Downtown Gastonia is either experiencing a major rebirth (see below), or mired in the same old problems. At least, that's what the commenters on "What Ails Gastonia" have been saying.
This one was among the more interesting comments, from Alicia Demeny $#8211; and she nails me for using an old photo from the Observer's files. I hope she's right about the new energy. So many times and so many hopes have gone into trying to revitalize Gastonia's downtown. Would be great if this time it worked:
"The author of this article has failed to mention that there are over 8 bright, nice new businesses that have come to the downtown area, with more coming soon. Included in these great new places are restaurants and coffee shops, a cool new pub, boutiques and salons, nice office complexes and condos. A photography studio and event center ... and more.
Most of all of them doing major upgrades and renovations to the old buildings. These improvements are bringing out the beautiful old exposed brick, hardwoods and architecture of these once glorious structures. The author of this article also failed to use a photograph that is recent. The photograph used shows a building that no longer exists. A lovely park is at this very moment is being built in its place. As an employee in the downtown area I am excited about the potential and positive growth. As a women I feel totally safe walking down the street to the new restaurants and pub. Just last week the downtown area hosted an art crawl that included many of the businesses, live music on the street and wine tastings. The general statement by the over 300 in attendance was that it was a great event and that it should happen more often.
If it's been six years or six months since you have been downtown you owe it to yourself to visit again before believing a biased article that simple focuses on the past and politics. Those of us downtown are focused on growth and the future."
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Before we leave Gastonia
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21 comments:
Mary, You should fine another line of work.
"fine" another line of work ?
You should go back to grade school and learn how to speak.
"learn how to speak."
This is a written medium. Join the 21st century.
I learned how to speak at a government school.
Who cares????????
Good grief there are some snarky posters on here! So someone misspelled a word...let it go! I lived in the historic district of Gastonia for five years. I was only five blocks from uptown and while I wouldn't walk up and back to the restaurants at night I did feel safe most anytime. I drove downtown just a few weeks ago and even though there is a lot of progress it still looks pretty much the same as it did when I lived there. (that was five years ago)Yes, I saw new things being done but they have light years to go to get a decent downtown.
Poor old Gastonia! I lived there until age thirteen; it was a small quiet town and for kids my age there were two movie theaters and a skating rink (of course, Lineberger Park in the Summer!). I think the thugs and gays have pretty much taken over the park now; don't know about downtown (uptown?), whatever. I live in Cleveland County now. Gastonia could also take a lesson from Shelby.
I live in one of the 83 or so little towns between Gastonia and Belmont. It's really a nice place to live. I go to downtown Gastonia for an occasional meeting, or to attend something special at First United Methodist Church, or to get a hot dog at Tony's Ice Cream. Of course I also get some ice cream, and I usually also go there when I do either of the first two things.
In some ways Franklin Square is the real downtown Gastonia, though.
I can get to the airport and even downtown Charlotte quicker than most folks in Mecklenburg Co. can. Two six-lane highways to Charlotte run right by this area. I'll miss them when I retire to Davidson.
Belmont and to an extent the little towns to its west are making good efforts toward reinventing themselves. Gastonia's bad reputation and the current economic downturn have kept growth in this area from getting out of hand, and that's not a bad thing. It will give some time for getting ready for the future, unlike the grow-first-plan-later approach of Union County and a couple of north Mecklenburg towns.
There are those who have new urbanist visions for Gastonia, and they could possibly become reality some day, maybe even during the next boom time. By then maybe we will have made enough progress that they'll let us watch the documentary on Gastonia's history that PBS did, which I once read had never been shown by any of the PBS stations in NC or SC. Some things take a while to deal with.
Gastonia's roads are fine and the place is laid out pretty good. But some of the attitudes and ways of doing things are not up to the 21st century. Some people are friendly, some are very attitudinal. They don't like outsiders bringing in new ideas. The citizens say they are trying to change and improve things but if you have an idea that has been proven to work somewhere else, they will either ignore you or bring up their "traditional ways of doing things". Geez, didn't those ways help create the problems that they were trying to fix??
Gastonia's downtown has seen it's better days. Drugs, gangs, crime, working gals, you name it.... it's there. It's too bad. I bet this place was really something back years ago.
LOL @ the person saying Gastonia could learn from Shelby. I've lived in Charlotte and the surrounding areas for the past 21 years, and I can easily say that nothing good can be learned from Shelby.
Having had a couple of relatives residing in Gastonia, I used to be a frequent visitor as a child back in the late 1960s and early to middle 70s. My sister and I even spent one Halloween there trick or treating with the neighborhood children. We were welcomed with open arms from the neighbors, and were treated the same as everyone else.
It is a shame that it has fallen on basically the same fate that other cities have encountered. I remember eating at the Bob's Big Boy Drive Inn restaurant and going to some of the stores downtown.
I also remember the local radio station had a Christmas tree it kept lit on Spencer Mountain until all of the troops returned from Vietnam.
Such a wealth of memories tarnished by the passing of time and economic hardship. God bless the citizens of Gastonia for wanting to bring back the good ole days...May they be successful in their endeavors.
Gastonia offers a haven of affordable, historic homes and an eclectic community. It is not for everyone, and those of us who are here are thankful for that. Many of the residents who live on the outskirts of downtown did not grow up here, so the old stereotypes in the article simply aren't valid. Many of us work in Charlotte, but choose not to live there. We are happy with Gastonia and are eager to see its downtown bloom again.
After my wife and I failed the Gastonia Howdy Neighbor Residency Test below, we were forced to flee to West Gastonia. (My wife now puts on airs by telling folks we live in Bessemer City). See how well you do on it:
1. Which Baptist church do you attend?
2. Please indicate your highest level of education:
a. sixth grade
b. eighth grade
c. All the way through Grade 12!
3. Circle your political affiliation.
a. Dixiecrat
b. Conservative Republican
c. Communist (anything besides a. or b. above)
I need clarification....are people really calling it 'uptown' Gastonia?!?!
Y'all need to remember that the "G" is silent.
Progress or not, I still say that if God wanted to give NC an enema he'd put the hose in Gastonia.
Well i moved her 3 years ago and bought a house that i love however my street has alot of older couples that have died since and now it's turning into getto rental house.There is NO scene in Gastonia for the 20-30ish crowd,unless you like sports bars.I ran my indie business in Charlotte Gastonia is a culture kill,it's barely making it on life support,sad but i dont see it changing anytime soon
I agree that Gastonia doesn't have much to offer the 20-30 crowd. If this were viewed at the "party city," or designed to specifically cater to that age group, I could certainly see why that may offend some people. There are plenty of events where that bracket is welcome - but whether or not they show up is really their choice.
I've lived in Gastonia since 1985 - my mother was born and reared here. While I have been disappointed with certain elements of the city, I must say that crime, drug problems and negative connotations effect ALL cities, or at least parts of them. If citizens truly care about their surroundings, they will do whatever they can to change it for the better.
I'm certain that surrounding areas have dealt with layoffs, prostitution, murders and freeloaders, too. That's called LIFE - not Gastonia. There's also such a thing called "free will," and to discount this and blame an entire city for the wrongdoings of others ... well ... is just plain foolishness.
I'm an educated, married mother of two who's doing her best to make a life for her family here. This is where we chose to make our life. Is it perfect? Absolutely not! Nowhere is perfect. So, we dig in our heels and make the best of what we have - while working diligently to change what is less than desirable.
I agree that Gastonia doesn't have much to offer the 20-30 crowd. If this were viewed as the "party city," or designed to specifically cater to that age group, I could certainly see why that may offend some people. There are plenty of events where that bracket is welcome - but whether or not they show up is really their choice.
I've lived in Gastonia since 1985 - my mother was born and reared here. While I have been disappointed with certain elements of the city, I must say that crime, drug problems and negative connotations effect ALL cities, or at least parts of them. If citizens truly care about their surroundings, they will do whatever they can to change it for the better.
I'm certain that surrounding areas have dealt with layoffs, prostitution, murders and freeloaders, too. That's called LIFE - not Gastonia. There's also such a thing called "free will," and to discount this and blame an entire city for the wrongdoings of others ... well ... is just plain foolishness.
I'm an educated, married mother of two who's doing her best to make a life for her family here. This is where we chose to make our life. Is it perfect? Absolutely not! Nowhere is perfect. So, we dig in our heels and make the best of what we have - while working diligently to change what is less than desirable.
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