Ever since I started writing columns for the Savannah Morning News (after a few months at Connect Savannah) way back in 2000, I’ve been writing about the need for increased residential density in neighborhoods in and around the city’s core.
I’m not talking about doing anything crazy — let’s just get people living again in reasonable ways in reasonable places. Blight, zoning codes, crime, bad traffic patterns. and broader cultural patterns left many urban neighborhoods with populations far, far below their historical norms. That has resulted in big trouble for locally-owned neighborhood retail and contributed to a broad range of other social ills.
Today’s column — What will increased density mean for three older Savannah neighborhoods? — takes a look at three major rental developments: One West Victory, The Savannah Lofts, and the Avenues on 61st. I planned many months ago to write a column discussing these three properties together, but I almost didn’t write it. That’s because Jessica Leigh Lebos wrote a column for Connect Savannah about those three properties back in June: High density housing on the rise. I was a little afraid that today’s column would just look like a copy of her idea, but even if it were, it’s a good idea! And I see some of the issues and properties, especially the Avenues on 61st, a bit differently than Jessica does. Her piece is well worth a read.
And I’ve written a lot over the years about the “D word” — “density”.
From my 2012 column Density in cities no longer a dirty word:
Those of us advocating for greater density aren’t calling for extreme changes to the city. I certainly don’t expect to see the urban population return to its peak of decades ago, when as many as three times more residents lived north of Victory Drive as do so today.
Advocates of increased density would just like to see appropriate infill housing in keeping with neighborhoods’ historical norms and see thoughtful redevelopment of large underutilized tracts of land.
From 2011’s How public policy can fight population loss in Savannah:
We could also argue — as a couple of readers have done — that we shouldn’t worry about population loss in core neighborhoods. Local residents will make decisions based on their own best interests, so it’s inevitable that some neighborhoods will stagnate or even shrink while others swell.
I would counter with a number of arguments.
First, I believe cities matter.
Savannah, in particular, is the economic driver for the metropolitan area even though fewer than half the metro residents live within the city limits.
Also, there are far more costs to sprawl than most Americans seem to realize.
Denser neighborhoods in the core of a city require less infrastructure spending. And studies have shown that people living in proximity to jobs and services might spend about 10 percent of their incomes on transportation, while those in the most inefficient locations spend about three times as much.
It’s also worth noting that Savannah’s oldest neighborhoods were built on some of the highest ground in the county. In the event of storm surge from a major hurricane, it makes sense to have as many residents as possible living at the highest possible elevation.
Here are some of my iPhone pics (used for reference in writing today’s column) of 1) One West Victory, 2) Avenues on 61st, and 3) The Savannah Lofts.
