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April 2007
Yawn….We’re starving for variety in Norcross!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Norcross, we have cornered the market on certain industries, such as furniture, billiard halls, cell phone shops, dry cleaners, farmers’ markets, flea markets, pawn shops.
It just amazes me considering our location in metro Atlanta, that to find any decent shopping, we have to trek to Gwinnett Place, Perimeter or Northlake Mall.
We are a cookie-cutter community from the architectural styles of our homes right down to the choices of shopping. It’s all pretty much the same thing, one shopping center along Jimmy Carter Boulevard to the next.
To prove my point… just take a wild guess as to what is going in those two new shopping centers (so far) on JCB.
Yyyuuuup… more of the same. More sub shops and yet another cell phone shop…(Snores)
Now, before anyone gets all upset and starts a hissy fit about this rant, let me first say that I completely understand that these property owners have to do what they can to fill their available space and, naturally, make a buck. I do understand that, and I wholeheartedly hope they do so with great success.
But I beg and implore them to, please, for all that is good and great, stop the insanity and use some creativity. I am so very sick and tired of the lack of a variety of choices.
How about a Willie’s, Moe’s or Burrito Bros. Taco Co.? A micro-brewery? If Peachtree Corners can get a Trader Joe’s, why can’t we have a Whole Foods Market? We have a Starbucks on Indian Trail and Northern Star Coffee in downtown Norcross. While I love both, let’s bring something different like…Caribou Coffee. Give us a liquor store so that we don’t have to drive into Dekalb County for crying out loud! Even a bookstore would be nice!
You know, I don’t really care what comes here. Just no more cell phones, subs, pawn shops, flea or farmers markets or billiard halls. No more of the same. Enough already. I want whatever does come here to be something to make me say “WOW!”
We need that in this community. We are starved for it. We need change to be excited about so we know we are not always going to be living and working in “more of the same.”
What shops or restaurants would you like to see in the area?
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Who are our county commissioners really looking out for?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Modern day humans are intent on stereotyping themselves and others with misplaced social stigmas that can lead to misunderstanding and division.
Take politics, for example.
It’s rare to have a Democrat referred to as a conservative, or a Republican as a liberal, even though there are some politicians from both parties who have positions with both points of view.
If you listen to talk radio and watch the Sunday morning talking head shows as often as I do you hear our legislators use stereotypes and point fingers at one another while they waste our time and money with nothing but more bickering.
When State Rep. Hugh Floyd (D-Norcross) proposed legislation to expand the Gwinnett County Commission in an effort to accommodate our growing population with smaller districts, all we heard at first was “well this is just an attempt to add a Democrat to the commission.”
Not true, according to Floyd.
Floyd told the AJC that it’s hard to draw a political map with more districts that doesn’t include a Democratic seat, especially in southern Gwinnett. (That’s because of the influx of ethnic minorities who tend to vote Democrat.)
Floyd also pointed out to the paper that he didn’t draw the map. The nonpartisan state Legislative Reapportionment office did.
I believe there were certain “public officials” who just so happen to be card carrying members of one political stereotype who were (and probably still are) ready for a fight solely because they don’t want to lose any of their power in our county government.
Had Floyd acted purely for political reasons, I would have been the first to blast him (and anyone else who tried that) and remind him that he is probably only the District 99 state representative because he ran unopposed.
The Legislature didn’t pass Floyd’s plan, but it remains on the table for next year’s session.
During his farewell address in 1796, President George Washington made a very prophetic statement, considering the current political climate. He spoke about the move to a party system and its potential for divisiveness:
“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.”
With all the bickering over these new commission seats, it almost makes you wonder just who the current commissioners are looking out for, doesn’t it?
Maybe their reaction explains exactly why southwest Gwinnett has been so neglected by the commission and why we have to deal with the conditions like traffic, crime, and other quality of life issues like we have today.
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How does your garden grow?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I remember growing up watching my Granddaddy Bass garden around my grandparents’ home in Orlando. He was a truly gifted gardener who could grow anything. His specialty was tomatoes which he could grow in plentiful amounts and some the size of a small child’s head! Their house was also surrounded by other plants such as hibiscus, elephant ears and various palms.
It wasn’t until I was in my late teens that I opened my eyes and saw just what a gift he really had. I tried to learn as much as I could from him, but I am afraid he could have forgotten more in one hour what he could have taught me in a lifetime.
It is amazing how just a few plants and flowers can make the most unsightly of areas be perceived as interesting, inviting and invigorating!
Although Mother Nature is torturing us with 30-degree temperatures in April, it is officially spring and I can finally get out and work in my own garden.
Unfortunately, I have two problems to contend with.
The first is that in the front of my house I deal with full, direct sun most of the day and I’m limited to growing plants in containers. The second is that in the back of my house there is partial-to-full shade with an area to plant about three feet deep by 18 feet wide with clay as hard as a brick.
I have been to numerous websites, emailed the Gwinnett Extension Service for advice, visited all the big box and home improvement stores and nurseries in the area in an effort to grow a dream garden that is as beautiful as my grandfather’s was.
This year, my master plan for the front of the house so far includes a collection of cacti and succulents, several cayenne pepper plants, orange gerber daisies, a small herb garden and of course, some hibiscus.
Behind my home I have decided to go with an all white and green landscape, which so far includes some dwarf gardenias, caladiums, calla lilies, eucomis, and white daylilies with elephant ears and hostas still left to plant.
My hope is that at least a smidgen of my granddaddy’s botanical genius rubbed off on me so I have something to enjoy and a garden for all to admire.
How does your garden grow? Do you have any gardening advice?
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Excited about Gwinnett Village’s future?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There has been a lot of talk about Gwinnett Village this and “The Village” that this past year. Some of you restless natives have even asked me “what is going on with the Village?” and when you can expect to see certain improvements as you relive our community’s glory days of old.
One year ago I said that the Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District was going to have to have something to show for all the talk we’ve heard.
I decided it was time I follow up with Chuck Warbington, Gwinnett Village Executive Director. He told me about the accomplishments of the past year, what projects are underway and what we can look forward to.
The accomplishments:
1.The Gwinnett Village CID was organized in a year’s time. It took the Gwinnett Place CID, nearly three years to accomplish the same feat.
2.More than 500 commercial property owners have signed up for the self taxing district to support the Village. They represent $1 billion of county-appraised property value.
3.The Quality of Life Unit is relocating from Lawrenceville to “The Village” on April 15 and increasing the number of code enforcement officers.
4.About 300 code violations have been corrected and more than 3,000 bags of trash have been collected.
5.Before the CID was formed, the area had approximately 60 to 70 officers. Today about 85 officers are patrolling our community.
6.Graffiti in the county overall is up 25 percent while in our community it has decreased by 20 percent.
7.The Oakbrook Industrial Park is up to 75 percent occupancy, “Furniture Row” is at 99 percent occupancy, signaling that businesses are taking notice and want to move their business here.
8.A one-mile stretch of sidewalks has been constructed along Thompson, Live Oak and Oakbrook Parkways.
This year you’ll be seeing or hearing a lot about a $3.3 million in sidewalk construction for various thoroughfares - Jimmy Carter Boulevard, Steve Reynolds Boulevard, and Beaver Ruin Road - and lots of land use studies. These include a watershed feasibility study and several transportation studies including one that would examine the possibility of separating truck traffic along Jimmy Carter Boulevard. (Hallelujah!)
You want something big? Well, the really big things will take time but will eventually happen. So be patient, grasshoppuhs.
One big thing we can be looking forward to is $800,000 worth of landscaping particularly along the ramps off I-85. This will act as a visual catalyst for change and improve the image of our community.
Are you excited about “The Village’s” future? You should be.
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