Well put D-m! It's not a black thing or a white thing. A thug is a thug and it's up to all good people, regardless of county residence, to take back our communities. Remember, evil flourishes when good people do nothing.

Honey, I never said "blacks" were the problem. I said hoodlums. Now, where I come from (California) hoodlums can be black, white, green, pink or purple. This is where the problem starts....you assume that I meant black. Ask for clarification next time if you are in anyway confused. My best friend is black and yes, she lives in California. Personally I could give a rats-a$$ what color anyone is, just act like a human being and not some barnyard fool. Also, the majority of recent crimes, at least those that have been reported, have addresses in Fulton and Clayton!!! Would you be so kind as to explain this to me? While I totally agree that parents need to keep a tighter grasp on their kids, not every teen in Fayette is a methhead. Most of the parents I know keep tabs on their kids. But some parents do not. As to your comment about California and a better life...yes, California is pedestrian and biker friendly, wages are better, weather is better, housing is really bad, but that's OK. Now they certainly have their issues, just like any other place in the world....but you shouldn't make comments unless you have lived there. I have lived in many parts of this country and I never seen an area deteriorate like Fayette has in the short time we have been here. This is my personal observation and those of many other residents.

I 'assumed' nothing about your statement. You are not the only participant in this discussion. I'm sorry that you have had such a rotten experience at the Pavilion. Fortunately - I have not. I am a third generation California 'born and bred' individual - and I love the weather, the wages, etc., etc., etc. of California -but I am thoroughly enjoying retirement here - and the southern hospitality - one does not find such courtesy in California. I don't know where you live - to witness such dramatic deterioration - I have lived south of the courthouse for almost 4 years. . . .and have watched with interest and pride the development of the Main Street District. Change is difficult - but inevitable. I hope that we all speak out against rude, criminal behavior in our county. . .and use our cell phones and dial 911 when we see criminal activity. I've lived through many changes in our wonderful country. 30 years ago - my son, who was a student at Morehouse, was told not to get caught after dark in Fayette County. My neighbors are all colors and religions - from many different areas of the world and this country - including the south. The new south is great. Fayette County has its problems - but it's worth staying and preserving the good that has developed here in the past 30 years.

Tell me you are not centering your life around your child! I digress.

You say that you miss "the wages" of California? Ahhhh, but the reason you are able to retire here in a house four times nicer and drive a better car than you could have in California is because the cost of living is so much lower here. It's even lower in more rural areas outside of Fayette County. I have friends that trade 2 and 3 bedroom homes in New York for 8 bedroom homes in Whitewater Country Club and pay for them with their home equity.

Isn't it ironic that with higher wages you had a lower quality of life in California?

What does that tell us about the minimum wage hikes?

Regardless, welcome to Fayetteville.

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Is there bias on the war coverage? Click Here
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. . . .but I have to state that not all of California has a 'lower quality of life' than Fayette County. I lived 'north' of downtown LA - in the San Marino-Pasadena-Altadena area. I duplicated our quality of life - for a much lower 'cost of living' expense - and since we are retired - there is no need to fight the 'going to work' traffic. We don't 'miss the wages' - since we are on a retirement income that is sufficient to enjoy the 'good life' right here in Fayette County!

How many bikes did you see on state highways in California?
When you say "honey" you are condesending here. Especially if you don't know if male, female, or both.
"Acting like ahuman being is also condescending here. We assume all colors here are humans.
You need to read the police blotters occasionally and see if the "majority" have out of county addresses. Too many do but not majority.
Wages are better in California? I surely hope so, due to service costs, repair costs, taxes, rent, gasoline (4.00 plus dollars today), and most everything else.
I don't think Fayette is WATTS, or LA yet.

Talk about a nail and a head. Lol.
And I just want to add that not all black people are into "rap"
culture. My family and I don't subscribe to that "c + RAP", and the same is true for a lot of other black families I've met here. In my family "education education education" has always been the motto. Any culture that celebrates ignorance, demeans women and thinks being being smart student is uncool is one I am diametrically opposed to.

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Any culture that celebrates ignorance, demeans women and thinks being a smart student is uncool is one I am diametrically opposed to.

White or Black. Amen.

A thug is a thug and it's up to all good people, regardless of county residence, to take back our communities. Remember, evil flourishes when good people do nothing.

A thug is indeed a thug. White or Black. Amen

I could give a rats-{{{EDITED}}} what color anyone is, just act like a human being and not some barnyard fool.

Amen again.

It's the 'rap' culture (which some posters here use to describe 'blacks'); it's the drug culture (which some posters refuse to open their eyes and see that the meth house arrests and 'drug' violations are not just 'minorities').

The "Rap Culture" IS a drug culture. It's also a hate culture. And it's strength is in Fulton, Dekalb and Clayton Counties. The meth culture is destroying middle class families along with their Hip Hop addict children. Drugs don't discriminate. Black or white.

The thug-(c)rap culture has migrated South from Clayton and South Fulton counties. Y'all can call me a bigot all you want.

Amen...Can't deny that. And it undeniably sucks!

Either I receive bad service from the help, or the patrons try and "bully" me by bumping, interrupting when I'm talking with an employee at a store, or just being generally rude.

You are correct, hoodlums roam the parking lots and roads around there... pants hanging down below their knees, yelling insults to one another and to passing public, etc.

Happens to me at the Pavilion too. Why??? When someone interrupts why doesn't the employee tell that fool to wait their turn?

The Pavilion has brought a lot of crime here. All police officers will tell you that.

Bottom line, I believe all of us want a nice safe place to live and Fayetteville is going down fast.

Going, going, almost Riverdale.

All of these comments are true and come from fellow bloggers who are at each others throats. We truly need to get over the race crap and stop getting defensive when thugs and predators are preying on the innocent victims of Fayette County. If a thug is black then we ALL need to come down on that piece of human debris together. If the thug is white then we ALL need to take that piece of human debris and deal with it severely. Rap, Hip Hop, Trailer Trash, Child Predator, Shop Lifter, Crack Head, Meth Addict, Disrespectful and Hateful Actions.... Black or White let's crush those {{{EDITED}}}!

Let's pull together and when we have those "Pieces Of Human Debris" in our court system then let's all come down on them with all the might of the law rather than letting them off because of their color.

Black or White we're going up against these "Pieces Of Dung" and they're ruining our county. Why are we fighting each other on this. As good and decent people let's hold our own accountable and if we take a stand against some rude jerk at Walmart then why can't we expect good and decent people to fight with us....Black or White.

The more we play this race crap game the more we enable the Clayton and Fulton Rap Thugs and the Spalding, Fayette, and Coweta Meth Addict Trailer Trash Thugs to victimize us.

________

"That man was Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Ballard".

CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE STORY

Well said, Git.
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Amen. Well said my friend!
All of us should remember..United we stand, divided we fall.

I can tell you why you are rudely interrupted by someone when you are talking to an employee at the Pavilion, some people do not know any other way to live than by bumping each other, interrupting others unnecessarily, and not wanting to learn anything.
From generation to generation these people grow up in such an atmosphere, and are never told to do better, and if they are the "street" tells them to ignore the parents, if they have any, and they do.
Parents also get very angry if anyone tries to improve the kids. They act out in front of the kids, which causes them to do even more stupid stuff.
I have to also say clearly here, that no one race has a monopoly on such actions. It is just noticed more with some than others.

I'm lived in Fayette for less than a year but I have to say that I appreciate having the Pavilion in the county. Maybe I would feel differentlty if I lived closer to it but I've never had any trouble whenever I have gone there to shop. I would hate to have to drive to Atlanta to shop at Best Buy or Target. Where did people shop
before the Pavilion?

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Back before the Pavillion we shopped at the stores that were here (the old, far more super Wal-Mart, KMart, Belk, and a handful of shops that have gone by the wayside due to competition from the Big Boxes) or we just drove elsewhere. Wasn't hard to do because the traffic wasn't nearly as bad. Southlake and Shannon Malls used to be tolerable once upon a time, as was the other shopping in those areas.

Are you fairly new to the metro-Atlanta area in general?

We moved here just in time for the kids to start school. Lived in Maryland before.
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I am a native of the south-metro area, so the changes that have taken place in Fayetteville (and all of Metro Atlanta more or less) have been swift and oftentimes not very pretty. It's all about the mighty dollar.

30Yr, those who are defending the actions of thugs, must be their mommas. Thanks for your concern and you are correct, what I see now in Fayette County is NOT what attracted us 4 1/2 years ago. At the Pavillon all I see are Fulton and Clayton tags. And dropping my son off at school this morning, I saw 4 Clayton tags, 2 Fulton, 1 Henry and NO Fayette other than mine. This is so sad.....who is monitoring these people? Last night my husband said we won't be able to leave for another 3 years and I'm terrified what Fayette will look like then. We are even discussing sending our kids to private school.

Ok, so people from other counties are spending money in our county and thus help to generate tax revenue for Fayette Co. Was that not the original idea? As a Fayette newbie, I'm curious: Was there a huge fight to stop the construction of the Pavilion when it was first proposed?

I have a question for you...do you own a home in Fayette? If so, you would realize how incredibly high our property taxes are. Now part of those taxes go towards education. I gladly pay my taxes, which are higher than my mother's 600k house in Fulton County, because I want my children and all the other children to have the best education they can. But residents from other counties are taking away from the legal students of Fayette school by sending their kids to our schools. I don't pay high taxes for children from Clayton and Henry...I'm supposed to only pay for Fayette students. Just last year many illegal student were refused entry back in Fayette schools....saving the county thousands of dollars. Money which is intended for our children. Why anyone wouldn't be upset about people with Clayton and Henry and Fulton tags dropping kids off at our schools baffles me...they are stealing from your children!

From what I understand, yes, there was a HUGE fight among the residents close to the Pavillon when it was being built. My home is close to the Pavillon.....yes, I was a stupid woman who allowed her husband to purchase their home and I never laid eyes on it or realized it close proximity to the Pavillon. Never again!

Bankermom, yes, we own our home here in Fayetteville.
Yes, I do think it's bad for other counties to try to mooch off of our excellent school system by "dropping off" their kids here. One thing that has been puzzling me is why Fayette County stands in such stark contrast from other Georgia school systems. Do we just have a better school administration? Better teachers? My wife is in the PTO and volunteers her time at our children's elementary school so I definitely see that parents here are very dedicated to their kids' education on the elementary school level. I can't speak for middle school or high school yet.
It warms my heart to see statistics like this in the ajc:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/extra/crct2006districts.html

and I'm eager to see the SAT scores for Whitewater's inaugural class as well. Fayette has flipped the awful education story of Georgia on it's axis and we are proud to be part of it.

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Who trashed her? We must not be reading the same blogs.

I don't see where she was being trashed, or insulted. If asking a question is insulting this whole site is insulting. Who was trashing her? Personally I think Fayette county is a great county. Name one place that is the same as it was 30 years ago.

I yam what I yam...Popeye

How are you?
I've lived in Fayette county all of my adult life. My late husband grew up here. Nothing is the same as 30/35 yrs. ago. I remember when there was only one red light. Driving home from work I drove down Redwine Road when it was a country road, with a few old houses here and there.

I have friends who live in the city of Fayetteville. They are very concerned about the value of their homes going down. Several houses around them have become rental houses.

The Pavilion has brought a lot of crime here. All police officers will tell you that.

Bottom line, I believe all of us want a nice safe place to live and Fayetteville is going down fast.

Did FM have the concert? If so, how was it?

Tug

In case I haven't said before, chippie's son is also in the band and is an all state percussionist. I've said this before, the band director at FMS is an awsome teacher, he's one reason the FCHS band is so good in that when the kids get to high school they are more then ready to step up, if only we could say the same about the FMS football coaches. Have a great evening Tug.

I yam what I yam...Popeye

you missed a great concert, the kids did themselves proud.

I yam what I yam...Popeye

I'm sure they did! I hope to be there next time.

up for the thugs. It is sad to what Fayette has came too. The north end is a joke. Banks rd area is gonna look like Campbelton rd in another year or two. The pavilion looks like SW dekalb mall. Better learn to fight back.

...as soon as I see a real problem at the Pavilion. So far, in the dozen or so times I've been there, I have not had an issue. Once I forgot to lock my door going into Target and came back to find my I-cant-believe-I-spent-so-much-on-this-digital-camera still sitting untouched in the passenger seat. I was probably just lucky but it was cool anyway.

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If you don't think there's a problem at the Pavilion (save for the carjackings, thefts, robberies that have happened there in the last few years) you might want to be concerned at the armed robberies that have taken place in the last month or so in older, well-established Fayetteville stores (Radio Shack, Big Lots).

When teens scream obscenities and try to push each other onto incoming traffic, yes I call them hoodlums. And I'd say the same if it were my kids. I have the right to shop and be out in public with my family WITHOUT all the trash talk that happens with these people.

I agree that that was awful behavior and a person should not have
to experience that. I'm not sure if I know a good way to control other people bad kids. I'm open to suggestions.

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Hutch, my friend, you must rarely fly nowadays. Delta is seldom ready when I am. I had a flight scheduled for 7:45 p.m. last Sunday night, we ended up taking off around 11 p.m.

Don't be sucked in by the advertising hoopla! Delta is seldom ready when you are....

....they still are a bit better than AirTran though.

(and light years ahead of Northworst Airlines!)

So true Basmati. I do like JetBlue.....wonder why it never caught on here in ATL?

First we have to unload our home...which I see as a problem because of the recent decline in the "quality" of people coming into this county.

So your snarky comments are worthless. I'm not the only person in Fayette County who feels this way.

Bankermom,
Part of the problem with neighborhoods changing over not just racially but more important economically is stated in your heading. As minority groups move into predominately white areas, there is a tendency for property owners to "unload" their homes. In many cases, this means selling at a reduced price or renting. Many times instead of renting at market value, the property owner chooses to make his home Section 8 housing which does bring in families that would normally not have the economic means to live in Fayette County.

I live in North Fayette also and even though the area is gaining more black families, the homes are in the 300K-400K range. There are signs for new homes on 92 starting at 500K and 600K. These are professional black families and yes, their kids will be walking around looking like rap stars. It's a generational thing. Just like our generation may have dressed like Elvis and James Dean, and the Beatles. As far as the businesses coming up, yes black people are entrepreneurs too. So expect to see businesses that cater to this population like barbershops and ethnic restaurants. It's the American way. Now, one last point. When you go to the Galleria in Cobb County, or Perimeter Mall in DeKalb you will see license tags for counties all over the metro area. I don't think people in Cobb or DeKalb are offended to see people shopping at their stores so why is it such an issue here in Fayette County. The irony of this whole issue is Fayette County pretends to be a Christian community but like my pastor says "if we can't get along down here, how do we think we are going to get along in heaven" There will be rich and poor, black and white. We need to start learning to put our differences and biases aside and try to be more understanding of each other instead of trying to "unload and run".

I agree with most of what you've said. My kids won't be dressing like rappers though.

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