Standing in the Cold
I just recently spent an hour standing in the VERY cold temps to help break ground on the Smithfield Recreation & Aquatics Center scheduled to open in 2009. Considering the community of Smithfield and Johnston County Schools have been working on this project since November 2001, I guess I can endure some discomfort for one hour.
This and many other recreational areas for residents is long overdue. With the Aquatics Center our local swim teams will have a place to practice and hold meets. Currently, not all high schools offer swimming and the ones that do, the teams travel to Wake County and other areas for meets. Could we make it any more difficult for our youth that want receational opportunties?
We get emails from newcomers to Johnston County every week asking about recreation opportunities such as trails, fishing, hiking, soccer and other youth activities. New residents move to the county from communities that offer these amentities and are surprised and disappointed to find they are not available in the county.
County Commissioners strongly support the school expansion efforts to keep up with growth in partnership with the School Board. And issues like water quality, sewer capacity and land fill space are also well established. But I see an area that falls under “quality of life” taking a back seat due to the priority of the aforementioned needs. There is no one to blame, the reality is purely the economics of providing the services and the priority for schools and infrastructure comes first!
Many of the industries associated with tourism fall under the “quality of life” expectations of new residents and some of us “old” residents as well. I would like to have amentities here in my home county, and not agree to the status quo that we can all drive 30-45 miles away for recreation, culture, restaurants, nightlife and even a Harris Teeter. As the county grows and our consumer demands or “voice” for these items grows louder, then I believe we will attract more development in the county that answers our consumer needs.
Personally, as just one consumer that receives my county paycheck from visitors that support our local businesses, I do the same. The only time I buy products from outside Johnston County is when the item is not available to me locally. I believe in supporting local businesses whenever I can to keep our local sales tax in the county, which helps provide county services and build schools.
I challenge our Johnston County folks, the next time you are faced with a choice of where to spend your hard earned dollar….I encourage you to support the local businessman that is your neighbor. Send a message to corporate retail brands that you want consumer choices in Johnston County.
Shopping in the county is one of my “soap boxes”, when I intended to write more on the Smithfield Recreation & Aquatics Center…..more on that in my next blog.
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I’m excited about the aquatics center myself. I agree that one’s quality of life could easily be improved if there were amenities and facilities in the area to help garner that. Having the aquatics center come to fruition is just one way to make that happen. Can’t wait to hear more about it!