Halifax North

The name's Shaun Roberts and I live in Evans Georgia. The Halifax neighborhood is extremely similar to Martin's Chapel Grove with the exception of a lost name identity crisis of course. The way the areas are set up is extremely familiar but they do vary on many key areas. The area also doesn't actually fit perfectly into the same prerequisites of any of the cities in Blueprint America. The Evans area is more like Portland than any other because of the restrictions placed upon the area with the growth of sprawl. But also like Denver where there are outlaying towns and neighborhoods outside the bypass of the city (Such as mine!). The area has extremely limited space because it is getting pushed from the east by Augusta, blocked from the north by the Savannah River and blocked from the south by Ft. Gordon. So the area is slowly building up and to the west.The Blueprint America documentary's main point was to try to prove that urban sprawl was bad, wasteful, doesn't allow for a community, and destroys the land. I believe that my community shows otherwise. I for one believe that urban sprawl is not necessarily bad per say but does need to be controlled. Evans exemplifies that need. My community for instance was created with the landscape in mind. All the houses have several trees and are created with the idea that if the houses dissipated the original layout of the land would still exist. The overall hillyness of the land has stayed in tact and they have constructed around the many ponds and the older or bigger groups of trees.

Many of the houses appear quite different than others as shown in the pictures(surprising i know...). Many hold the same elements such as the porch or the type of architectural style but rarely do you see a house that looks extremely similar to another. Many times they switch up the colors, reverse the layout, add another room, chance where the porch or driveway is located, and then make it out of a different material and by that time its a completely different house.

Going back to the way Martin's Chapel Grove is constructed, the two neighborhoods are extremely different because houses are farther apart and keep many trees around them compared to the land in Chapel Grove where every house looks the same and its flat with a thin line of trees protecting it from the main road.
I personally have had a good experience in my neighborhood. The lack of public sporting areas forces the kids in the neighborhood to either be in the street playing or at one of the local schools playing. Everyone is always sitting on their porches or riding by in their golf carts and seem to always be polite, stop and talk or even help out with you moving furniture. Even though statistically wise we are a very diverse group with ages anywhere from just out of college to in the upper 60's, everyone seems to get along quite well.

The Evans area has many bike paths, sidewalks, community areas and parks, and is exremely cautious where buildings are constructed to maximize space. and any major grocery store or convenience store or even local shopping area is at least within a bikes ride away, many even closer. Traffic is hardly a problem except the main Washington Road that comes from Augusta and links the two areas. Many of the other roads are less busy and so its not a problem to go around town on a walk or bike ride and enjoy the area with out worrying about the traffic flow.