The Creative Coast’s blogspot is Savannah’s sounding board for local thinkers, innovators, wanderers and wonderers. Guest bloggers share their thoughts, opinions and creative noodling from all over the map. This week’s blog is from Drew Wade,  a radiologist, avid bicyclist and proponent of all things which make Savannah a better place to live.  Pedal along with Drew as he lays out a roadmap to cooler, hipper, healthier community…. 

The Savanasphere has been swirling with talk of what might become of the old Backus Cadillac dealership at the corner of Victory Drive and Truman Parkway. Most of the comments are centered around the likelihood (and I believe for many reasons they are right) that Whole Foods is redeveloping the site for one of their stores. While I think many of us will find some solace in that arrival, relieving our inferiority complexes about Charleston, will a one-stop big box carrying a greater variety of organic and otherwise expensive groceries really change Savannah?

The Creative Coast’s blogspot is Savannah’s sounding board for local thinkers, innovators, wanderers and wonderers. Guest bloggers share their thoughts, opinions and creative noodling from all over the map. This week’s blog is from Sean Brandon, director of Mobility & Parking Services for the City of Savannah. Read on to find out how Sean thinks “creative growth” advocates can bolster their positioning….

In the discussion about “creative cities” and the policies that may create them, I’ve been struck by the arguments that have often been made that it is an elitist concept that doesn’t particularly benefit anyone except a relatively few people who can afford the comforts that come with being a “creative city”. I’d like to offer a small analogy that I hope will create more discussion.

I’m sure you have, at various points, seen someone biking through a busy street that seems was never meant for a bicycle, usually a four to six lane road where the actual speed is fifteen miles above the posted speed limit. As you struggle to keep pace with your fellow drivers you look over and see a person bicycling either in the travel lane or more likely on the narrow shoulder. “What is that crazy person doing?” is a somewhat natural response for most people. As it turns out, many bicyclists are either in poverty or close to it. Poverty doesn’t give you the comfort of finding a job within walking distance, and in many cases, even a robust mass transit system can often leave gaps for people trying to get to jobs that are at non-business hours.

The Creative Coast’s blogspot is Savannah’s sounding board for local thinkers, innovators, wanderers and wonderers. Guest bloggers share their thoughts, opinions and creative noodling from all over the map. This week’s blog is from Susan Isaacs, incoming Chairperson for The Creative Coast and Head Strategic Focus-izer with the Paragon Design Group. Read on to see what Susan and The Creative Coast Team are focusing on for 2012……

 I first came to Savannah in the fall of 1996 when the historic downtown was in many ways a scary place. Broughton Street was a hodgepodge of boarded-up windows, oddballs peddling suspect goods, and guys cat-calling as you walked past.

Then, during the course of my five years at SCAD, I watched as things changed. The scary began to disappear and I got the sense this town was resurrecting herself into something new and amazing. I was so taken by this that my plan to leave when I graduated was replaced by a strong desire to stay and become a part of the new Savannah. I was not alone in that hope; many of my college friends felt the same way.

The Creative Coast’s blogspot is Savannah’s sounding board for local thinkers, innovators, wanderers and wonderers. Guest bloggers share their thoughts, opinions and creative noodling from all over the map. This week’s blog is from Patrick Shay, a fanatical (but low profile) community supporter, consumate activitivist, esteemed architect and seasoned County Commissioner.  Read on for Patrick’s pondering of Savannah at the crossroads….

Since its inception, Savannah has been a dynamic dance between these two ingredients of a city’s success. Founded as a refuge for unemployed workers, and as a place where merit and hard work were to replace birthright and privilege, Georgia’s first city began as a bold experiment. Her form was also unique, with an amount of public land that exceeded that of private property, organized around public squares and community gardens. The best urban land was reserved for civic purposes, so that people would always understand that civility was more important than private wealth.

Over the years, the competition for resources with other American cities changed Savannah, and she became devoted to the commerce of cotton, sea trade, slavery, forestry, kaolin, and other mercantile commodities. Her form changed and evolved into a bustling seaport and railroad hub, with shanty towns for the workers, and mansions for the barons of industry. Most of what we now think of as our historical city survives from this era, and it is a legacy of commercial success.