The city of Savannah is a character in its own right. Is there a city that is important to you? Do you believe that if you love a city, you must care about its complicated history?

The city of Savannah is an integral part of the story—a character in its own right. Is there a city that is important to you? Does its tragedies and triumphs shape it? Do you believe that if you love a city, you must care about its complicated history?

There are many cities that are important to me, such as NYC, London, Asheville, Savannah, Charleston, Hattiesburg,etc. I do think the tragedies and triumphs help shape a city and certainly adds to my interest in them. While I don’t think it needs to be required to know the history of a city to love it, I do think the history of the city is important in order to feel a connection to it.

Ironically it is Savannah that is my favorite city. I have visited twice and have many fond memories. The walk by the bay with its many shops is especially appealing. I also attended Mass at a beautiful large church there.
Savannah seems to have more history than a lot of towns and it is preserved impeccably. It IS important to preserve history and Savannah does an excellent job. It is the epitome of a gracious southern town.

I very much enjoy visiting different cities. Besides fun trips, while going to professional conferences in different cities, I would always make time to visit the highlights of whatever city I was in. Savannah sounds wonderful, although I have not visited yet. I think it is moving to the top of my wish list! I was born in Chicago and that will always be "my city" even though I have not lived there for many, many years. I still love spending a few days there when I can, just breathing in that Chicago air downtown and visiting familiar - and new - places. I do think learning the history of a city along with experiencing the current city, and knowing some of the many steps in-between, are part of loving a city (at least for me).

I have been to Savannah several times, and have always been drawn to it. Though I haven't lived there for many years, Boston is "my city," and seems like home in my memory. I will admit the last time I visited, it seemed much changed from my memory. The history of where you consider home is important--even though it seems that history always seems to be changing.

I believe a city’s history may be a reason to love that city but I don’t believe knowing a city’s history is requisite to loving it. I tend to love a city because of the people, the culture (food, language, etc), the energy, the space / environment / setting - and yes, history plays a part across all. Certain cities “call to me” - they feel like coming “home”…cities like Bangkok, London, Chicago, Hong Kong, Istanbul, and Mexico City (the latter two which were actually home for years).

Having visited Savannah several years ago and seeing with my own eyes the beauty of this Southern city, and noting the sites mentioned in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which I loved reading, I was particularly interested in this story about the city of Savannah. I loved the author's descriptions of the city and the people, and the feeling of those who lived there that this was such a special place. I have lived in a number of cities and have loved every one of them. I have always been interested in the history of a place, whether I have resided there or not. I live in Arizona and have visited almost all the historic places in this state and know a lot of the history of the area. I think involvement in the history and the day-to-day life of your city is essential to a happy life.

I like knowing the history of a city (or state or country) and will often read/research before visiting to understand culture, places to visit, history, current events, etc. I don't think it's a requirement, but it is something I enjoy. This story provided a different perspective of Savannah and I found it very interesting.

Knowing and caring for the history of a place is important. Maybe I just feel that way because I love history, but it is our history that makes us who we are. And that isn't just our personal history, but often has something to do with the history of place. In my area of Wisconsin, most of the small communities were built on logging. Without the trees and the men who came to harvest them, there probably wouldn't be any towns where I come from.