SCAD has made a huge impact on the revitilization of downtown. Many of the city's old grade schools were
unused. SCAD puchased these buildings and restored them and use them to hold classes. There are also several warehouses that were empty and abandoned and the college has restored those as well. I think one of the benefits of SCAD is that these buildings no longer had a use and would most likely sit empty for decades if SCAD didn't purchase and restore them. Their preservation efforts alone are outstanding -especially for buildings that only a college could make use out of.
In addition to the preservation, the influx of students in downtown has allowed for more businesses to flourish. All of this activity of course makes it safer and cleans up the city.
But - Savannah does still have a serious crime problem. A tourist would most likely not notice this at first glance. The most serious crimes are generally confined to the people involved in drug activity but muggings and car theft happen regularly. Since Savannah is such a walkable city with scattered "bad parts of town" and bordered on the east and west by housing projects, crime is prevalent.
But I can say in the 4 years that I lived there (Sept. 2001-June 2005) I saw a drastic improvement of downtown; especially Broughton Street. Much of it was boarded up when I first came to Savannah and now it is flourishing.
**I am a SCAD alumni
Could you be more specific of what photo you saw?
It could have been the parking garage that was recently built on Liberty and MLK. It was completed this spring.