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April 2007
Do we accept too much and act too little?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What is the worst problem in our community?
Traffic? Overdevelopment? Crime? Homeowners not keeping up their property?
If you had to narrow it down to just one, what would it be?
My answer would be “acceptance.” I think a factor in all of the above problems is the wide acceptance that what will happen will happen and there is nothing to be done about it. A community “que sera sera” syndrome.
We accept the common belief that government officials won’t help. We accept that decline will continue. We accept that we’ll eventually move.
It’s not apathy. People do care. We care if neighbors park a semi truck in the yard. We care when police make repeated visits across the street.
But we are busy. We are making a living, raising a family and juggling the tasks those goals require. It’s easier to shake our heads and complain that it is all inevitable.
A couple of weeks ago, when I wrote about community image problems, there were some interesting online replies.
A couple of excerpts:
“Centerville, Snellville, South Gwinnett have not “managed” their images particularly well. While there is crime elsewhere and white flight is real … the affected communities have not put in place Norcross-like improvement plans, or Decatur-like neighborhoods. … “Bad behaviors,” whether driving or home upkeep, have not been addressed by neighbors or neighborhood associations.
In other areas, civic leadership has worked with politicians to push forward positive imaging…The leadership will need to spring from a diverse (and I mean integrated — socially, religiously, and economically varied) and committed group of folks who’ve moved beyond finger-pointing and… toward positive change.”
Or this one:
“The difference between the communities that get negative press and those that don’t is … the amount of activism and involvement by local residents…People are quick to condemn the police and local politicians for any downturn. Look at yourself…YOU allowed it to happen. The residents make the difference. … Politicians will follow the majority. You just have to show up with numbers and be vocal.”
Last week, District 3 County Commissioner Mike Beaudreau, who represents the Snellville, Shiloh and Centerville areas - as well as areas through Dacula — held a town hall meeting at Snellville City Hall.
The citizens who showed up talked about zoning densities, green space, senior housing, the U.S. 78 median project, the new express bus service and other issues. Some agreed with Beaudreau’s positions. Others did not. The important thing was they attended. They spoke out. They met people who shared their concerns.
Beaudreau said he was pleased with the turnout. I thought it should have been higher. It was an opportunity to tell our county commissioner what we need, and there were plenty of empty seats.
Beaudreau is having another town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Monday (April 30) at the Centerville Community Center on Bethany Church Road.
Do you plan to attend? Is more citizen leadership needed in the Snellville/Centerville area?
Permalink | Comments (49) | Categories: Susan Gast
What’s missing from the Snellville parade? Elementary schools!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I love parades.
I have for decades — ever since shivering in my Mary Janes and soaking up the drumbeats of the Christmas procession in my hometown.
When I moved to Snellville in the ’80s, the city helped me rekindle that affair.
The Snellville Days Parade was big. Each year, on the first Saturday in May, the City of Snellville blocked off Main Street (aka U.S. 78) to make way for the event. The street closing was reason enough for every able-bodied person to grab a lawn chair and come out. For a brief and shining moment, cars had to detour a few blocks while the townspeople took over the road.
Highway officials eventually nixed the closing of U.S. 78. Metro Atlanta had become too busy to slow down. But Snellville charted a new course, and the parade marched on.
Lately though, something has been missing. Elementary schools, once a mainstay of the parade, are nowhere to be seen. None entered a float in last year’s parade. As of Wednesday, none had registered for next month’s.
Shannon Campbell, program supervisor for Snellville Parks and Recreation, said elementary school participation seemed to end about four years ago, “We’d love to have the schools involved” she said.
The lack of participation is a dramatic departure from the 1990s (and a few years in the early 2000s), when elementary school parents and kids would spend weekends and afternoons hammering lumber, stuffing tissue paper into chicken wire and learning song or dance routines for the march through town. W.C. Britt, J.C. Magill and Norton Elementary were regular contenders in the float competition.
Some years, the work generated impressive, elaborate creations. Some years, the entries were more basic. But it was always a big event.
When my children began school in Snellville, I joined the PTA, attended meetings and open houses and volunteered for projects. But it was the time spent decorating the school float where I really got to know other parents and kids.
My children, now in high school and college, told me recently that some of their best memories are of working on the Snellville Days floats.
I know parades are not on the list of elementary school responsibilities. I understand why PTAs might bow out. Building a float requires time, money and energy. You must borrow a trailer, beg for a place to house it, find a willing, generous soul with woodworking skills, come up with a design, buy materials, spread the word, find a driver, organize, organize, organize.
April and May are tough times for schools and families. There are end-of-the-year activities and athletic events, These days, there is also school testing to worry about. Schools can’t schedule events that keep children out the nights before tests.
There’s always the weather, too, which can dampen all efforts.
It’s enough to make anyone throw up his hands.
I just hate to see it happen. My family gained a lot from working on Snellville Days floats. In today’s buzzwords, you could label the lessons as “community building,” “working as a team” or “teaching citizenship” — all while stuffing tissue paper and having fun.
It’s a shame to see the tradition vanish.
Has the Snellville Days Parade played a part in your life?
For information about the Snellville Days festival and parade, go to www.snellvilledays.com.
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment | Categories: Susan Gast
Why does crime give some areas bad reps but not others?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Boy, it’s getting bad down here.”
That’s the mantra around Centerville after the murder of a restaurant worker five weeks ago.
Robbers interrupted 19-year-old Julio S. Ajanel while he was cleaning tables at Mr. Eggroll near Snellville. They gunned him down, stole money and left.
No one has been arrested. Police say the investigation is ongoing.
“It is believed this homicide is connected to a series of armed robberies of Chinese food restaurants,” said Cpl. Darren Moloney of Gwinnett Police.
Merchants in the shopping center at Ga. 124 and Bethany Church Road where the shooting occurred have been reassured by the presence of an armed security guard who makes regular rounds. Ingles, the shopping center’s anchor, is providing and paying for the guard. Merchants also feel better since the change to Daylight Savings Time, which allows many of them to leave before dark.
An employee of Mr. Eggroll said its dining-in business has declined since the March 7 shooting, but its delivery business has picked up. Some patrons who previously ate in the restaurant now have it delivered, the employee — who did not give me her name — said.
Elsewhere in the shopping center, merchants say they and their customers are concerned and cautious, but that the shooting has not hurt business. The crime’s effect on the reputation of the Centerville area, however, is not as benign. Coming on the heels of other burglaries and robberies and a September murder in the parking lot of McDonald’s in Centerville, the news adds to the perception of a declining area.
Is the perception fair?
A crime like the one at Mr. Eggroll could happen anywhere, said the restaurant’s employee.
Not only can it happen anywhere, it does happen elsewhere, said Ron Weber, who bought the Buck’s Pizza in the Centerville shopping center on March 4, just days before the shooting.
“There are kids on drugs in good neighborhoods; there are kids on drugs in bad neighborhoods,” Weber said.
Weber owns five locations of Buck’s Pizza, including one near Oak Road and Five Forks Trickum. That location, which falls into the more prestigious “Brookwood area” has been robbed twice.
His store is not alone, he said, as he counts off other businesses in the Five Forks/Oak Road area that have been victims - a credit union, a bank, a gas station, etc.
“If you own a retail store, you realize that is a risk,” Weber said. So he uses security equipment and trains his employees how to respond if a robbery occurs.
I’ve read about incidents in the Five Forks/Oak Road area, as well as a murder not far away at Five Forks and Moon Place Road. Interestingly, though, I haven’t heard anyone say that neighborhood is “getting bad.”
This week, I visited some of the businesses there and asked employees what they thought. A few mentioned the robberies, but didn’t translate them into a crime “problem.”
Neither did a customer who overheard my question.
“There’s really not a problem here,” he said as he picked up his to-go order in a café. “but down in Centerville, there is. It’s getting bad down there.”
Why do some areas develop image problems when crime occurs, when other areas do not?
Permalink | Comments (61) | Categories: Susan Gast
Have you given the express bus a try?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The red Dodge pickup was a block away when I turned onto Hewatt Road Tuesday evening. It sped up until it was six inches from my bumper. And stayed there.
It was an instant reminder of the demon drivers and traffic headaches that had been, up to that point, gloriously missing from my day.
That morning I had left my car at a park-and-ride lot on Hewatt Road and boarded an express bus for downtown Atlanta. In the afternoon, I walked to a pickup point downtown and rode another bus back to Snellville.
The service was part of the new express bus routes that GRTA (Georgia Regional Transportation Authority) started Monday.
I have to say - I loved it. The bus made good time. I didn’t have to worry about traffic. I talked to other riders. I read. Some commuters listened to music.
The $3 fare I paid each way was less than I would have spent in gasoline. Not to mention wear and tear and parking. I don’t travel downtown every day, but when I do, I’ll catch a bus again. (Check out www.xpressga.com for details.)
There was little publicity about the start of the service. Still, about 25 riders boarded the first day, about 32 on Tuesday.
GRTA communications director William Mecke said those numbers are what was expected for the early days of the 90-day pilot program. Numbers start low (and with Spring Break, even fewer were around to ride) but gradually climb. It usually takes a year or two to reach full ridership, he said.
Many I met onboard had been waiting for such a service.
Marilyn Carroll of Grayson, who works at SunTrust downtown, occasionally drove to Discover Mills to catch an express bus. More often, she just drove downtown.
So did Phil Magoon, who lives in the Brookwood area of Snellville and works at the Georgia Department of Transportation.
Swin Rhodes of Grayson usually drove 15-plus miles to the Indian Creek MARTA station, where he would board a train. Stopping at Hewatt Road cuts the driving in half and requires no train.
One Snellville rider said he previously caught an express bus in Conyers; another said she has tried vanpools, carpools and most recently was driving to Stone Mountain to make a connection.
The initial runs of the Snellville-to-downtown service had their hiccups, however.
The opening of a second park-and-ride lot at Snellville First Baptist Church was delayed while arrangements are legally reviewed. Some riders on Monday and Tuesday complained that buses missed their downtown stop or made wrong turns. A few commuters pointed out that HOV lanes or route changes would improve the service. And several said the Gwinnett Transit buses being used lack the comfort of other buses.
Still, most seemed to welcome the ride.
“This is what’s been missing in Snellville,” Rhodes said.
“Even though it may take just as long as driving,” said Carroll, “it gives me the opportunity of helping to do something about what we have long been complaining about - pollution, air quality, traffic.”
Not only that, you don’t have ornery drivers on your bumper.
Have you ridden the new buses? Do you plan to? Have you found yourself behind one? What do you think?
Permalink | Comments (21) | Categories: Susan Gast
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