Like it or not, growth is coming to Chatham County

[obx8]

Thanks for trying to bring the discussion back into focus.  I think BC is going to be good for our community in the long run, once the incoveniences and noise have settled.  The starkly bright leaves will gain a lovely patina and the families who choose this area to settle will bring Chatham more good assets than problems.  Change is always met with resistance.  Chatham county's transition from sleepy rural "secret garden" will not be without some growing pains.  Personally, I like to look forward with excitement and back with fond memory.

[dkemom2]

obx....let me know how cheery you are about the new neighbors when you can't see the stars at night, while your sucking the exhaust as you are still stuck in traffic trying to get home to what was once the fond memory you have of Chatham Co.

[natvrabit]

obx have you been here long enough to DEVELOP a fond memory of anything?
Perhaps in your search of housing (posted on the real estate/rental hunt site)...you should contact BC...don't think they'll cough up much for you in the $850 (mo) range...maybe the 850K range perhaps...but maybe you'll have your bells and whistles you long for? 

[Stargazer]

Obx, are you happy about the desecration/"development" of the Outer Banks also?

[piper_chuck]

Like it or not, growth is coming to Chatham County. 

It can happen in the form of hundreds of small uncoordinated developments that have no commitments to preserving green space, no supporting retail space, no support for building new schools, and no help for extra county infrastructure.  If you want to talk about congestion,, imagine the traffic problems created as each of them has their own entrance from one of many secondary roads.  Imagine the challenges of planning for school growth as each owner of a 40-200 acre plot of land decides it's time for their property to become the latest little development.

Contrast this with a planned development that includes land for schools, recreation, public facilities, green spaces, and a few entrances rather than a new street every couple hundred yards.  Think about the new opportunities for small businesses that will be created by the retail centers.  Consider the additional tax revenue and jobs such a development will bring to Chatham County. 

There are aspects of Briar Chapel that I don't like, and I think the silver vine/leaf things are silly, but on the whole, it's pretty well designed and it will improve the quality of life in this area in many ways.  People can dwell in the past and reminisce about old Chatham, but the fact is that the 15-501 corridor is one of the places designated for growth. 

[Beckysews]

Hey piper, serious - non-combative question for you: Beyond the potential for new businesses, for whom do you believe BC

will improve the quality of life in this area in many ways.

?

And how will it improve life?

Also keep in mind that there are many, many store fronts in north Chatham that sit empty. And have been empty for months.

[piper_chuck]

Hey piper, serious - non-combative question for you: Beyond the potential for new businesses, for whom do you believe BC

will improve the quality of life in this area in many ways.

?

And how will it improve life?

Additional schools to help with overcrowding.
Parks which provide recreation fields for kids and adults.
Miles of walking and cycling trails.
New shops and restaurants that will give people an option to driving to Chapel Hill or other places.
A library which will be much more convenient to NE Chatham residents than having to drive to Pittsboro.

Also keep in mind that there are many, many store fronts in north Chatham that sit empty. And have been empty for months.

Chatham Downs seems to draw quite a few negative comments on the boards, but it's turning out to be way more attractive than Cole Park Plaza and Chatham Crossing.  I don't know every retail location in North Chatham, but the ones I do see seem to be doing ok.  Time will tell whether the retail sites in BC make it or not, and if they displace existing, less desirable locations, that's an unfortunate consequence of competition. 

[Stargazer]

One could just as easily say development will bring
     More overcrowding requiring more schools
     Longer commutes and increased traffic congestion
     More brown space
     Trees cut, soil disturbed, more pollution in general
     Higher crime
     Lower quality of life in general for the people who moved here because of the rural character of Chatham County
         And of course higher property taxes for the people already living here

[piper_chuck]

One could just as easily say development will bring
     More overcrowding requiring more schools
     Longer commutes and increased traffic congestion
     More brown space
     Trees cut, soil disturbed, more pollution in general
     Higher crime
     Lower quality of life in general for the people who moved here because of the rural character of Chatham County
         And of course higher property taxes for the people already living here

Yes, all those things are possible.  Are they more likely to happen due to planned, predictable growth such as will happen due to BC, or from the unplanned, unpredictable, and uncoordinated growth that happens with the piecemeal 15-50 lot subdivisions that seems so common around here?  I can point to plenty of small developments that have left the area looking pretty darned shabby.  Is that the "rural character" people are coming here for?  Are things like higer crime rates more likely to happen when people develop a sense of community, which happens in places like BC, or in the rural neighborhoods where you rarely see people walking around, chatting with neighbors, etc?

[Keith_Brown]

Piper,
   The problem with Briar Chapel is that it was shoved down the throats of the people who are going to have to deal with its fallout day in and day out.  We are going to have to pay the price while Newlands takes the profit.   A well-planned development *could* have garnered support, but Newlands didn't try to do that; they lied and poisoned the Chatham County electoral process in a way that has not gone away with the defeat of Bunkey, and will not go away for many many years to come.   The people who move into Briar Chapel may indeed be fine people, and they may eventually erase the damage that Newlands has done, but until I see that with my very own eyes, I'm not believing it.

[Stargazer]

I can assure you that there is a real sense of community in rural areas.
It is incredible and wonderful how the community rallies around when anyone
needs help.  This includes everything from fire loss, illness, injury, the ball team needing
a new scoreboard, clearing roads after storms (many of us have chainsaws).  Just general
help to those who need it.

The local Silk Hope rescue squad is fantastic and quick in their
response.  It's comforting to have a neighbor arrive within minutes of a call. 

People wave.  And I can't tell you how many times neighbors stop
and talk to neighbors. 

I do agree that many shabby subdivisions has been plopped down into Chatham.
Still the answer is not to force a huge development the majority of citizens
oppose.

[randy]

Apex and Cary are what your looking at for Chatham no matter how you want to see it.  Maybe not so bad for me to have to travel to a good steak house.  Keep Chatham a rural community.  Realtors hate it when I say that, can't make the money and drive housing up even higher than it already is.  My neighbor sold his house himself and saved a bundle, plus sold it in 22 days after listing it themselves.  Keep Realtors out of the local govt elected offices, seen what that did in the past.  Larger infrastructure= more career political offices=increade tax's and govt payroll, ect.

[randy]

Lets all return to the previous topic from last year that had 5,083 hits.  I do not condone this act, but the topic caused alot of attention about the way folks feel about Apex/Cary style growth in Chatham.  It is what it is



http://chatham-county-nc.com/bulletinboard/index.php?topic=4918.0

[randy]

Pretty soon realtors will introduce legislation to prevent folks from being able to sell there own property and house themselves.  Fight on for rural Chatham.  Growth will come, but keep on fighting to maintain some control of are community, never surrender!

[Silk_Hope]

But what about the increasing costs of living in rural areas? We drive everywhere because we have to. Fuel costs may slow down developments, especially those in the more rural areas of the County.

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