Augusta Is...

I was just thinking right now... I've been writing to you guys for quite some time, and I never really told you about my home city much. Augusta's one of those... actually, it's not. I get the feeling Augusta's the only city of its kind for several reasons. I'll explain more as I go.

Anyway, I decided to give you an incite into Augusta with a list of "is-es" and "is-nots". Shouldn't take long, but then again...

1. Augusta is... the second largest city in Georgia. That's right: not Savannah; not Athens; not Valdosta; not Albany. Augusta.

2. Augusta is NOT... an active city. We're the second largest in size, not necessarily attraction or development.

3. Augusta is NOT... the real A-Town. Lemme put it to you ilke this: if Augusta IS the A-Town, then Atlanta is the A-City.

4. Augusta is... NOTORIOUS for trying to jack Atlanta's swagger. If you're mad, you're guilty. Bottom dollar.

5. Augusta is... possibly the next AIKEN, SC. It all depends on who's in charge.

6. Augusta is... striving to become a retirement city. I'm not saying this because I like it, I'm just echoing the mayor. Don't shoot the messenger.

7. Augusta is... split economically. You've got Richmond County and you've got Columbia county; the poor, undeveloped side and the rich, growing side, respectively.

8. Augusta is... split racially. You've got Richmond County and you've got Columbia County; (you guessed it) the majorly Black side and the majorly White side respectively.

9. Augusta WAS... split by a race war. Just thought I'd throw it in; don't know much about it, but what's there to know, right?

10. Augusta is... the home of subtle racism. But that word subtle is... um... debatable. Would you call having a golf tournament called the Masters 'open' racism, or subtle racism? And then, where exactly does Tiger Woods' ruling it factor in... The point is, there's division, but it's not outwardly shown. It's talked about in households and it rears itself in politics. But the subtlety is slowly changing by the efforts of people like Ryan B., an Aiken-based radio jockey who's very vocal about climate of the area.

11. Augusta is... undergoing urbanization. In other words, more development, more crime. The police force is seeing unusually high numbers of leaving officers...

12. Augusta is... corrupt in politics. Which actually is a dot, because 'politics' and 'corrupt' go hand-in-hand. Most of the corruption is (you guessed it again) race related.

13. Augusta is... James Brown central. Actually, we'll say 'the CSRA' (Central Savannah River Area) so we don't offend anybody. He, like me coincidentally, was raised between the two-state (the CSRA encompasses parts of both GA and SC). Anyway, the killer is the Godfather of Soul called Augusta home, but soul is hard to find down here.

14. Augusta is... the best place to get hospitalized. Sounds funny right? But lemme tell u this: I know a looooot of student nurses coming out of the university and they are... wow. Like, I've never wanted to be injured so bad in my LIFE O_o.

15. Augusta is... right on the Savannah River (if you haven't figured it out).

16. Augusta is... home to Laurence Fishburne. People have told me they see him occasionally at a certain church, which I won't mention cuz you're supposed to be going there for JESUS!

17. Augusta is... the "Garden City". But, there actually is a place called Garden City in Georgia, so don't get confused.

18. Augusta is... a reasonably good place to live... IF YOU'RE 80!!! SOMEBODY GET ME OUTTA... j/k. It's pretty cool overall. And I expect it to get better in years time depending on who's in charge. Right now, I don't have any faith in the establishment, but ya never know who'll get put in office.

19. Augusta is... in need of a theme park (personal suggestion). We've got an empty mall parking lot that should be big enough. And that side of town needs a boost any ol' way.

20. Augusta is... a good place to get an education; Augusta State University charges...mmm $1340 for a sememster with a full load of classes. Beat THAT...

21. Augusta is... an almost perfect blend of urban and rural. When we get some creative minds down here, the almost just might disappear. We just need some buildings with creative construction to give it some atmosphere, and some way to highlight the Riverwalk. Which leads me to my last note...

22. Augusta is... highlighted by Augusta State University. Yeah, I hate school, so I hate to say this, but Augusta State University has undergone a lot of changes in recent years, and it definitely has paid off. The school is beautiful and almost makes me want to come every morning. Now, if we could just get a liiiiittle more PARKING...

Arrighty, so that's Augusta in 22 shots. If you ever come thru, make sure to dig me up; you're not gonna find me, but it'll be fun to try. If you come on campus, you just might see me, cuz I'll be the only guy speaking to people.

STAboyz Represent!!! (I never liked the 'AUG' abbreviation) B-J