Savannah, GA an Accessible City

Historic Savannah is an extremely beautiful southern city, with its famous squares, 19th century architecture, and oak tree 

lined streets dripping with Spanish moss. An unpublished fact about Savannah is what a bicycle and walking friendly city it is. 

A Very Accessible City

Every street has a sidewalk creating easy accessibility to shops, hotels, restaurants, galleries and down to River Street on the waterfront. Tourists love the fact that it is a wonderful walking city, Savannah is small enough that one can walk to just about anywhere. The infamous Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) has the city as its campus. SCAD buildings are sprawled throughout the city inhabiting some of the older historic buildings. Students either bike, walk, ride scooters or take the local city buses to get around to their classes. Most students use bikes, so it’s a very bike friendly city. In fact many of the more narrow streets have bicycle lanes. Many residents also bike to their destinations. With biking being so popular in Savannah there are several thriving bicycle shops located downtown.

Bicycling Advantages

Bicycling has so many advantages; healthier than driving, saving on gas for the environment and the pocketbook. Plus parking

is much easier with biking, just lock it to a parking meter that some else will be putting money into. But there are some other hidden advantages for the residential community where there are lots of bikers, and bicycle lanes. Atlanta is putting in bicycle lanes and in so doing is taking a look at the community advantages of spending to do this. Rebecca Serna, Atlanta Bicycle Coalition executive director says both avid cyclists and casual bikers are increasingly likely to pay upwards of $5,000 more for a home if it means more space — on the street, that is. Also the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition is currently conducting a study on the commercial business effects and economic benefits of local bike infrastructure, due to be released this fall. "Those looking to sell will certainly benefit from the qualitative selling points — greater mobility, access to popular city hubs, shorter commutes to work. So even if you don’t bike yourself, you can still benefit from those that do in your community.  

The Economic Benefits of Bicycling

Here are some facts from the National Bikes Belong organization (sponsored by the U.S. bicycle industry). The average bicycle shop has 6 full-time employees. With approximately 4,200 specialty bicycle retailers in the U.S., this totals 25,620 people employed full-time by these retailers. A 20-year study of efforts to make streets less convenient for autos and better for pedestrians and cyclists found that after changes are implemented, businesses in these areas show stronger growth than auto-friendly shopping centers. Bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure projects create up to double the jobs (11-14) of road infrastructure projects (7) per $1 million spent. Homes located on a bike boulevard are worth $5,757 more than homes not on one. Houses located in areas with above-average levels of walk-ability [or bike-ability] are worth up to $34,000 more than similar houses in areas with average walk-ability levels.