Savannah! Southern charm...deadly streets.

[dave lackey]

Well,

After this report on CNN, I will trade Savannah for Charleston to visit.😡

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/19/health/savannah-georgia-high-murder-rate/index.html

 

[raid]

Drugs, prostitution, murder, violent crimes go side by side, Dave.

 

[lynnb]

But the drug trade, he says, is fueling the gun violence, and residents are largely powerless to stop it. "The two biggest money-making trades in this city are tourists and drugs."

Sad to read the article but it's not surprising Dave - poor people without marketable skills in the mainstream economy have very few options. It would be great if the Savannah tourism industry created enough worthwhile jobs with decent pay to make the drug industry irrelevant.

 

[raid]

I study such issues with spatial approaches, and we can identify such associations across the USA.

 

[it'sawhat?]

Dave , Charleston has the same going on.Drug related shootings are common enough here. We just have better restaurants here.

 

[dave lackey]

The sad thing it seems is the rampant drug trade in rural areas...I have a friend in Donalsonville who lives with a gun in his hand, his wife carries and they keep an arsenal. Why? Because burglaries, break-ins, and drug usage issues are rampant.

Never a month goes by that someone doesn't try to break into his house next to a cotton field. Last week, a convoy of six vehicles were running the rural area burglarizing at 3am throughout Seminole County. Six months ago, a similar gang got the idea from ID television channel shows.

It is like the wild West in the rural areas.😱 Thank goodness the 'burbs are fine where we are.

People worldwide don't realize that the good guys like me don't have guns. But every criminal does and they do not get them legally. I have been told of one psycho out in the country that is a convicted felon who has a huge cache. So I try to stay away from the bad areas. Had enough of that when I worked for the City and had to carry a concealed weapon and take firearms training regularly.

No more, had enough of that!😡

 

[dave lackey]

Dave , Charleston has the same going on.Drug related shootings are common enough here. We just have better restaurants here.

Did the new Hyatt open up in Charleston?

Linda has a free night gift card and really wants to go there. I would need someone to show us around though..maybe an RFF meet-up there!🙂

 

[Dave Jenkins]

If you don't defend yourself, you are defenseless. When you need a cop in seconds, they're only minutes away.

 

[Rob-F]

Dave , Charleston has the same going on.Drug related shootings are common enough here. We just have better restaurants here.

You can add St. Louis to the list. (I meant the drug-related violence, but our restaurants are good, too!)

 

[nikonosguy]

savannah seems my kind of place

 

[Steve M.]

Savannah was rough 20 years ago when I lived there. I'm sure it's worse now. The problem is that the Historical District tourist area, where you're generally pretty safe, is surrounded by the river on one side and some bad black ghettos on the other sides. It drops off rapidly in just one block! The police are undermanned, there's been a lot of corruption within the ranks, and the city lacks the funds to change anything. The politics are also very bad, so there's a lot of things wrong. Which is unfortunate, as the downtown is almost as pretty as New Orleans (a place that makes the crime in Savannah look non existent).

The only reason I'm mentioning that the bad areas are black is because that's traditionally who has been disenfranchised in most cities, especially in the South. While Federal integration may have changed some things in the South, there's still a lot of segregation and prejudice, which is why I can't live there anymore. No, not everyone is like that. It's only a small minority, but they tend to be the ones who run things and are well connected. Otherwise, Savannah is a pretty liberal place, but it's still far too old South for me. This was shot way back when I lived there and worked at Memorial Hospital.