Coming home

In an earlier blog, I wondered what it would be like to return home to Snellville after being away for almost 5 years.  This past week, I got my answer as my wife, my son, and I returned to the place “Where Everybody’s Somebody”.

In short, the town has changed considerably.  Gone is the Hardee’s and Dairy Queen on West Main Street, and if A&J is still there, I didn’t see it.  McDonald’s and KFC are still in their traditional location, though they have been significantly upgraded.  The New Snellville City Hall is huge and South Gwinnett High School looks like they are adding a skyscraper to the facility.  There are new facilities everywhere.  Most notably the Avenue at Web Gin House has added new shopping areas.  Some old landmarks, though still in original locations are older and more worn down.  And there is a lot of vacant buildings in town.  Heck, the Avenue at Web Gin House is less than four years old, and some shops have already left.  Can we at least tear down some buildings if they are going to remain vacant for years?

It’s clear, however, that even with the new facilities, the town has aged and grown.  What used to be an exburb is now “the Atlanta suburb”.  Memorial Drive didn’t die, it just moved out to Snellville.  The demographics has changed as families have moved on after raising their kids, and I predict an African-American could become mayor of Snellville in 15 years… remarkable considering it was less than 20 years ago when the town was over 90% white.  Even the neighborhood is showing it’s signs of age.  Water lines approaching the age of 40 have already busted.  The neighborhood has tried to go younger, but at least 5 families have been in the neighborhood longer than the 31 years that my parents have lived in the house.

It was good to see old friends in town, though.  Perhaps I will have a chance to visit Snellville again at some point in the future with Liz and Joshua and talk about how the town has changed even more.