Northwest Observer Forums > Closed Topics > Previous Topics > What do you love/hate about the NW area?
Northwest Observer Forums > Closed Topics > Previous Topics > What do you love/hate about the NW area? |
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Alicia C. Member 
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Hi everyone, What do you love  about living in the NW area?What do you hate  about living in the NW area?I'd love to see your responses. My favorite things: The Old Guilford Mill's cornbread and gingerbread mixes, Parker's sweet tea and those delicious onion rings, driving past the cute donkeys on 220 going into Greensboro, driving past the mini horse farm in the Spring and Summer when the foals are out with their moms. My not-so-favorite-things: Traffic on 68 & 220 between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m., those darned Japanese beetles (!!!!!), ice storms in winter, the fact that here in Stokesdale I can't get cell phone service unless I'm outside my house and waaay up in the corner of the yard. You can also reply privately to me at Alicia@nwobserver.com.  |
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Steve Adkins Member 
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OK, I'll bite Favorite: Peacefulness of Summerfield.....can sit at night and listen to nature. Birds, Frogs, Squirrels. Can ask for sweet tea, and don't get a blank stare, or someone pointing to the splenda. Actually know my neighbors here, and really like them all. Think our local NWO is really in tune with the local area, and of course our NWO Forum is 2nd to none. Not so Favorite: Board of Education too weak, not accountable to themselves or anyone else, school system not keeping up with growth & demographics, I feel NWHS is a great school in spite of BOE, not because of BOE. Local resistance to economic growth, ie FEDEX, Dell - NC has been hit hard with job losses, yet makes it hard for new business to locate here. More a little later....... |
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Alicia C. Member
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Thanks for playing, Steve. I hope to get a lot of responses to this. There are so many things to love about this area. I've had more fun getting to know people and learning about the NW area than I ever had during the 25+ years I was trapped in...er, lived in Charlotte! Alicia |
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Starcatchr Member 
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Summerfield is Home and a fine one, too! I love our good neighbors and friends. It's a joy to ride down a street and have someone you don't even know throw up his/her hand in greeting. I love the green areas that have been preserved for future generations. Events like the Christmas Tree lighting and Founders' Day help keep the small town feel, and every town should have volunteers like ours! I love the pasture with cows on Lake Brandt Road and the stone pillars across the road; the older homes that have been protected, the decorative mailboxes that tell the story of the owners, the yard art that keeps us aware that each person sees beauty in a dfferent way. And, of course, I love being able to see the STARS at night! **************************************************************** I'm hard pressed to find something I really hate about Summerfield. There are things I wish we could do better, like providing more schools, or offering a learning center for seniors and young adults. Traffic congestion and speed are becoming a real problem around many residential areas as well as on the highways. I suppose my greatest wish is that every one of us would remember that we are the town and that it's our involvement that shapes our loves/hates. |
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macca Member 
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Sorry, Steve, but I'd have to have as something I DON'T like about the area is all the development. We're destroying part of what led us to this area to begin with.... (P.S. I don't see how you can say the area is resistant to economic development when we give them all these financial incentives that we'll likely never recoup.) |
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Steve Adkins Member
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It's OK macca.........we can agree to disagree and still be My answer was probably out of the realm of Alicia's original topic question, which was aimed at the NW area. My brain is still stuck in China mode, and concerned there's a big sucking sound as our jobs leave NC / USA and go to China. Let's keep this topic devoted to Alicia's original question so Monty doesn't bring out the OT sign. There's more to like than dislike about the NW area, as I sit here and listen to the Frogs doing the ribbit thing, just can't get enough. I'd certainly encourage you to start a topic on the development subject if you'd like. Blog onward............. |
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Waytago Member 
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Favorite People are really friendly. Regardless of where you go, or where people have moved from, they all seem to smile, and be polite. Pleasant Ridge & Summerfield Road during school hours - people actually flash their lights and allow others to turn !!! (What's the opposite of Road Rage?) BBQ restaurants - Stameys, simple, tasty, reasonable prices  NWO - you guys rock the way you represent the NW area !! Not so favorite 220 South from hamburg mill to Horsepen Creek, 7:30 - 8:00 am Cell Phone Service - spotty  Wasps seem ..more prominent...more populated....dang it, just WORSE here than other places I've lived !!!!!!! (how do you weigh a wasp??? very carefully !!) Last edited on Jun 23rd, 2006 04:34 am by Waytago |
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Waytago Member
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Starcatchr wrote: I suppose my greatest wish is that every one of us would remember that we are the town and that it's our involvement that shapes our loves/hates. Well spoken Starcatchr.....Agree Totally |
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macca Member
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Waytago wrote:Wasps seem heavier here than other places I've lived At the risk of getting an "Off Topic" from Monty, |
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Alicia C. Member
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macca wrote: Waytago wrote:
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macca Member
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Glad to oblige, Alicia! Let me know if tea improves how your computer works! BTW: Like your new avatar! Is it new, or did I just miss it before? When did you change from the Pepsi cans? ♥♥♥ |
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Alicia C. Member
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macca wrote: Glad to oblige, Alicia! Let me know if tea improves how your computer works! I just changed it a few minutes ago. Downloaded it from the NC Zoo Web site. They have a bunch of different animal icons. Hey-- there's another thing to love about living in this area! It's not a long drive to the N.C. Zoo! I don't think the tea is going to help my keyboard. I'm hard on these things anyway. My last one finally croaked after its third post-spilled-coffee shower. |
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Waytago Member
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Waytago wrote: Wasps seem heavier....more prominent...more populated....dang it, just WORSE here than other places I've lived !!!!!!! (how do you weigh a wasp??? very carefully !!) PS - You're BOTH OT, good think Monty & Steve-O are probably sleeping. Elephant Loves Monty?? |
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DOGGETTJA Member 
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Alicia- What a great topic. I have lived here off and on in summerfield way many years. I love the Feed mill and the guys sitting out on the porch discussing what ever. Best place in the world to learn what's really happening in Summerfield and surrounding area. I love the Vets office on 220. Best care and best prices in the county for all my many critters. Rus and Sue have been great neighbors for many years. I love the markers on Summerfield Rd next to the Hoskins house that mark the graves. Something very grounding about knowing those graves are there and those signs are there also. I love the old houses on Summerfield Rd. I can barely remember as a child visiting Ms Kate and Miss Nell in one of those houses and trying to catch the kittens that lived wild under the Hoskin house. I love the sounds I hear at my house in the morning when I walk out to feed the chickens. Mr. Turkey off somewhere calling somebody. Even the coyotes although they are pretty scary waking you up in the middle of the night howling and carrying on. Sounds like we have at least a 1,000 around here. The hoot owl at night and the screech owl, the occasional Whipperowil although the feral cats have done a number on them I suspect. I love the Town Hall. I love that Summerfield is a Town although I am sorry we seem to be so divided in our visions. I wish we all could come to a consensus and come together as a community more like Oakridge seems to do. Things I don't like or worry me. The air quality. I think it is scary that we are being warned already this summer with poor air quality. The horribly overcrowded schools. I have long maintained our children go to school in worse conditions then we allow prisoners in jail to live in. I suppose that goes to lack of leadership both school board and county commissioners but I also think we parents and citizens have to take some responsibility here too. We let them get away with this. Ok I have a hundred more things but have to go to work. |
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Alicia C. Member
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Wow, DoggettJA, thanks for putting such thought into this -- and for expressing your thoughts so eloquently. I, too, love the old houses and history around here. I especially love the old barns. Every time I pass one, I think about how old it might be and who built it and the stories it might tell if it could speak. The fact that this area holds onto such things is one of the factors that made me want to live here. Even though the landscape has changed since I moved to STO in 2000, the changes have been controlled. It's obvious to me that the people up here *think* about keeping the history and the charm of the area as intact as possible. While growing up in Charlotte, I saw so much development and change, and so many things that should have been treasured being torn away. When I moved to this area, I told my Charlotte friends that I wanted chickens and cows for neighbors. They all just laughed, but that's what I've got and I love it. I even love the black snakes that hang out around my barn and leave their shed skins draped across the rafters. And I love the people. Not too long after I moved up here, I remember describing the BiRite Grocery to my friends in Charlotte. "They carry your groceries out to the car -- and they don't try to steal the groceries *or* the car!" My friends thought I was making that up! I have met more people here, after only 4 years of working with the paper, than I ever met and knew in Charlotte. Meeting people and learning their interests is hands-down the coolest part of my job, frankly. Well, that, and having the chance to spotlight them in the paper. Even though there are squabbles and disagreements, there is a uniting thread that holds the NW community together. I think that's really, really special. I've never lived in a community that had that. |
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Steve Adkins Member
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macca wrote: Chuckle........Cute !! Last edited on Jun 25th, 2006 10:39 pm by Steve Adkins |
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Steve Adkins Member
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Steve Adkins wrote: Not so Favorite: Continued....... Don't like the lightning storms, like Friday night. Seem to be pretty vicious in this area, rough on the trees, and cable. |
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Baseball Buddy Member 
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I like Summerfield because I don't have to worry as much about my children here growing up with good moral values. People in Summerfield look after one another. My neighbors watch after my house and animals while I am gone and I do the same for them. I was sick one summer a couple of years ago and my neighbor from across the street came and mowed my grass. She ran into a yellow jacket's nest and got stung everywhere. She came back and finished mowing the next day. I love the history in this town, just look around it's everywhere. I like going to the Graveyards and seeing all my wife's family's headstones. I love to listen to the older people who have lived here all their lives talk about how they love Summerfield also. I love SRA for helping all children progress and play organized sports. I don't like the opinion of some that this area does not need parks or ballfields. This is the turning point for many children who play ball. I have seen the most intreverted child become a leader because of playing ball. I grew up in a community that did not have organized activity for children. I traveled to Pleasant Garden to play baseball. I love the fact that all I have to do to go see/play baseball is cross the street.  |
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ff12 Member 
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LIKE Small town feel, just close enough to Gboro, WS, HP Madison,Kvegas, OR , but not to close. Can still here the treefrogs at nite in between the high pitch of sounds sportbikes running hard and harleys low rumbles.Can still go hunting in some areas. Lots of farm ponds for fishing.My cell service is good. Tractors running the roads. And on a clear Sat. night you can here the cars at 311 speedway. Other nights you can here the train as it makes its run to Duke Power. Met my wife here. dislikes:to much boat traffic to and from Belews Creek. Equals lots of empty beer cans and boxes on the side of the road. Also the drunks that could be driving back. Disappearing land. Wildlife has nowhere to go.County Commisioners.All the restaurants in Stokesdale serve the same type of food(of varying quality) xcept Subway and the pizza place. |
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Anna Diemer Member
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Like: - Oak Ridge Commons. Oh, do I love the grocery store...and all the new development there makes it really easy for a high schooler to get a job close by. - Living 5 minutes away from the NWO office (hehe <3) - It seems to be a good place for families with kids. All the schools are decent in spite of everything. - Being "out in the country." Anything I could possibly need is only a 30 minute drive away, and I don't have to deal with that much traffic. - The Historic District! You have to admit, we have the sexiest shopping center ever. And there's plenty of history in the area for the history nerds. - NWHS--good choral and band programs, the good teachers that I've been lucky enough to have, and the AP classes! - Close enough to UNCG for all my music needs. Dislike: - NWHS. Traffic sucks, both driving and in the halls. There is never a class change that I'm not stepped on in the halls (it doesn't help that I'm really short, too). Some students and teachers with really bad attitudes. Huge classes. &I could graduate valedictorian right now at almost any other high school in the state, but I've got to settle for 3rd or 4th. Wayyyyy too competitive. - There is nothing to do at night that's close by. - Hot, muggy summers. - The school district is SO HUGE! I know this will change when Northern opens, but Ridgewood is a full half hour away from my house--I am in the northwest corner of the county. - Contractors keep building ENORMOUS houses on TINY plots of land, so the houses are right on top of each other. Two new neighborhoods adjacent to mine have been built in the past two years. Okay, I'll shut up. ^_^ |
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Steve Adkins Member
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Anna Diemer wrote: Okay, I'll shut up. ^_^ Please don't "shut up", your comments were great Anna |
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ff12 Member
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I really dislike all this heat(just loaded a new weather bar for firefox has popup weather advisories) just 97 tommorow. |
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macca Member
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But you know, ff12, it's not the heat.....♥♥♥ |
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DToney Member 
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We are looking for a dentist if anyone has a good suggestion, please PM me. |
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