Living and Working in Savannah
 

My wife and I are considering moving from Vermont and are seriously thinking of moving to Savannah. A friend of mine moved there two years ago and has said she has had a hard time breaking into the "old boy network". This friend and I both work in the field of life insurance and financial planning. I'm wondering if there might be anyone out there that might have some light to shed on trying to start up business in these smaller southern cities? Thank you for any help you can provide. Keith

If you go thinking of it as just another town, one with lots of beauty and terrific weather to offer, you will probably be fine and enjoy what it offers and the people you meet. <BR><BR>If you go with the mind set of &quot;these smaller southern cities&quot;, you might have some problems. <BR><BR>I grew up in New England but moved to Savannah from Dallas, anything but a small southern town. Still, I went thinking it was going to be a beautiful place and I'd love it. I did. Within a few months my husband was on several boards. (I only had one :&gt;) Part of that was a high visibility job he had, but we were welcomed with open arms...no good old boy network to break. We were very much a part of the city, lived there 4 years,he was given the key to the city when we left, and we still miss it. <BR><BR>Your circumstances are somewhat different--sales (I assume) and financial planning to boot. I would think that would be a difficult field for anyone new in ANY town, no matter where it is located. As important a function as that is, if I were in the market for a financial planner, I'd be looking at someone who has been around for a while and has a track record with people I know and trust. It might be a difficult field to get re-started anywhere, not just Savannah.

First of all, Savannah isn't a small city. The population is approx. 300,000. Traffic is horrible because roads can't be widened. I don't know about there being an &quot;old boy network&quot;. I suppose if you offer a product people want, they will purchase it, whether you are a local or not. What appeals to you regarding a move to Savannah? Maybe visit the city for an extended stay before moving.

The &quot;Old Boy Network&quot; is still very commonplace in the south.

this might be a bit late to reply to your posting, but i hope you get it. my boyfriend and i have lived in savannah for 6 years and you ask a very, very good question. the 'old boy network' is indeed alive and well in savannah and oftentimes makes us negate the stereotype of 'southern hospitality.' plain and simple - if you are identified as 'not being from here' (usually from your 'accent') you are not particularly welcomed. it is a very very tough nut to crack. we both are from larger cities - he nyc, myself washington, d.c. - and have worked very hard to make friends and assimilate - much harder than anywhere else we've ever lived. we have found that 'outsiders', after also working to assimilate and failing, tend to socialize and fraternize together. in a nutshell - it has been a lot of work for very little acceptance. another thing no one has mentioned it here, so i'll take the plunge - there is still an enormous amount of racism in the south - much more so than i would have ever imagined. i wish you well; it is smart to be forewarned.

tess, what an over generalization that &quot;there is an enormous amount of racism in the South&quot;.

So you've spent lots of time in every area of the South?

Morinsure:

I lived in Savannah in the 1990's and I've got to agree with Tess, on pretty much all counts (including the racism part - sorry Go). It is a fairly closed off city to outsiders - particularly &quot;northerners,&quot; as you would come to be called. I also lived in Charleston, Jacksonville and Raleigh and did not find the air of inhospitability there as I did in Savannah. So I do come at this with a number of Southern experiences (also having been born in Richmond, Virginia) - again, sorry Go - and was surprised, like Tess, to find that &quot;The South will rise again&quot; is an active sentiment. If you've kept up with the controversy regarding the Georgia flag you know some of it. Good luck, Mor.

We certainly had no trouble assimilating ourselves into the city, but talking with my husband about the &quot;good old boy network&quot; issue last night, he felt it does exist, but you only need to indentify the right folks and go to work to gain entrance. As I said, after 4 years living there, he left with the key to the city and we've entertained the idea of returning when he retires.

As far as the racism issue, I've also lived in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Dallas (current home, Tampa, doesn't qualify as south), and the degree of racism was surprising in Savannah, as were the discussions of the War of Northern Aggression.

The flag issue was a perfect example. I absolutely do not agree with the assertion that the pre-2001 flag, which incorporated the Confederate Battle Flag, only &quot;served to remind us of our past&quot;. It was adopted as a symbol of definace and resistance to integration, IMHO, and remained as such until 2001 when it was removed. My husband, white and born in MS by the way, refused to fly it on one of the 3 flag poles in front of the hotel, replacing it with the hotel's corporate logo instead. The 2001 flag still bore a small confederate emblem on the lower portion and was just replaced by one that removes it entirely, finally. Still, the choice between the 2001 flag and the new one will be voted on by referendum next March. Hopefully that issue has been put to bed permanently. The state has made huge strides, no doubt, but there are areas where there's still a long way to go.

By the way, the population of the city of Savannah is no where near 300,000. Counting Chatham County, perhaps, but the city of Savannah had a population of only 131,000 at the 2000 census and has very much of a small town feel to it.

--Savannah is not close to 300,000 as OliveOyl points out. And it feels very much like a small town.
--Racism is widespread there, but you'll not see it as an outsider. It is something evident in confidential discussions among people who know each other's backgrounds and beliefs. It is naive to claim it is not an issue there.
--OliveOyl's husband has a built in bypass around the good old boys' network because he's part of a very structured international business enterprise which reaches well beyond all city boundaries