Next large Georgia city

[dougtha1]

^ Also, of course, I'm more than a bit wary of the "over 2 million acres" of development that yerocal states is under construction...

A quick calculation reveals that 2,000,000 acres is equal to 3125 sq. miles. To put that in perspective, the state of Delaware + the state of Rhode Island is equal to approximately 3600 sq. miles. There is NO way that ANY metro in the country currently has 2 states worth of real estate under construction.

Macon, Augusta, Columbus, and Savannah are small (even very small) cities, and no amount of factless boosterism changes that.

In summary, on an internet forum:

Logical, fact-based arguments = GOOD and INFORMATIVE

Crazy, off-based, uninformed boosterism = WORTHLESS

I think he meant 2,000,000 sqft. is going up in Macon and not acres, and that is actually an extremly modest estimate.

[Pillsbury]

^ yeah, i kind of figured that when i read it. but still, it's faulty logical to assume that none of Georgia's other cities have similar projects. But the sad truth is that our growth is still anemic. On a real scale, we're all basically the same size and we all have the same problems. Whey aren't we growing when Greenville, Columbia, Charleston are all growing? Why aren't we growing as fast as the Triad in North Carolina even though they're having problems with their major industries up there? Why are our cities located in one of the fastest growing states in America, yet we only experience modest growth every year? We cannot depend on military bases to grow. We cannot depend on Atlanta's growth to spur our own growth.

[Pillsbury]

I think people DO want to be close to Downtown Augusta and its amenities, they just dont want to live in Richmond County. Thats why alot of the growth is centered around North Augusta. It is a stones throw to Downtown Augusta but doesnt have all the political corruptness that you see in RC. It offers a quiet lifestyle with gorgeous little neighborhoods, good shopping options, stable government, and all that right across the river from Augusta. Look at the developments going on within view of DT. The new condos next to the 13th st. bridge, Hammonds Ferry mixed use development, etc. etc.

Perhaps opening up the canal as a development zone DT will bring more residents into the DT area. As long as they do it right I think that area will be a catalyst for more developments in out inner city.

You're right. As long as Augusta is in chaos no one would invest here. It's like investing in Enron or something. They need to develop the entire canal from Butt Bridge all the way through Walton Way. Tear down those old warehouses and really put some development in there.

[Topher1]

I agree... I never realized until recently how HUGE Augusta's gridded "downtown" area is and could become. Just by comparing maps/satellite imagery of downtown with other cities across the SE, Augusta really has the infrastructure in place to develop/redevelop a massive core... (Macon, Columbus, and especially Savannah all have similarly large cores)... If you really compare the sizes of our gridded, older city areas, we really do compare favorably to many much larger southern cities...

Compared to cities with smaller cores whose downtowns are really thriving (Greenville, Orlando, even Miami), our downtowns really have the scope and infrastructure to absorb an enormous amount of new residents and businesses... Greenville and Orlando are two cities that immediately come to mind that have very small core "downtown" areas, but are making the most of them, and even expanding. Augusta, meanwhile has all the land from the river through the med-district, even up to Laney Walker or Wrightsboro Rd that can support high-intensity use, but is just sitting underutilized...

Another big complaint is why won't the city reinforce its strengths... Augusta has the #1 and #3 schools in GA in SAT scores, but I almost never hear any publicity about that accomplishment. Of course, these are magnet schools, but I think it makes it more than clear that it's possible to get a superior education in Richmond Co. Everyone still looks to Col. Co. as the only place to properly educate children, and considers Laney and Josey and comparable schools as the only options in Richmond Co... The magnet school system in Richmond really is top-notch, and until area leaders start publicizing its merits and expanding its reaches, families are going to continue to choose the suburbs...

(Off soapbox) I'm done venting. I just agree with all of Pillsbury's complaints and confusion as to why our cities aren't receiving much of a share in the prosperity that is surrounding us...

[gah]

What is very strange (or different) about Georgia is that it is so dominated by one huge city --

more like NY than any other southern state. The "problem" -- as I see it -- is inertia. Damn near everything

gets pulled into the gravitaltional field/orbit of Atlanta by default, leaving only the crumbs for the 2d tier cities. Unless

and until one of them starts to become a viable alternative to Atlanta, I am afraid that trend will continue. Meanwhile comparable cities in other states are growing at our expense -- Greenville, Chattanooga,

Huntsville, Raleigh, etc. -- thereby widening the gulf even more.

If I had to guess, I would suspect that the likliest candidates are Macon and Columbus. That is really based

almost totally on proximity, especially to Hartsfield. Chattanooga, Rome, Dalton are also possibilties -- but they are all north of Hartsfield and, thus, getting to Hartsfield requires traversing the whole North metro area -- no mean feat with today's traffic snarls. Both Augusta and Savannah are really too far from the exisiting center of gravity (or at least less close than Macon/Columbus) and I suspect that they are more likely in the future to turn east and north towards SC than west towards Atlanta. Neiither Augusta or Savannah are apt to be beneficiaries of spill-over from Atlanta, and will rely on internal -- rather than external factors, like proximity to Atlanta -- to sustain/maintain their growth.

Macon/Columbus are presently fairly easy drives to Hartsfield. Probably more so from Columbus simply because 50% of the distance is on I-185 which is a breeze -- it being the world's longest cul-de-sac. I-75, on the other hand, can sometimes become a veritable parking lot filled with cars bearing Canadian and Yankee tags. South Metro -- unlike the Northside -- is still almost virgin territory -- but Atlanta is creeping down I-75 (Henry County) and I-85 (Coweta) . At some point, developmental eyes have to turn southward in earnest But I have been saying this for years and it has yet to happen. It may not until North Georgia becomes completely paved over! Old habits are hard to break for developers as well. Since Macon already has the intrastructure (ie, I-75, -16) then it probably has a legup on Columbus. However, as the traffic situation along I-75 becomes increasingly worse, Columbus may then move to the fore as the favored "alternative" 2d tier city. Also, Macon has the advantage of being closer to the Atlantic ports like Savannah/Brunswick and no competition for that traffic Columbus has the potential of ties to the Gulf ports like Mobile but has competition like Montgomery/Birmingham. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out.

[Pillsbury]

^ That's a good point. Downtown is large. I think in the old days 15th Street was called like West Boundary, Laney Walker was South Boundary, and of course there was East Boundary. That's a lot of room. One thing that plagues downtown Augusta is the number of vacant lots. I've never been able to figure it out. Someone once told me that after the Great Fire a lot of people just packed up without building back, but whatever the reason we need to do something about that. We need to crack down on these slumlords who leave their houses in ruins all over the old city; get police out patroling all over downtown (on foot).

You know the biggest thing to me that plagues this town is consolidation. Before consolidation I think Augusta's population had dropped to around 44,000 people, with large pockets of poverty and crime. And I know that Augusta was broke, often depositing checks as soon as they received them so other checks wouldn't bounce (I'm not exagerating). But things seemed much more progressive back then. Maybe it's because I was younger, but it just seemed better. Charles DeVanney was a great Mayor. People liked him.

But when we consolidated with Richmond County, it was a mostly black city being absorbed by (at that time) a mostly white county. Laws were drawn up so that both black and white leaders could keep thier power, which led to the formation of one of the most inneficient governments in the country. Augusta's government works against progress; against itself. It's not corrupt so much as it is inept. Commissioners can abstain. The Mayor has no power. Things end in deadlock. But I will say this, I've noticed that since Deke Copenhaver was elected things have been slightly different. Bob Young was an arrogant moron. Deke seems to care about this city and I think people see that.

Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now!!

[jungletobacco]

something got to give...... we need to do something with the vacnt lots and we to find some where interstate 3 could run threw the city ....lets put 2 and 2 together.....some of the augusta districts could be rebuild around the interstate if it ever happen....it willgive augusta a ATL like feel with two skyline 520 south will meet I-3.....do wonders for south AUG

[socaguy]

I dont think I-3 will be built through the city, if it does ever happen. Id imagine it will take up with 520 then cut north, either through SC or through Martinez/Evans. I may be wrong though.

[ralangley]

Thats fine i guess my point is i just dont see it yet. It just sounded like u were justifying Statesboro's likelyhood to be the next big city in GA on a trend of fast food restaraunts going up in the town which sounded kinda odd to me being that those are relatively minor developments, and time is relevant. If it takes Statesboro 100 yrs. to become a large city, do you really think that any of the second-tier cities are going to sit dormant for that long? No they'll beat you to it. And by the way i know they're the same company but u can talk abou KFC but leave my Pizza Hut alone. lol

If Statesboro wants to compete with the larger GA cities (ie: Savannah, Macon), it must do the following: Reconstruct the alcohol ordinances- (The strict guidelines in effect here have dissuaded large chains like Outback and Chili's from doing business here- This has a rippling effect that impedes outside investment into the community. Secondly, the Industrial park needs to be marketed effectively to Industries willing to locate their business into a new region. Thirdly, the quality of life in Statesboro must always move forward- greenways, downtown development, support for the arts, improvement of the local Academic system (collegiate, High school, and Grade) have all improved since I went to college there from 99-04'.

If the city governments knew that fining restaurants thousands for not having 50/50 profits distributed equally between food and alcoholic beverages is more detrimental to its commercial development than practically anything done, then a positive changes could occur. I don't care how successful your restaurant is, a $1,000 fine can make or break you (not to mention these fines increase).