Savannah Neighborhoods See Face Lifts

There’s a green light a few neighborhoods to get some more sprucing up. The Edgemere and Sackville neighborhoods run from Waters Avenue to the Truman Parkway and 52nd Street to Parnell Avenue.

There are about 150 homes in the area that will see the improvements when the project is all said and done. They'll see wider streets, sidewalks, gutters and driveways.

It's an area of the city that was originally built for military families. The homes for officers had the works, with sidewalks and driveways, but those for the enlisted service members were left bare.

So far, more than $1 million dollars has been spent on 53rd and 55th streets to make improvements to the neighborhood. On Thursday, the Savannah city council approved another $630,000 to add sidewalks and such to 54th street.

As neighbors say, what's already been done is the difference between night and day.

The improvements are sure signs that changes are coming to the Edgemere and Sackville neighborhoods.

"It looks better and it'll be a lot more safer," says Hosea Lewis, who’s lived in the neighborhood for 7 years.

He and other neighbors say it’s much safer for those walking and the kids riding their bikes.

Lewis's street isn't the only one seeing progress. His 54th Street neighbors will soon see sidewalks and the trimmings too. Those were the additions to the project approved by city council this week.

"They saw an opportunity to improve drainage from their property and to add to the aesthetics of the neighborhood, to eliminate the blight and one thing by placing driveways and allowing cars to park perpendicular to the street verses angled or parallel or any way they want,” explains Heather Fish, a citizen specialist with the City of Savannah.

"The driveway's just fine now. It don't mess my cars up so much. It was kind of hard with the mud down there and driving in and messing my cars up that would cause me to have to wash them 2 or 3 times a week and I don't like doing that,” adds Lewis.

“The residents are responding because a couple of them have actually painted their houses since we've started this project so it's having he impact that we thought it would have,” says Bob Scanlon with the City of Savannah.

"It's great. It's perfect. I mean they should have done this a long time ago,” adds Lewis.

The city isn't paying for all of the work neighbors will be paying the city back for their driveways at 7 % interest in their utility bills so $200,000 will be reimbursed by homeowners over the next few years.