Another "tell me about" post: Savannah, GA

[jim72911t]

An interesting job opportunity has presented itself. It would require relocation to Savannah, GA. I've been doing bunch of research on the area, but would like some input from those who have either lived in or visited the area.

A little about me: Grew up in SoCal (Huntington Beach), and moved to NorCal in 1987 for college and never left. I work as a manufacturing engineer, own a home, a few cars, but not much else. No kids. The significant other lives with me. She's a wonderful woman, and is encouraging me to persue this opportunity.

I also own a small Porsche parts business and peddle my goods here on Pelican. My current job allows me to manufacture my products in house and, since I do the production scheduling, I am able to get my parts on the machines within a reasonable time frame. Plus, the owner allows me to do prototype and "tinkering" work on the weekends, if a machine is available. Not an insignificant benifit if you take into consideration the price of CNC machine time. Quite frankly, I'm not sure what would happen to my business if I wasn't able to oversee the manufacture and QC of my product. Granted, I'm not making to much money with it, but it allows me to make friends in the Porsche community and provides some decent tax benefits as well. In an ideal world, I would quit my current job and persue my business full time. I'd need more product (many are already designed) and better marketing to make that happen, though.

Anyway, I'm toying with an offer that will come close to doubling my current salary and offer a much nicer benefits package. Housing prices in GA are attractive, as well. (I'd probably hold on to the house I own now, and rent it)

So, my question is this: How do you think a born and bred California guy will handle the South? Yes, I've heard about the humidity. Probably a huge culture shock, as well.

Sorry for the long-winded post. Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jim

[austin552]

I love to visit there and bet you would love it to. I would take the offer and land a huge victorian with the extra income. If in doubt take a short trip and check out the areas and housing market, schools, etc.

[RoninLB]

take in a quick visit.

Savannah is a funky town that can be a class act but it's extremely removed from an area like northern cal imo. You'll know in one day of eyeballing the area what your decision is imo.

[MRM]

My sister lives near by and I have spent a couple of days there hear and there over the years. Beautiful town. A wonderful, quirky, wild history (think Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) and a lot of historic Victorians. It has its share of problems, too, like most cities. My sister is a teacher and will admit the schools are not up to snuff.

It is a very southern town. The south is an acquired taste. If you like it, you'll take to Savana like a fish to water. If it's just not your cup of tea, it will feel stifling and strange.

So visit it, walk all over, talk to the locals, and get a feel for how you'll feel about it in a few years. My guess is that you will like it.

[hm7608]

Lived there 3+ years.
Positives: near the ocean, southern charm, historic, small city, has a track, close to Hilton Head, Charleston, Jax, St Simons and more, lower cost of living, 2 seasons (spring/summer).
Negatives: large cockroaches everywhere, humidity, small city, 2 seasons, adverse to yankees (not baseball).

We didn't like living there the first year and then got settled in with friends and the culture and thoroughly enjoyed living there until we moved to Denver.

[fastpat]

I haven't lived, or even explored, Savannah but I know someone well who does live there, a fellow BMW e28 enthusiast. I'm going to PM him to come over here and give you the scoop. He's lived there for most of his life I think.

[ben parrish]

Lived near and in Savannah for 27 years. Great town; wonderful food; "funky characters"; GREAT symphony; beautiful parks; MILD winters; Glorious springs; HOT!! Summers; beautiful autumns; spectacular boating environment; avid golfing community. There are lots of bugs but they keep the sissies away. NO snow to shovel!!! Mountains of north GA, TN and NC are only 4.5 hrs away. Atlanta is 4 hrs. Well situated for an active lifestyle.
All in all, Savannah is a great place to live. Look at Skidaway Island (The Landings), Wilimington Island, Mid town, Coffee Bluff, etc,etc..
I have lived all over the country and would not hesitate to live in Savannah again. It is a medium sized, small town but I like those types of place. The people are warm and friendly but don't try to go there with an attitude that you can make it better; quickest way to alienation.
Ben

[stomachmonkey]

Heard it's a dry county. As in no booze.

Could be wrong.

[fastpat]

Originally posted by stomachmonkey
Heard it's a dry county. As in no booze.

Could be wrong.

There's two brew pubs in Savannah, don't know about bars, but I'd suspect there there are.

[jim72911t]

Thanks for all the replies so far.

I've done a bit more research. High crime rate according to wikipedia. Seems to me that if a wikipedia site talks about the high crime rate, it might be even worse than described. Another interesting statistic: 21.7% of homes had a female householder with no husband present. My S/O looks at this as a great opportunity, as she is a social worker. I'm not so sure.

On the plus side: I just talked to a close friend of mine (Merchant Marine, so he's been everywhere) who has spent a decent amount of time there. He loves the town, and highly recommends it. The rumors that it is a dry town seem to be false as well, as he was saying it's one of the few places in the US he's been where you could walk from bar to bar, drink in hand. He also said the people were amazing and very hospitable, even to a sailor from NYC.

Anyway, it looks like the company is interested in flying me and the S/O out for an extended weekend visit. This is new to me, as I've never been aggressively recruited before. Kind of a nice feeling as well, since I've finally gotten to the point where I feel like I'm pretty good at what I do, and deserve to be compensated accordingly.

Jim

[fastpat]

Originally posted by jim72911t
Thanks for all the replies so far.

I've done a bit more research. High crime rate according to wikipedia. Seems to me that if a wikipedia site talks about the high crime rate, it might be even worse than described. Another interesting statistic: 21.7% of homes had a female householder with no husband present. My S/O looks at this as a great opportunity, as she is a social worker. I'm not so sure.

Both concentrated in one ethnic group for the most part, with a second ethnic group adding to it as they immigrate into the area.

On the plus side: I just talked to a close friend of mine (Merchant Marine, so he's been everywhere) who has spent a decent amount of time there. He loves the town, and highly recommends it. The rumors that it is a dry town seem to be false as well, as he was saying it's one of the few places in the US he's been where you could walk from bar to bar, drink in hand. He also said the people were amazing and very hospitable, even to a sailor from NYC.

Anyway, it looks like the company is interested in flying me and the S/O out for an extended weekend visit. This is new to me, as I've never been aggressively recruited before. Kind of a nice feeling as well, since I've finally gotten to the point where I feel like I'm pretty good at what I do, and deserve to be compensated accordingly.

Jim

When you're there, in addition to picking up as many real estate brochures as you can carry back to CA, I'd recommend subscribing to the largest newspaper in the town for a few months while you're still in Cally, to get a feel for what's going on there, and there's still some real estate for sale in them too.

My Savannah acquaintance was in South Bend, IN for the FiverFest all this weekend, but he'll be back this week.