A city built around squares

James Oglethorpe's plan set the city out in a grid of wards, each centered on a public square. The result is a downtown where every few blocks the street opens onto live oaks, benches and a monument, and where the traffic slows down as it goes around them.

For residents, the squares work like shared front yards. You cross two or three on the way to coffee, and you learn which one is quiet in the morning and which fills up on weekend evenings. The Amelia sits on Oglethorpe Avenue at Lincoln Street, close to Colonial Park and to Oglethorpe and Columbia squares.

Forsyth Park

At the southern edge of the district, Forsyth Park covers 30 acres, with its 1858 fountain at the north end. On Saturday mornings it hosts a farmers market. The rest of the week, it is where downtown runs, walks the dog, plays pickup games and lies on the lawn.

From The Amelia it is an easy walk through the squares, and an even easier bike ride.

Where residents eat and drink

Downtown Savannah has one of the strongest restaurant scenes in the South for a city its size, and most of it is within walking distance.

• Dinner: Husk, The Grey, Common Thread, Brochu's Family Tradition, Saint Bibiana
• Oysters and seafood: Marbled & Fin
• Casual nights: Joe & Vera's, The Original Pinkie Masters
• Cocktails: Artillery, Savoy Society

For everyday errands, Broughton Street is a few blocks north, with shops, cafes and services.

Art, culture and the calendar

The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) occupies restored buildings across downtown, which keeps the district full of galleries, exhibitions and students. Telfair Museums and SCAD's own museum add year-round programming.

The year has a rhythm residents plan around:

• March: the St. Patrick's Day Parade, one of the largest in the country
• Spring: the Savannah Music Festival and SCAD's Sidewalk Arts Festival in Forsyth Park
• Summer: Savannah Bananas baseball at Grayson Stadium
• Late October: the SCAD Savannah Film Festival
• Seasonal: Picnic in the Park, the city's evening concert in Forsyth Park

Getting around without a car

Most residents of the Historic District walk almost everywhere. The district is roughly a mile from the river to Forsyth Park, and the streets are shaded, flat and lined with sidewalks.

For longer trips, the city's DOT shuttle is fare-free with 18 stops across the Historic District, and the Savannah Belles Ferry crosses the river to Hutchinson Island at no charge. The airport is about 20 minutes away by car, and Tybee Island beach is about 30 minutes.

Day trips residents take

• Wormsloe Historic Site: the mile-long avenue of live oaks, about 20 minutes south
• Bonaventure Cemetery: riverside paths and monuments, about 15 minutes east
• Fort Pulaski: a Civil War fort on the way to Tybee
• Tybee Island: the nearest beach, about 30 minutes away
• Hilton Head and Bluffton: golf and the Lowcountry, about 45 minutes away

Living at The Amelia

The Amelia brings ten new condominium residences to Oglethorpe Avenue, in the middle of all of this. Residences pair the proportions of a historic Savannah home, with ten-foot ceilings and tall windows, with what a new building offers: modern systems, an elevator and the condominium owners association (COA) taking care of the building.