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A Tale of Two Cities, Revisited
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times......okay, okay, you get the point. I will not bore you with another painful literature class. But, the point in this classic story comes to mind when we talk about our community. No, disease and famine are not taking over our cities. In fact, I do not even think that the health department has reported one case of the plague this year. However, we are laying the foundation for two very different demographics all within the borders of our county.
We have the western end, where basically Gwinnett's growth really began as it worked its way down Interstate 85. Have you been down that way lately? I have got to tell you; things are not all that pretty in certain areas out that way. Crime is of concern to those people who live in that area and rightfully so. Last year, the vast majority of our major crimes, including homicide and gang related crimes took place in a very small corridor that falls in this area. For those of you, who think that we do not have problems in West Gwinnett, take a ride out and count the number of For Sale signs you see.
On the other extreme, we have the northern end of the county that includes the Sugarloaf area. I cannot imagine that there is a more attractive place to live. Beautiful homes, modern buildings, the Arena at Gwinnett, our Chamber of Commerce, country clubs...and the list goes on and on. It is absolutely one of the most beautiful areas of all metro-Atlanta. We need these areas in Gwinnett for all the obvious reasons. But as the growth to the north continues, along with all that is beautiful, we must not forget the more mature areas of the county that are really starting to go through some hard times. The challenges that Gwinnett will face, from a law enforcement perspective, must address these issues.
We must never allow Gwinnett to become a split county whereby the quality of life is not constant. We must not only strive to ensure that crime does not spread across our county, but we must commit ourselves to the fact that we must reclaim those areas that are being inundated by crime. The manner in which we approach gangs, home invasions, and the other problems that face portions of our county will send a clear message to the criminal element that this is not something that we are going to tolerate. This pro-active approach will be just as important to those who live in the northern parts of our county as it is to those who are seeing the disturbing results of increased crime everyday in the western fringes of the county.
There is an old saying that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The Gwinnett chain, using that analogy, is made up of a series of links that are rusted at one end and are made of shiny chrome at the other. Those series of links in the middle, that make up the vast majority of the rest of the county range from pre-rust to still having a slight glimmer of their original shine. That is the challenge. Gwinnett's chain needs to shine from end to end. A friend of mine, who is not from Gwinnett, recently told me of a trip that she made through Gwinnett on I-85. She said from Point A on the northern end to Point B, on the western end, that the visual difference was like night and day. If this is apparent to a random traveler down our Interstate, you can imagine the difference from those who live in the troubled areas.
Other counties have gone through these transitions before and have decided that moving forward, with an "in with the new and out with the old philosophy", is the way to go. That is fine for the new, but this is bad news for the old. Furthermore, those counties who let the old guard slip away, literally put the nail in the coffin to those people and property that were left behind. We cannot and should not adopt that plan here in our county.
Our "Gwinnett is Great" mantra should stand for every city, community and person who calls Gwinnett their home. If we are not careful, we are going to have to get out the paint brush on our water tank and add some new wording. It might say, Gwinnett is Great...in some places, other parts are just okay...and quite honestly a few places are really, really bad.
For further information, visit www.voice4victims.com
If you are interested in having Mr. Hall speak at your next club or group meeting, please email contact information to:
SHallBadgeNotes@aol.com
042404
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