Race/ Ethnicity/Immigration Structure and Shifts in Savannah:
In its initial era, Savannah has been a prosperous city. Based on the thriving economy of the Cotton Industry and Savannah port, Savannah grew as one of the attractive cities for opportunities and wealth in the south-eastern region of the country. With the decline on the cotton industry in the nineteenth century, the city faced the challenges of poverty and unemployment. Savannah has been the home for African slaves who were brought into the region for cotton production. The workers of these cotton industry were primarily trained in that particular production and did not have any other skills that would help them survive with the decline of the cotton industry. Based primarily on this issue, the nineteenth century Savannah faced the problem of poverty. However, with the foundation of Historic Savannah Preservation in 1950s, Savannah discovered the potential of tourism as the new thriving economic generator. The growth of tourism rectified to some extent the issue of poverty for Savannah. But with the advent of service based economy the city has again been facing the issue of growing poverty. A comparative analysis for the years 2000 and 2010 Census data and 2012 American Community Survey data shows that there has been an increase of 10% in the population below poverty level. In 2000 21.8% of the total population were below the poverty level, whereas the 2012 ACS shows a share of 28.6%. The numbers of poverty can be related to the change in the shift of economic structure of the city. Savannah has been predominantly an industry based community. With the decline of industrial sector throughout the globe and the emergence of service sector, it can be concluded that service based economy requires higher skills and education compare to the industrial sector of the past. Keeping pace with the global economy, the service economy does not help the lower income groups who lack the skillsets for service industry, which also is the scene of Savannah.
The breakdown of races of poor residents in Savannah shows the social class structure of the community. The estimates for the year 2012 shows that the majority of the poor residents are African Americans. According to the census Black constitutes 35.7% of the poverty mix with Whites having 17.6% share and the rest other races. This strengthens the fact that poverty relates with the social structure of a community. Although, Blacks are the majority of the population in Savannah, the numbers of poverty for races portrays the idea that the change in economic sectors are due responsible for poverty being concentrated in certain races. Poverty is also related to migration pattern observed over years. The 2012 ACS poverty data breakdown shows that foreign born residents of Savannah have a greater share in the poverty ration of the city compare to the native born. The implications indicates global nature of poverty for native born people getting advantages over immigrants. The spatial implications of poverty strengthens the observations seen previously. The concentration of poverty is observed in the periphery of the city. The explanation of this could be the advent of historic preservation which eventually causes gentrification and moves out poor residents out of the historic districts. Savannah’s downtown being one of the major historic districts and main tourist attractions, has the challenges of this issue. The area has predominantly been to African-Americans who in the course of the time have lost their economic stability due to the shift in the economic characters of the city. The increasing unemployment along with the rising housing value in the historic downtown area is causing the dispersal of native Savannah residents. This fact is also supported by the spatial observation of poor residents of foreign and native origins. The concentration of native born poverty is observed in the historic districts, which has been the residence of early settlers. The foreign born poverty is located outside the downtown region and predominantly in the peripheral region of the city which again was the place where settlers of later period located.
The breakdown of races of poor residents in Savannah shows the social class structure of the community. The estimates for the year 2012 shows that the majority of the poor residents are African Americans. According to the census Black constitutes 35.7% of the poverty mix with Whites having 17.6% share and the rest other races. This strengthens the fact that poverty relates with the social structure of a community. Although, Blacks are the majority of the population in Savannah, the numbers of poverty for races portrays the idea that the change in economic sectors are due responsible for poverty being concentrated in certain races. Poverty is also related to migration pattern observed over years. The 2012 ACS poverty data breakdown shows that foreign born residents of Savannah have a greater share in the poverty ration of the city compare to the native born. The implications indicates global nature of poverty for native born people getting advantages over immigrants. The spatial implications of poverty strengthens the observations seen previously. The concentration of poverty is observed in the periphery of the city. The explanation of this could be the advent of historic preservation which eventually causes gentrification and moves out poor residents out of the historic districts. Savannah’s downtown being one of the major historic districts and main tourist attractions, has the challenges of this issue. The area has predominantly been to African-Americans who in the course of the time have lost their economic stability due to the shift in the economic characters of the city. The increasing unemployment along with the rising housing value in the historic downtown area is causing the dispersal of native Savannah residents. This fact is also supported by the spatial observation of poor residents of foreign and native origins. The concentration of native born poverty is observed in the historic districts, which has been the residence of early settlers. The foreign born poverty is located outside the downtown region and predominantly in the peripheral region of the city which again was the place where settlers of later period located.
Changes can be observed as from 2000 to 2010 Blacks moved out of the city