In my work, I talk to people everyday who are struggling with an economic downturn that has affected their lives negatively. Many people right here in Fayette county have suddenly and unexpectedly found themselves facing financial difficulties. Many are out of work, many are grasping on to withering retirement plans, many have seen investments go sour and many have recently experienced unplanned circumstances that have caused them to tighten their belts more and more. Out of money, out of plans, out of answers, and almost out of hope.

I hope that someone (city? DOT?) is aware of and addressing this situation.

The existing traffic light at Hwy 54 and MacDuff Parkway stays red on the MacDuff side for long stretches. This is nothing new, but at times during the morning and evening the traffic trying to get out of Wilksmoor backs up past the apartments, past Cedar Croft and beyond the first stop sign. I guess it’s more important not to inconvenience the traffic moving to and from Coweta than to inconvenience the town’s resident taxpayers, but that's another matter. A more recent development is that cars coming in and out of the new shopping center across from MacDuff are adding to the problems at this intersection. Many of those cars are going straight from the shopping center down MacDuff, meaning that cars coming out from MacDuff and turning left have to yield. This makes this long light even longer. Fewer cars can get through the light when it turns green and it’s ripe for accidents. I was almost hit tonight. The car coming from the shopping center was turning left toward Coweta and I turned left toward PTC at the same time. The car behind the shopping center car, however was going straight and was not going to yield, even though I was almost already through the turn. There are no left turn signals. There is no other way out of Wilksmoor, the shopping center isn’t even open yet except for a few places, and I can see the traffic piling up when the activity at the shopping center increases causing long backlogs of people trying to get out of Wilksmoor.

Pictures of RBC Bank robbery 9/2/08 available at www.ajc.com

There has been controversy and some sensationalism surrounding the on-line political forums presented by The Citizen, but objectively…why shouldn’t “ordinary” citizens be able to reach and question candidates for leadership in our community, and why wouldn’t a political candidate welcome the opportunity to present their views. Why wouldn’t any method of communication be considered viable and valuable? Aren’t curious, informed, concerned and involved citizens and voters what we want? How can citizens be well represented collectively and individually when there is no communication and no true discourse? How far off the path of democracy have we veered when those in political power choose to sit aloof and untouchable? Are we truly in a “them” and “us” society, and is this where we should be, especially on the local level?

I can’t really figure out why Fayette County has become the shopping mecca of the world. I guess other areas just don’t have the concentration of stores, but things have certainly changed out there in Fayetteland and it’s hard to tell what the attraction is.

Is it a requirement that those with any kind of power in Fayette County also have to have lost their common sense? Our leaders keep voting for and allowing more and more retail and office development when it is clearly obvious to the ordinary citizen that the county is already glutted to the point that vacant stores are abundant and other businesses are going under. What we have now has caused us untold traffic problems, increased crime and has brought numerous strangers who clog the pipes in our area for shopping trips or other things.

NO MORE SHOPPING IN PTC!!!

WE ALREADY HAVE WAY TOO MUCH...

Something gnaws and I need to see if anyone else can either provide more information that will make this make sense, or can show me the error of my logic…

The main question that I would like to see addressed is “what happened to the original plans for Peachtree City to be a suburban residential community with limited shopping venues.” The separate industrial park area was designed to create jobs and pay taxes for upkeep of the town’s infrastructure. Those who bought into Peachtree City early on came here for the simple, isolated, family-oriented town that offered safety, security and a quality of life rarely found. These days, Peachtree City has become a major hub for out of the area residents to work, shop, eat and entertain themselves. The actual residents continue to lose out because we are being overrun by out-of-towners rushing in to spend the day or rushing through to get somewhere else.