About Johnson City's Towne Acres

WATCHING THE FIREWORKS FROM OUR HILL is a long-standing neighborhood tradition. My post this morning reminded me of a SERENDIPITY connected with this tradition. (I collect serendipities - those unusual, unexpected coincidences involving people I know who knew other people in other places that I knew, etc. For examples, see the SERENDIPITY PAGE on my web site.

Several years ago, a buyer called from California, about to take a job in Kingsport and not sure whether they'd want to live in Johnson City or Kingsport. In the course of getting acquainted, I discovered that he had grown up not just in Johnson City, but in Towne Acres, which is the "generic" name for several small subdivisions that are near Towne Acres Elementary School.

"I live there now," I told him. His folks still live on Willmar, his story continued. "That's in walking distance of my house - I walk down Willmar almost every day." I didn't tell him, but many of the people on Willmar are on my neighborhood email list and I know several of them personally.

We finally got around to discovering that his folks lived in one of my favorite houses, and that his mom, Nancy Beach, was a dear friend.

All this was going on in late June of that year, and I invited his family and his local family to come to come to our hill to watch the fireworks. Then we discovered that he already knew my hill - he'd watched fireworks from this hill before my house was here, which makes it at least a 20+ year tradition.

I've sent emails to dozens in the neighborhood, and I need to call this Kingsport family for a special invitation, along with his parents, of course.

I'd be delighted if you'd share your serendipities with me. I think there's a book in me somewhere.

Here's the INVITATION FOR THIS YEAR, with my address removed because I can't really accommodate the whole town.

PATRIOTIC SONGS ARE PART OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD GATHERING on our hill in Johnson City, TN.

Several dozen neighbors gather on our hill to WATCH THE LOCAL FIREWORKS DISPLAY, VISIT, and MAKE NEW FRIENDS. This is even a good place to get a good crowd to come together to talk about any neighborhood concern.

We usually have some folks from out of of the neighborhood, older folks, etc., to come to the screened porch and pool area for a cookout, which we don't try to to do for the whole neighborhood. Realizing last year that several of those special guests had special voices, I added the patriotic songs below to the invitation, and they started a sing-along that I want to repeat this year.

PLEASE USE THE LINK WITH THE SONGS, WHETHER OR NOT YOU GATHER TO SING THEM THIS WEEKEND.

If you live anywhere with a good place to view the local fireworks, or if you just enjoy getting the neighbors together, I recommend something like this. In Northeast Tennessee, it's not difficult at all to find a beautiful view, and many folks will have a deck full of neighbors to look up and enjoy. We just happen to hae a big, gentle slope in the right direction to be natural amphitheatre, with the local fireworks display across the valley and past the trees.

HERE IS PART OF THIS YEAR'S INVITATION to neighbors in the Towne Acres area:

"You’re invited to sit on our hill for the July 2 fireworks. According to the Press, the fireworks will begin about 9:50, but you’re welcome to come whenever you like. It’s a great hill for kites and Frisbees, and there’s room for all of you.

For the sake of our nearest neighbors, it would be great if those who can walk or carpool would do so. Otherwise you may get to walk a little way up Sharon anyway.

http://www.tntricitieshomes.com/Patriotic-Songs-Lyrics - We sang last year. That was good.

http://80176f6.activerain.com/post/1720638/july-4-patriotic-sing-along This is a blog about last year’s get-together.

HAPPY JULY 4, OR JULY 2, or whenever you want to celebrate our great heritage.

Johnson City citizens got the first chance last night (May 5) to see the newly elected Johnson City Commissioners in action – Dr. Jeff Banyas (chosen mayor), Phil Carriger (vice mayor), Jane Myron (former mayor) and new members Clayton Stout and Ralph Van Brocklin.

We were among those present because of our interest in a re-zoning issue that our neighborhood opposes almost unanimously. We were delighted that the new Mayor, Dr. Jeff Banyas, asked pointed and pertinent questions that reflected the concerns of the neighborhood and voted against a second reading of the proposed change.

The Johnson City Press said Mayor Banyas did not explain why he was the only one of the five who opposed the issue’s going forward, but it was clear from the questions he asked that he understands the neighborhood concerns.

This was the first reading and only the City Planner got to describe the project. At the next meeting, the citizens will have a chance to speak. This is something the Towne Acres neighbors feel strongly about, so there will likely be a large audience and good participation.

The issue is a request to re-zone a parcel to build even more small rental townhouses in addition to the ones he is already developing at the edge of a quiet neighborhood of substantial homes. Most of the neighbors oppose it because of traffic concerns and because they’ve seen that the developer sometimes gets some zoning or plan approved and then things change.

For example, his latest townhouse development (which turned out to be for renters rather than buyers) was approved based on a plan that was lyrical about the green space in which the residents could walk and photograph, if desired, the birds, flowers and wildlife, and ski when there’s snow. What happened was paving almost from one building to the next, with three feet of stone or mulch between the sidewalks and the buildings, with sidewalks right next to the parking areas. The “skiing” would have to be on the unwalkably steep slopes which end abruptly at the parking lots and are bounded at the top by the row of buffer trees that were turning brown until there was protest about that.

He has made some improvements in the original plan, including the promise of more landscaping and use of brick on the end units and hardy plank on the interior units, rather than vinyl, as in the other recent project.

Johnson City is growing; the issue is how to guide the growth in a way that preserves the beauty of the area and respects the character of existing development.

Just a reminder, Towne Acres folks - Joy Nagy is performing again, Sunday November 14, 3:00 p.m. at St. John's Episcopal Church, 500 N. Roan Street. In case you don't realize, the Nagy family lives near you and are frequently entertaining us. Joy will be playing the piano while Elisa Wardeska, another area musician, will be playing the flute.

The two musicians have done several concerts together. The music for this one will be all Russian - Khachaturina, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev being the most familiar names to me. The recital is free. It's obviously not just for our immediate community, but it's always fun to know the performers, which is another advantage of living in a town this size.

The concert has been well publicized and you probably already have it on your calendar, but just in case, here's another reminder. I should have done this earlier - I got their email about it several days ago and just got too busy.

I'll be telling you more shortly about upcoming concerts by the Academy of Strings, the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra, Appalachian Express Chorus, Milligan College events, etc. (The Barretts, who are responsible for the great educational programs of the Academy of Strings, are also Towne Acres neighbors. They live on Sharon Drive in the house that you may recognize as the former home of the Frangione family.

I'm prejudiced - this is my own neighborhood. When we moved to Johnson City from Maryland six years ago, we did several preview visits before we were finally ready to decide where we wanted to go, and when we had to make a quick decision, we were glad we'd narrowed it down to this area. The decision was a Tudor on a hill with a magnificent view of the mountains.

We loved that one for several years - I still occasionally tell Melia (new owner) how much I miss some things about it - and we're now in a rancher a little farther up the hill. The whole neighborhood is invited to sit on the hill for fireworks on July 4, and this year at least some of us sang patriotic songs which I sent to my neighborhood mailing list.

The Towne Acres area includes several subdivisions, some of them only a street or two, that are near the Towne Acres Elementary School and that share common interest in what happens near us. Other communities that are just beyond these borders are part of the community association (no fee, voluntary $10/year) and send their children to Towne Acres Elementary. Towne Acres Elementary is one of the schools people who know the city typically insist on.

The area is bounded roughly by Knob Creek Road on the west, Johnson City Crossing Mall on the north, and Brown's Mill Road/Peoples Street on the east, and Sunset on the south.

Within a mile and a half are a surprising number of good things. The new Franklin Woods Community Hospital is just across Knob Creek, near many specialized medical practices and related offices, part of what is known as the Med Tech Corridor, with its growth being one sign of the relatively good economy of the area.. Post Office, banks, restaurants, grocery stores, and other desirable facilities are within this proximity.

Within easy commute (ten minutes or so) are other shopping centers, book stores, more of everything. And State of Franklin Road, the "loop" around the west part of Johnson City, is conveniently close, but not too close, giving convenient access to I-26 and other parts of town.

A number of the homes have the mountain views for which Johnson City is known. A few enjoy a view of the horses, goats and donkeys on the only remaining piece of farmland in the immediate area. It's a great walking neighborhood and this is a great way to meet new friends.

There's a wide range of styles, sizes and prices within the area. The smaller homes are typically all brick ranchers, but they're not "cookie cutter" homes. Prices for these are often under $200,000.

Larger homes come in a variety of styles, again no look alikes - traditional colonial, ranchers, tudor, contemporary, cape cod. Prices for the larger homes are usually in the $250,000 to $400,000 range, depending on size, style, upgrades, and location.

We picked a great place. I certainly don't restrict my work to this area, but it's interesting how many people grew up here and come back later in life. Some neighbors have been here for a couple of generations, and others have come from a number of states. What people do who live here would make an interesting article.