If you don’t know Bill Augustin, you should, at least if you care anything about the Savannah Film Festival. Bill is the New York-based Special Programming Director. He first got involved with the festival in his work with publicist Bobby…
Month: August 2011
More thoughts on the detrimental effects of large urban parking lots
In my City Talk column today in the Savannah Morning News, I write about the depressing news that the large vacant lot at the corner of Drayton and Charlton appears destined to be a surface parking lot for the nearby…
Latest Case-Shiller index shows home prices essentially stable
I’m sure there’s going to be some confusion in the reporting of the Case-Shiller data released today for June (which is a composite of three months: April, May, June). Given the turmoil in the housing market in recent years and…
Carolina Liar to headline Savannah Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon
Carolina Liar? I’ve been waiting for the announcement of the headliner for the Savannah Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon and I frankly never imagined that it would be an act that I’ve never heard of. Anyway, what do I know? Someone…
Minimizing the delays caused by left turns — a key to improving traffic flow
A few days ago I posted about Traffic author Tom Vanderbilt’s thoughts about the ineffectiveness of warning signs on streets. Earlier this month in Slate, Vanderbilt wrote a fascinating piece about diverging diamond interchanges: Don’t Turn Left! A new kind…
The Savannah police and a question of priorities
I went to a friend’s 30th birthday party Saturday night. It was a grand time, at least until the police arrived and shut it down. I was inside the house when someone outside shot off some really, really loud fireworks…
A guest column about Armstrong’s Student Union and the role of “third places”
Three months ago I posted about the history of Armstrong Atlantic State University (where I’ve been teaching since 2000) as it becomes a more residential campus. In that post, I linked to a cover story I wrote for the most…
AJC on political and racial polarization of new U.S. house districts in Georgia
About a week ago, I wrote: Will 2011 redistricting finally kill off the endangered White Georgia Democrat? Today the AJC looks at a number of the changes likely in the wake of the new maps: In a congressional map set…
SMN on continuing struggle of Savannah’s community banks
I have written a lot about the banking crisis in Georgia. By the way, I don’t use the word “crisis” lightly. I’ve been using it for a few years to describe the real estate sector, but the recent debt debate…
“Traffic” author Tom Vanderbilt on those dangerous “Children at Play” signs
I write a lot about the interactions of pedestrians, drivers, cyclists, and various other modes of transportation here in Savannah. Earlier today, in preparation for my Tuesday column, I rode my bike to take pictures of surface parking lots on…
Astronautalis announces tour to promote soon-to-be released “This is Our Science”
We’ve had some great shows in Savannah in 2011 — and it’s far from over. One of the highlights of my year is certainly the Savannah Stopover gig by Astronautalis in March at The Wormhole. Some sound issues led Astronautalis…
Savannah elections about two months away; mayor’s race unpredictable
I’m planning to chime in from time to time here about Savannah’s elections, now just over two months away. I do not plan to endorse particular candidates. That’s just not a role that metro columnists should play, I don’t think.…
Irene followup: NYC orders mandatory evacuation of lowest lying areas
I worried in an earlier post that some people were not taking Hurricane Irene’s danger seriously enough. So it’s good to see New York City taking a necessary step with a storm of this size (a strong category 2 that…
Watching Irene
I’m fascinated by big storms and other major weather events. And I’m sure I’m not the only one that has been following the track and development of Hurricane Irene in pretty great detail. I was watching the Weather Channel last…