andremurra

YAY - I finally got myself to buy a really nice camera. Ill be taking pics of scenes in Statesboro in the coming weeks.

I think the Walmart property is not a supercenter but a Walmart Neighborhood Market and a Sam's Club. I dont care much for a Sam's Club, but having a WNM is a good thing because it recognizes that Statesboro is no longer a general intersection of roads, but a city now with many neighborhoods and smaller markets within itself. I think one of the most important things that needs to happen to Statesboro before it "arrives" is that we start recognizing neighborhoods and smaller markets in and around Statesboro and even mapping them out and building community pride in our "hoods".

The city leaders are going to approve things that bring in higher revenues if those things dont threaten their own personal agendas. But Im talking about the big picture here - restricting buildings higher than 35 feet, investing in the demands of our future economy such as commerce rather in our former economy (agriculture), building new high schools that are barely going to serve our current student enrollments rather than building to accomodate at least the next decade of enrollment, all the freaking alcohol ordinances, capitalizing on the university students while discouraging them to be politically involved, etc. I just feel that the community is not acting in a competitive manner. Statesboro's leadership seem to be trying to compete with other 3rd Tier cities when we should be trying to compete with 2nd Tier cities. Raising our own standards to compete with 2nd Tier cities is the best way to plan for future growth in my opinion. We already have the infrastructure in education, recreation, and medicine to compete with the larger cities. I feel that our planning codes and city ordinances need to move forward with the rest of us. Im not referring to all of our leaders, but the ones that seem to be holding us back. It seems though, that over the past 2-3 years, our leadership has been changing a bit, and hopefully the pro-growth attitude will follow. I agree with what Im saying because my family has been here for over sixty years and Im aware of what most everyone else who has has been here a while feels and the general consensus is anti-growth. The newer residents are bringing newer ideas and attitudes and hopefully all that will change.

Why is Hinesville a Metropolitan Statistical Area and Statesboro is only a Micropolitan Statistical Area? By definition, a Metro needs to have an urban core of over 50,000 and a Micro has an urban core of 10,000-49,999. Hinesville does not have a core over 50,000. In addition, Hinesville

Well, the abandoned hotels are a direct result of the interstate system being built. Prior to I-95, US HWY 301 was the prime route from Boston to Florida, essentially connecting all of New Englands largest cities to the their second home and favorite vacationing spots. Traffic through Statesboro was once an extreme hold up on the drive, and there were many restuarants and hotels lining 301 through Statesboro. At one time, Statesboro's nickname was "Tourist City" - and it continued to thrive in the 60's as such. Statesboro was considered THE place to stop on the way to Florida. Then I-95 was built and many hotels were either abandoned or demolished. There were several hotels demolished in Statesboro, including some that would make our downtown look really great if they were still here. Photo's of the hotels can be seen in any of the Statesboro or Bulloch County history books. Looking at the photos, especially of the larger ones really make me feel bummed out, especially when we have all these crappy restaurants and gas stations lining South Main Street instead. Im hoping someday we can get our Tourist City nickname back, but we have to find something to attract tourism back over here - but I cant really think of anything major off hand other than getting a good entertainment/arts/night scene which isnt going to happen anytime soon under our current leadership.

Statesboro's Hospitality Industry Booming I was hoping to get to this topic first (sad that we all use the same sources to post things - haha), but I had to go workout at the RAC before Thanksgiving holidays ruined the opportunity for me. I gotta say that I love the new RAC - Ive been going regularly since the $35-million addition opened (the original part of the facility cost $9-million). It is so nice and huge - there are plasma screens everywhere and all the cardio machines have 10-inch television screens in them with extended cable access - NICE. Now on to the Hotels. At first when I was reading the column, I was excited and hoping to read that someone was going to redevelop the tract, but it seems that the twice-remodeled ex-Holiday Inn will be remodeled again into a Quality Inn. So yes, at first I was unhappy about it, but after thinking about it for a bit, I do think that it is very good news for the community. For one thing, consider that the owner has pledged to put $2-million into the renovation of the hotel. Thats a very substantial investment. Probably since the hotel was tax-auctioned off he didnt pay much for it and is able to put $2-million into it for that reason. The new Holiday Inn is only costing $8m, and that is to build the entire thing from the ground up - so that should give one a good idea of what $2m can do for a hotel remodeling. If he does it right, and it really depends on if he gives the hotel a new outside facelift, this could turn out to be a very good investment for Statesboro. Think of it this way, our tourism capacity is about to grow by 400-500 rooms. Before the Guest Inn closed, Statesboro had almost 1000 rooms, but lost 129 with Guest Inn closing. Down to now 800+ rooms, after this closure, 94-room Holiday Inn is announced, Comfort Inn & Suites is adding 20 suites, two more hotels are possibly coming across the street in Southern Plaza (200-room potential) - and now the 129-room hotel is coming back as Quality Inn with a $2m facelift. Thats an estimate of 443 new rooms coming to Statesboro. Im sure that by the time all these hotels get built or remodeled, there will be more announcements made in the hospitality sector. These developments include three new conference centers (Holiday Inn, Comfort Inn, and Southern Plaza) and two restaurants (Holiday Inn & Quality Inn). Like I said, I hope the facelift looks like $2-million worth. Now if someone will just do something with that Hojo crap next door.

The Fine Arts Phase III - Black Box Theatre is taking shape. Construction started a while back, but the frame is going up now. The addition to the Arts Building will be almost 30,000 sq ft. It will include three art galleries and a new 180 seat Black Box Theatre. The completion date is Fall 2007 and a name has not yet been identified for the new building.

My co-worker was complaining about there being a thick smoke near his apartment today. I went to the council meeting since I "legally" live in Bradford Place and they are wanting to develop 30 acres into a subdivision and put 2-3 entrances on Cawana Road. Most of my neighbors were more concerned about the sharp curve on Cawana right before there would be a place to stop and turn into a subdivision. Some complained about development in the area and others said they always knew the Cawana-Beasley Corridor would be the next to go. Regardless, against the residents approval, the planning board approved the plan to go before the city council. Some residents were complaining that they can see the bypass now from Cawana and they had never been able to see it before and the cut down trees had removed a sound buffer. Um Im pretty sure youre blind if you couldnt see the bypass yet and the thin group of trees being removed didnt increase the noise any from 2000 feet away. They were unhappy that the houses in the subdivision would not be as valuable as the ones in Bradford Place. The houses in Bradford Place are not really that big, but they are selling for a pretty penny. The market value of our home has doubled since we moved in. Several of the homes in Phase I have sold for over 300k. The new development would be approximately 3 homes to an acre I think is what was said. Residents were complaining about that too, but in actuality, it would probably look just like Bradford Place, because the only reason our lots are so big is because they are very narrow and very deep. They just wont have as big back yards as us is all, in my opinion. Im not sure what they plan to do with the lot between Cawana and the Bypass... I missed the first hour of the meeting.

I have serious issues with that population report... in general, not just about Statesboro. There methodology is completely irrelevent for our area, especially the county-share method, when a dumb person would know that the migration patterns in a county change over the course of a few years, much less 25 years. Brooklet is growing like crazy right now and for the report to state that the 2030 estimate is 1600 is ludacris (theyre about to finish a 2-story, 1500-capacity school there). I think Brooklet will hit 10,000 or at least something close to that by 2030. Statesboro on the other hand was already estimated by Georgia Trends to have over 32,000 so to say that the estimate for 2030 is 33,000 is stupid as heck. Portal's 2030 estimate was 800.... wtcrap? (they are adding to the school over there too)? I also felt that it downplayed Pooler too, which already has over 10,000 and their 2030 estimate is only 12,000. I just visited the Sav-Airport at Godley Station and there are at least 20 new restuarants and hotels since I went to the airport a few months ago. So they say that although Pooler grew 4000 in 5 years, it will only grow another 2000 in 25 years? Then I have major issues with the report stating that Bulloch County's residential development is at a 10-year all time low. Have these people even visited Bulloch lately? The school estimates an enrollment of 23,000 for 2009 and the business sector is estimating 25,000 by 2010 according to a real estate broker I know. As a student-leader on campus, I know of plans by the Georgia Board of Regents to pour a TON of money into Georgia Southern over the next several years and there is intention to make it larger than UGA and eventually an equivalent in academic status. The Carnegie Foundation has already upped our status from regional to Research-Doctorate status. I cant truly respect Georgia Tech after reading this document.

Its not just you, Morgan, for some reason local authorities just seem to have been downplaying Statesboro's growth as much as possible - I personally think they are just wishfully believing that Statesboro is going to remain small forever. Its very unlikely that Statesboro will stay the same size. It has already quadrupled its population since I was born, and it really didnt start booming booming until the last couple years. Georgia Trends magazine estimated the (current at the time of publishing) 2005 population to be over 32,000. I have seen many different projections and estimates from various sources. I saw a 24,430 for 2003, a 26,612 for 2004, and I remember seeing a 28,000 estimate from another source a year or two ago. But also remember that Statesboro is a tiny 13 square miles in area, and there are very small areas in the city limits that are left for development. Most developers seem to be taking a "radius" approach to attract commercial investors. For instance, instead of citing the city's current population estimate, they cite a 5, 15, or 30 mile radius population which is much larger than a city population, because we all know that the areas immediately adjacent to the city limits of Statesboro are where the most developments are taking place, and of course Brooklet is growing too, very quickly. I see Statesboro and Brooklet merging within the next 5 years, especially at the current rate Statesboro is growing - if it continues. Bulloch County is already over 60,000 and Georgia Trends has already projected it to pass 70,000 by 2009 I think. Why do I get the feeling that there are some MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR things being secretly planned for Statesboro as we unsuspectingly go on about our daily lives? I dont know, the commercial sector seems to be on a big hush hush lately. Does anyone else feel that vibe? I dont know, I just sense something in the works and I want to know what it is!!!

Yeah it is... I read the letter today... its 9 acres on the west side of Cawana Road and 20 acres on the east side... There is a meeting on Nov 14th at 5pm (i think) for anyone who is interested. Its not actually a public hearing but they will allow people to offer opinions on the development proposal. And the developers want Statesboro to annex it, yes.

Yeah I voted for that - was kinda confused at first from the wording whether i should vote yes or no...lol. I also wrote in Spongebob Squarepants for one of the candidates. Im confused tho, why did the city send your friend a letter, Nova? The property I am thinking about is located in the county.