I grew up with sidewalks and learned after moving here that I had taken them for granted. For those who don’t know, sidewalks are a novelty in Wilmington. What’s interesting is a lot of the older neighborhoods - the historic district, Princess Place and Carolina place for example, have sidewalks where as most newer neighborhoods don’t.

On the other hand, maybe that’s not so interesting. It seems we live in an age where true quality is rare (think service, clothing, movies) and everything has been rung dry for profit. In the community where I live, there are no sidewalks and the streets are so narrow that the HOA has forbidden cars to park on them overnight. This rule makes sense I suppose, I mean, with streets so narrow that a car can’t fit through if two cars are parked on either side, you’re begging for an accident if you leave your car by the curb after dark. But why should we pay fines for parking on streets that developers intentionally made narrow to save on expenses and increase profit?

That being said, this post isn’t meant to be a rant. I simply wanted to introduce and add to an editorial I read in last night’s paper on the topic of traffic and poorly designed subdivisions. The below snippets comes from Star News September 25th page 8A.

There are plenty of reasons why people speed and few ways to slow them down.

Much of the problem around here stems from the way local government planned - or failed to plan - for today’s traffic.

When residential neighborhoods are built as self-contained little worlds connected to the outside by one or two streets, those streets are going to be busy. When parallel thoroughfares remain unconnected for stretches of a mile or so, the few connector streets are going to be busy…

We can’t make people slow down merely by lowering speed limits…

What we can do is require sane traffic design in new development.

What we can do is require sidewalks along busy streets in new neighborhoods and start laying them along busy streets in existing neighborhoods. It’s dangerous enough for drivers to enter and proceed along such streets. For pedestrians, bike riders, children, and pets, it’s verging on suicidal.

So what’s your opinion?  Did you grow up with sidewalks?  Is it worth paying more for a home to get them?  Please let us know what you think!

As you may (or may not) have known, I’ve been helping plan the Good Shepherd Block Party for the last few months. This is one of two annual fundraisers for the Good Shepherd Center, which is the main homeless ministry here in Wilmington. The block party will be this Saturday from 7-10PM at the Mayfaire Town Center in Wilmington.

I’m sending you this email to invite you to come and enjoy a casual dinner and live auction. The live auction will have lots of items ranging in price from the $100s to $1,000s so there’s something for everyone. I’m especially proud of the playhouse that Keller Williams Realty has constructed for the auction.

All the proceeds will go to benefit the Good Shepherd Center. Tickets are $50/person. If you’d like to order tickets, you have three options:

1) Call Suesan Sullivan at 910.763.4424 Ext. 113
2) Send an email to CB(at)FineCoastalLiving.com
3) Visit the website at GoodShepherdBlockParty.com

I really hope you’ll be able to join me for an awesome evening that will support the Good Shepherd Center!

We’re extremely excited to present the new and greatly improved FineCoastalLiving.com!! The Fine Coastal Living Team and our friends at SecureNet (who have been chained to their desks fixing bugs for the past few days) have been hard at work since June visioning, designing and programming what we hope will be the most user-friendly, content-rich Wilmington NC website in existence. This new site offers visitors a plethora of benefits including:

• No registration required to search for homes
• Easy access to listings via “Quick Search” links located on the left side of many pages
• Larger property photos
• Ability to save searches and receive updates via email
• Ability to save favorite properties (and add comments that you can read later)
• Access recently viewed properties
• Ability to identify other listings in close proximity to a home you like
• Google map technology
• Larger buttons and a more concise, organized navigation
• Additional content
• Instant messaging
• Flickr photos
• And more!

Please take a look at FineCoastalLiving.com, play with it, try to break it, and let us know what you think. All feedback is welcome. As this website is designed to be YOUR ultimate Wilmington real estate resource, your opinion truly matters.

Thank you!

Keeping your things in order can be a major task, but if you fail to tackle it now, you may find yourself up to your ankles in clutter later. If the thought of spring cleaning makes you shudder, you are likely in need of some good organizational advice.

Please click the icon to the left for a guide to cut clutter and get organized. Following some of these guidelines can help you free up time and give you a fresh atmosphere to live in. Don’t be afraid to purge your home of outdated or unused items. On the reverse side, you will find several tips to stay organized in different areas around the house.

Creating order in your home doesn’t have to be an ordeal. Cutting clutter can be done one room at a time over a week or even several months, and if you do it right, it can be fun and create new possibilities for your home.