that way.) There are miles and miles of bike/walking paths along the Augusta Canal (which runs parallel to the Savannah River.)
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