Maybe the Gazette does like Belmont just a tad.

Front page above the fold article in Monday Gazette (10/29/07) briefly discusses what makes up a walkable community and which towns in Gaston are the best.

(Mike Hendsill – Gazette Photo)

Unfortunately, the Gazette writers chose the Hawthorne (Imperial Mill Village) neighborhood as an “established” neighborhood. It is in reality, a new community (built-out over the last 4 years) constructed over what was once an historic textile mill village.

And that is just part of the overall landscape.

Imperial Hawthorne (the forward slash deliberately left off), or now commonly referred to as the Great Wall of Keener, is indeed a very walkable community — for those who could afford to live there.

The more established, and mature neighborhoods, such as Reid, Davis Park,  Mt. Pleasant, Cottonwood, and Adams Bluff, are even better suited for the tag as walkable communities within Belmont. Adams Bluff, however, being the only neighborhood with intersecting sidewalks.

Each are within the mile and a half of shopping and library. Each have low traffic flow which allows for some roadway walking, and the neighborhoods also have distinctive cultural diversity not generally found in the chosen neighborhood. Each are safe in relative terms.

We hope that the new in-town communities of Belmont Reserve (Belmont Hosiery), Eagle Park (Eagle Mill and Village), can and will be rated, because each of these will have internal sidewalks that interconnect with the existing city sidewalks and other neighborhoods.  

Under the Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) concept, and within the Neighborhood Preservation vision as outlined in the recent Comprehensive Land Use Plan, we encourage more developers and in-fill projects to highlight their plan for keeping Belmont a “Walkable Community” 

That paving project we talked about a few weeks ago has now moved over to Central Avenue/South Point Road from Main Street at Nichols to Nixon Road by South Point HS. Sorry we, didn’t post this sooner — like Saturday morning — there was havoc down there this AM.

People can use Julia St, Stowe Road (Hwy 273), and the various side streets to cut through and get around the traffic.

If you live in the neighborhoods, you know which streets to use.   

The Gazette has a good article about problem areas and driving in Gaston County. Near the end of the article is a list of deaths in the county and statewide.

This is a concern, most of the deaths were attributed to alcohol as a factor. Speed was another.

A great community is made up of a lot of things. Please drink responsibly, and slow down.

A listing of local hot spots:

Park Street and Wilkinson Blvd;

Hawley Avenue and Wilkinson Blvd;

Nixon Road and South Point Road (HS intersection);

Central Avenue and North Main Street (the “point”);

Woodlawn and Belmont-Mt Holly Road (Belmont Abbey stoplight);  

North Main Street and McAdenville Road (by Hawthorne Ford).

(Mike Hendsill – Gazette Photo)