Monday, November 17, 2008

My Town Monday - Guest Blog by Chuck

I'm on vacation from blogging for just today. I've invited my friend, Chuck, to guest blog for me as we live in the same town. Please give him a hearty welcome to the world of blog writing. When you finish reading, write your own MTM and tell Travis.

My town (pop. About 7,000) is really two different towns or a town with two or even more distinct sections. There is an Interstate Highway that runs East-West through the town.

The portion of the town that is south of the interstate consists of “modern” places. There is a Wal-Mart, a large Kroger grocery store, a fast-food burger place, two franchised restaurants, several banks, a movie rental palace, a Radio Shack and the hospital.

About ½ mile north of the interstate is a historic main street. Main St. runs generally parallel to the interstate. The Main Street business area is only about two blocks long. One side of one of those blocks is actually taken up by the county courthouse and the county jail. On Main Street you will find two sit down restaurants, both locally owned; a combination used bookstore and coffee shop; a delicatessen and sandwich shop; a knitting store; a small ice cream store and a department store.

Running down the middle of Main Street is a railroad track. Twenty to thirty times a day, a CSX freight comes slowly rumbling through. There is diagonal parking on one side of Main Street and occasionally someone backs out of a parking space into a passing train. Of course this shuts the town for a while as the train stops until everything is cleared up.

Then there are the “other” areas of town: There is a transition area between the interstate and Main St. This area is a transition between the modern and the historic, with buildings becoming less modern as you get to Main Street. There are some businesses on the streets that intersect and run parallel to Main Street.

These are all most all in buildings that used to be residences. Here you will find doctors, lawyers, two small restaurants, a beauty shop and a barbershop. These buildings, as well as the ones that are along Main Street are part of one of the Historic Districts in Town. The Historic Districts Commission must rule on the “appropriateness” of any change to the outside of one of these buildings.

Finally there are the housing developments. Most are similar to the developments of single-family homes that you will see in any suburban area. There are a few patios homes developments and a few apartment complexes and even a trailer park or two.-- Chuck McC

13 comments:

debra said...

Welcome to MTM, Chuck. And good for you, Junosmom, to have a break.

That Janie Girl said...

Welcome! Enjoy it while you're here, Constable Chuck! We're kind of a rowdy bunch, but since we're not in your town, well, you probably can't arrest us.

Or, can you?

Lyzzydee said...

Hi there, Great first post, hope you do some more.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I don't think I've ever known a track in use to run down the middle of Main Street. Intersting.

pita-woman said...

Love that little sandwich shop on Main... Red Pepper Deli's chicken salad is scrumptious!!
Unless someone is talking on a cell phone & completely oblivious to everything around them, I've never understood how anybody could back out of a parking space & into the path of a train... You'd think they'd not only hear & see it, but feel the rumbling as well.

pita-woman said...

ps,
love the new photo Junosmom!

Sepiru Chris said...

Hello Constable Chuck,

You set the scene for your town. Now I am wondering where the non-duelling constable strides into town, and what hazards await him (or her, but in Chuck's case, with a name like Chuck and Junosmom's prior use of the masculine pronoun, I feel safe with the him).

Chris

Sepiru Chris said...

Hello Junosmom,

Nice look at zippered legs missing their pants and co-worker volunteers missing their decorum.

I would say that those two posts, and your essay on the culture and technique of the chilli-dog pretty much scored me as a reader.

I goofed and left a message for pattinase (abbot) that was partially meant for you. So here it goes, again.

If you thought that the heat perspective was a bit unusual, then, time willing, take a boo at the tag "Spiders" on my blog. The first story is Taiwan-based, so you can skip that (it kills me to write that) but the second is about Hong Kong and puts a whole new spin on going for a walk in Hong Kong.

Ooh. What shameless self-promotion.

But, for me, the fun is not just stumbling upon a blog that I find interesting, it is sampling that blog over time, not just accepting the snapshot that I happen to have found.

You know, income statement over balance sheet. Of course, maybe that is because my balance sheet looks so miserable these days, what with the global meltdown.

Anyway, thanks for your comment and I hope I haven't written too much here.

Cheers,
Chris

Travis Erwin said...

Welcome to the My Town gang Chuck.

Gregory Anderson said...

Great job, Chuck!

Terrie Farley Moran said...

Great post, chuck.

I cna see the town.

Terrie

Barbara Martin said...

Welcome to MTM, Chuck. It's always interesting to learn about other people's towns, and yours is a beaut.

Anonymous said...

Welcome Chuck! I loved your post. I could just picture someone backing into a train!

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Popular Posts